Tonight with Andrew Marr 6pm - 7pm
David Lammy's reaction to Labour's Batley and Spen victory
4 July 2021, 10:13
David Lammy reaction to Labour's Batley and Spen victory
'We owe it to the country to do better' David Lammy revealed following Labour's narrow by-election win.
"Let's be clear, the fault's on us as a party, on our leader, it's on all of us and that includes me," the Shadow Justice Secretary told listeners.
He went on to claim that Labour "owe it to the country to do better" than to hold seats in such narrow circumstances.
"It is fantastic that we won against the odds and it's so satisfying that we've beat the hateful campaign of George Galloway," David said, commending his colleagues for "facing down the grim aggressive hate of George Galloway" who reportedly tried to split the Labour vote.
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He went on to pitch the opposition against the current Government: "We stand for better than the bumbling incompetence and mean-spirited nationalism of Boris Johnson."
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He beamed at the Batley and Spen electorate voting in Kim Leadbeater, who, for him "embodies everything Labour stand for."
David then issued an impassioned statement on what his party stand for: "We won't stop until everyone gets access to healthcare and our nurses are properly paid."
"We wont stop until every person who wants a job can get a job."
Having made these statements, he accepted that "we have so much work left to do in this country until the people in this country trust us" to take power, but concluded by insisting that Labour knows what it stands for.