Keir Starmer has criticized the “grotesque chaos” of recent weeks and said the government “no longer has a mandate from the British people”.
The Labor leader said there was no historical precedent for the ongoing economic turmoil and Prime Minister Liz Truss would be unable to “fix the mess she has created”.
It comes after Truss was forced to sack Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor after his mini-budget caused panic in UK markets, causing the pound to plummet and the cost of government borrowing to rise.
Speaking at Labour’s Yorkshire and Humber regional conference in Barnsley, Starmer said: “The UK has faced financial crises before, but the first ministers and chancellors who wrestled with them acted quickly.
“When their policies ran against the rocks of reality, they took decisive action. But this lot, they didn’t just shut down the British economy, they hung on as they sent the pound crashing.
“We held on as they brought our pensions to the brink of collapse. They held on as they pushed the British public’s mortgages and bills through the roof.
“All the pain our country is facing now is because of them.”
Echoing a speech delivered by former Labor leader Neil Kinnock at the party conference in 1985, Starmer lamented the “grotesque chaos of a Tory prime minister handing out sacking notices to her own chancellor”.
He added that Britain was “crying out for clear leadership” and that “Labour must provide it”.
“I’d love to stand here and say Labor is going to fix everything,” he said. “But the damage they have done to our finances and public services means things are going to be very difficult.
“A fairer and greener Britain cannot be built without first restoring economic stability.”
The recent upheaval has seen Labor take a strong lead over the Tories in numerous polls. A poll published by YouGov on Thursday found 51% of people said they would vote Labor in a general election, while just 23% said Conservative, a difference of 28 points.
Another poll found that 59% of voters thought Truss should step down as Prime Minister, while only 19% thought she should remain in her role.
Speaking to The Guardian on Friday, Starmer said the country needed a general election regardless of whether Truss stayed in office.
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Other opposition figures have also criticized the government’s handling of the economy. After Kwarteng’s sacking, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, a former Bank of England economist, said the crisis was “made in Downing St and paid for by workers”.
This is a Tory crisis, made in Downing St and paid for by working people.
The damage is done. It’s clear they have no plan to clean up their mess.
As mortgages soar and businesses are uncertain, the mixed and chaotic messages from Downing St are unacceptable.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) October 15, 2022
“We don’t just need a new chancellor; we need a Labor government,” he wrote.
On Saturday, the Scottish National Party called on the Scottish Conservatives to “grow a spine” and tell Truss to resign. Mhairi Black, the party’s spokeswoman in Scotland, said the prime minister’s term was over and she was “running on borrowed time”.
“The Prime Minister has brought the UK to the brink of recession and left the housing market on the brink of collapse, all within weeks of taking office,” he said. “Firing the clueless chancellor won’t do it.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey echoed calls for a general election.
“Boris Johnson failed our country and now Liz Truss has broken our economy,” he said. “It’s time for the British people to have their say on this barrage of a Tory party.”