‘We’ve a really good, strong, manifesto about a better country for everyone,’ Sir Keir and Georgia Gould

SIR Keir Starmer heard from volunteers at the Harlesden Town Garden about how the project had become a much loved resource for people in the neighbourhood.

The land had historically been used as a market garden, with greenhouses on site up to 1935. At the time, the greenhouses were demolished and in their place, a series of garages were built.

They lasted until 1980, when the site was opened to the public. But it quickly became a magnet for anti-social behaviour and suffered from neglect, until the community run garden took over in 2013.

Organiser Gill Archer has been involved with the garden since it opened when the site was overgrown with long grasses and self-seeded trees.

She told Extra: “The number one issue is the climate. Instead, we have politicians saying they will get the economy going and raise productivity, and the environment comes across as an afterthought.

“To me, this is the most important issue we face today, and so many other issues stem from it. For example, those who are worried about immigration should know that it is caused by the climate crisis; it is affecting other parts of the world right now much more than us.

“It threatens food security as well. And the fact is there is so much knowledge out there about the situation we face, but it simply isn’t being drawn on. I do not understand why people avoid it. Perhaps it is just too awful to contemplate.

“The most important job for the next government is they act now, and I think there is more chance a Labour government will.”

Sir Keir and Labour candidate Georgia Gould toured the garden and spent some time planting basil and other herbs.

Georgia Gould, Labour’s candidate for the Queen’s Park and Maida Vale seat, right, with Harlesden Town Gardens’ Gill Archer

Sir Keir told Extra that the Labour manifesto, launched yesterday, Thursday, would be a foundational document to build a better country.

He said: “Like the 45 manifesto, 64 manifesto, the 97 manifesto, it tells a story about the future of the country.

“And I hope it can join the ranks of those manifestos as the manifesto that put Labour back in power so we can deliver on things that I know matter so much to people.”

He also said that a new deal for workers would include the right to normalise working hours, effectively ending zero-hours contracts where staff have little security on how much work they will get each week and whether they can claim holiday and sick pay. Sir Keir insisted these contracts would be stopped and said: “The way it will work is that an individual could ask for their hours to be regularised. Right now some people might not want to. If you’re a student working in a bar, you might not want to. But there will be the right to have your hours regularised, and exploitative hire, fire and rehire will be gone.”

He had seen first-hand the conditions zero-hours contracts created and said: “One of my family members during Covid was on a contract which didn’t have sick pay and, therefore, every time she had to self-isolate she had to take holiday because she couldn’t afford a day off. By the end of the year she had no holiday left. These are injustices in the workplace that we have to rectify.”

Asked what he said to some long-standing Labour voters concerned by a drift away from left-wing traditions, Sir Keir referenced Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair as inspirational.

He said: “I want a decade of national renewal and that is a turning point for the country where we pull together, where we put our shoulder to the wheel, where we replicate what was done in 1945, and at those moments in history: in 64 with Wilson and 97 with Blair.

“You know, Labour has only won from the opposition three times in its history. We’ve a really good, strong, manifesto about a better country for everyone.”

He also admitted that if he is given the key to Number 10, there are certain aspects of his current life he won’t be saying goodbye to. While many football fans can find they are not able to get to as many matches after a big job promotion the Labour leader said he had already renewed his Arsenal season ticket.

Candidates

Cities of London and Westminster
Tim Barnes Conservative and Unionist Party
Rachel Blake Labour and Co-operative Party
Liz Burford Rejoin EU
Huge De Burgh Social Democratic Party
Mathew Carr Independent
John Generic Independent
Tarun Ghulati Reform UK
Tim Hallett Independent
Edward Lucas Liberal Democrats
Hoz Shafiei Workers Party of Britain
Rajiv Rahul Sinha Green Party

Queen’s Park and Maida Vale
Helen Baxter Liberal Democrats
Angela Michelle Carter-Begbie Reform UK
Abdulla Janmohamed Dharamsi Independent
Georgia Gould Labour Party
Samia Hersi Conservative and Unionist Party
Vivien Lichtenstein Green Party
Irakli Menabde Workers Party of Britain