WATCH: Starmer on racism, a “purge” of the left and a PM “asleep at the wheel”

Keir Starmer has given an exclusive interview commenting on the Black Lives Matter movement and racism in the UK, denying claims that he wants to “purge” the Labour left, and criticising the Prime Minister’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

The Labour leader has said that Black Lives Matter must be “more than a movement”, to represent a “turning point”, but reiterated his opposition to the demand that the police in the UK should be defunded.

Following his sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey and accusations of factionalism on his part, Starmer said the decision was “not a left-right issue” and he has “no intent to purge the party at all”.

On the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, the Labour leader continued his reluctance to call for an inquiry to be held now, saying that “at the moment I think it is important that we concentrate on the job at hand”.

Starmer accused the Prime Minister of being “asleep at the wheel” during the coronavirus crisis and described Boris Johnson as someone who “refuses to see problems”.

But he disagreed with Joe Biden’s assessment of Johnson as a “physical and emotional clone” of President Trump, instead saying: “I wouldn’t describe him in that way… He’s good on the rhetoric, but he’s not good on governing.”