Work must support people's priorities and let go of 'baggage' to win, says Keir Starmer

Speaking at the party's National Policy Forum in Nottingham, the Labor leader told officials they must 'learn the lessons' from their Uxbridge by-election defeat

Keir Starmer said Labor must "learn the lessons" of their narrow defeat at Uxbridge (

Image: PA)

Labour must share its priorities with working people – and abandon 'baggage' policies if they are to gain power, Keir Starmer has warned.

Speaking at the party's National Policy Forum in Nottingham, the Labor leader told officials they must 'learn the lessons' from their narrow by-election defeat in Uxbridge.

said there was "something wrong" when party policy targeted "every Tory tract" following attacks on London Mayor Sadiq Khan's plan to extend the capital's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez), which applies a charge for older, dirtier road vehicles.

After using divisive politics to cling to Boris Johnson's former seat on an otherwise dismal night for the Tories, Rishi Sunak is under pressure to focus on similar 'corner issues' ahead of the upcoming election.

Labour officials were expected to wrangle into the wee hours of this morning (SUN) as they hammered out a plan for the party's election manifesto - with a series of such issues on the agenda.

Plans to make free school meals universal and to scrap the two-child allowance cap – both of which are hugely popular with party members – have been dropped by Labor due to cost.

And speaking ahead of Mr Starmer's speech to the forum yesterday, Danny Beales, the defeated Labor candidate for Boris Johnson's former seat, called Ulez 'bad politics'.

Sadiq Khan is "always looking for ways" to address Londoners' concerns about Ulez (

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"A one-size-fits-all policy cut our knees," he said. "Ulez is a bad policy, it needs to be rethought."

And Mr Starmer said London Mayor Sadiq Khan should 'consider' expanding Ulez, after...