Keir Starmer branded last week’s Tory conference a “farce from start to finish” as he headed to Liverpool for Labour’s own annual get-together in Liverpool.
The Labour leader was singled out for a string of insults from Tory cabinet ministers - from Michael Gove branding him a “spineless jellyfish” and Suella Braverman warning Britain would go “properly woke” under his leadership. Asked if it bothered him, Mr Starmer said: “I just think it's a silly insult. I would prefer to see our senior politicians setting out what they're going to do to tackle the single most important issue, which is the cost of living crisis.
“It is astonishing that the Prime Minister did an hour-long speech and didn't address the most pressing issue in the country.” He added: “I take it as a badge of honour when all the government of the day after 13 years in power has is to throw insults at the Leader of the Opposition.
“It means two things. One, they haven't got a record to stand on. They should be great rallying conferences where you're laying out your great achievements, but that's unavailable to them yet because I haven't gotten your achievements. They can't then parade their great leaders because they've been they've burned through five Prime Ministers in seven years - unprecedented in our history.
“So they've crumpled into an insult machine for want of anything else to say.” He went on: "The end of the farce was the man who's been nodding through most of the decisions in the last few years pretending that he's the agent of change.
“He's right that we need change - that's for sure. He's right that the last 13 years have been a failure - that's for sure. But the change we need is not more Conservative government. The change we need is a change from the Conservative government."
Rishi Sunak refused to say anything he admires about Mr Starmer last week - but it didn’t ruffle the Labour leader’s feathers. The Prime Minister was asked the question during a TV interview last Sunday - but refused to answer, saying: “I’m not interested in talking about personalities.”
Mr Starmer took a different approach, telling this newspaper: “I think there are a number of things that we should collectively be proud of. He's the first British Indian Prime Minister. That is an incredible achievement for him and his family and for our country."
Asked if it bothered him that Mr Sunak didn’t answer the question, Mr Starmer quipped: “I don't think he answered any of the questions. If that had been the single question he didn't answer I suppose I might have taken it as a bit of an affront. But I watched the interview and I didn't see him answer a single question. So that was consistent with his interview technique that morning."