Watch Keir Starmer speech today on civil society, crime and Tory war on ‘woke’

Keir Starmer has accused the Tories of “waging a war on the proud spirit of service in this country”, by trying to find “woke agendas in the very civic institutions they once regarded with respect”.

The Labour party leader has a speech this morning at the Civil Society Summit with an audience of faith, charity and community leaders.

Comments trailed in advance of the speech include how Labour in government would work hand in hand with civil society groups, contrasting it with a Tory government that “seem set on sabotaging civil society”.

He was expected to accuse the Tories of being “tangled up in culture wars of their own making”, helping to “demonise” the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and “demean” the National Trust.

He was due to pledge a “society of service” where “if you serve others, this country will serve you”, contrasting it with former prime minister David Cameron’s rhetorical “big society” which austerity turned into “the poor society”. Civil society is “the glue” that binds together firms, government and communities, reaching where the public and private sectors cannot, and is not just “something we can feel warm and fluffy”.

With Labour expected to focus on its anti-crime agenda this week, Starmer was also due to highlight how tackling knife crime and violence against women will need “partnership” with local organisations and “steely determination”.