'Absolutely no chance': Keir Starmer rules out making a deal with the SNP

14 July 2022, 19:00 | Updated: 15 July 2022, 00:27

Sir Keir Starmer emphatically rules out a deal with the SNP

Keir Starmer has ruled out making a deal with the SNP in a bid to win the next election.

The Labour leader, speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, said: "There's no basis for an alliance.

"I want to be the Prime Minister of the whole of the United Kingdom. I want a Labour government for the whole of the United Kingdom.

"There's no basis for an alliance with a party that wants to break up the United Kingdom.

"If I can take my central mission, which is to grow the economy, it is impossible to have an alliance with a party whose only answer to grow the economy is to put a border between England and Scotland.

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Andrew Marr tests Starmer on his pledges

He added: "This isn't just a numbers game.

"It is an absolute matter of principle that the Labour, which believes in the United Kingdom, the future of the United Kingdom and wants to make that positive case for the future of the United Kingdom, cannot make a deal with a party whose central aim is to break up the United Kingdom.

"It's a very strong and emphatic no, not just because of the numbers but as a matter of principle."

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Mr Starmer also ruled out a return to the single market and free movement as he warned "we can't look back, we have to look forward".

"We need to make Brexit work, so we need to improve the deal that we've got, that Boris Johnson's got, that's holding us back.

"All they've ever really had is 'Get Brexit done', I want us to make Brexit work, to do that we can't look back, we have to look forward."

The Labour leader also backtracked on his pledge to end all private provision in the NHS.

He told Marr: "There is some private provision in the NHS and we're likely to have to continue with that."

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Asked about who he would rather face in the House of Commons as the new Tory party leader, Mr Starmer said "I don't mind".

He explained: "I don’t actually mind which one of them wins it because I don’t think that it’s possible for the Conservative party to get us out of the mess that they've got us into in the last 12 years.

"We've had 12 years of stagnation, 12 years of low growth and we're stuck with worse inflation and lower growth pretty well lower than any other country.

"I don't think changing the person at the top of the Tory party is the change that we need. We need something much more fundamental than that. We need a fresh start for Britain, we need a new government."

Andrew Marr tests Starmer on his pledges