Keir Starmer emotional as Gary Neville asks about his parents in moving clip (2024)

Keir Starmer told Gary Neville that his team are ready to 'hit the ground running' if he becomes PM in a video filmed in the Lake District, where he holidayed as a child

An emotional Keir Starmer told football legend Gary Neville he was "having a moment" as he said his late parents would be "really proud" of him.

The Labour leader was visibly moved after being asked how his mum and dad would feel about him being in the running for PM. In a party election broadcast filmed in front of cottages where he holidayed as a child, Mr Starmer said: "They'd be having a real moment, and so am I actually."

Three Lions legend Mr Neville, a Labour supporter, asked him: "If your mum and dad were here now, in these cottages, what would they be saying to you?" Mr Starmer, who seemed to blink back tears, said: "If she was back here now and I was in a race to be a candidate to be Prime Minister of this country they'd be really proud. It would be a real incredible moment, it really would."

The pair were recorded strolling in the Lake District as he spoke about dad Rodney, who died in 2018, and mum Joesphine, who passed away in 2015. Mr Starmer revealed his parents had taken him and his three siblings there every year as a child.

In a chat with the former full-back and Sky Sports presenter, he outlined his plans for a Labour Government if he wins on July 4, saying his team is ready to "hit the ground running on day one". Mr Neville, who made 400 appearances for Manchester United and won 85 England caps, told him: "What the British people want to know is what is going to change on day one."

The Labour leader - who is looking increasingly likely to be the next PM - said: "We're going to hit the ground running. From the very get-go, day one. First of all stabilise the economy, we've got to get that under control. Secondly making sure we bring down the (NHS) waiting lists."

He went on to list securing the UK's borders, setting up publicly-owned Great British Energy to drive down bills and deal with anti-social behaviour as priorities. He went on to say his party would recruit a further 6,500 teachers if he becomes PM.

"They're not the only things by a long stretch," Mr Starmer said. He told Mr Neville that he'd instructed his team: "You need to be ready to deliver from the get-go." The Labour leader went on: "That's the footing I've had them on."

Describing the party's turnaround since he became leader in 2019, Mr Starmer said: "We lost our way as a party, we got too out of kilter with working people and what they actually cared about. We had to change all that, bring the party back and put itself in a position to win an election.

"For me it's been about duty." Mr Starmer went on to say that decisions are made based on "what matters to the country" rather than what benefits the party. "If it's the second I'm not interested," he said.

During the interview, Mr Neville told the Labour leader: "The country are desperately disappointed, just generally, in politicians. They quite often use language like 'They're all the same', 'Two cheeks of the same backside.'"

And the ex-footballer asked: "How do you change that? Because that is something that has been set now for quite a few years." Mr Starmer responded: "Action not words. I don't think people are going to believe that politics has changed until they see it has changed."

Mr Neville also quizzed the aspiring PM about tax and fears a Labour Government would oversee hikes. Mr Starmer said: "It's one of the reasons why I appointed Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, she's obviously got Bank of England experience and she's got iron rules...

"She will not sign off anything unless it's fully costed and fully funded."

He said: "Tax levels are now the highest level for 70 years, so we can't just go and pull the tax lever. That's why we've said no increase in income tax, National Insurance or VAT... I understand it really matters that we can get people to say 'I trust you on the economy, I trust you on defence, I trust you on the borders.'"

Acknowledging the scale of the task if he does win, Mr Starmer said Labour hopes to oversee a "decade of national renewal", stating: "It's going to take time."

Speaking ahead of the broadcast, the Labour leader said: “Seeing those same sites and cottages we so often visited on our family holidays was an emotional time for me. It gave me pause for thought to remind me why I do this job."

And referring to his mum, who was a nurse, he said: "It made me think of my mum, a public servant in the NHS for so many years, and those like her across the country who so heavily count on it in the toughest moments."

In speeches, Mr Starmer has often spoken about his dad's job as a toolmaker and how it gave him "a deep respect for the dignity of work". He described his father as "distant" because of the responsibility of caring for his mother - and he regretted not addressing this before his death.

In a heartbreaking excerpt from a recent biography of the Labour leader by Tom Baldwin, Mr Starmer described finding a scrapbook of cuttings his father kept about his career and realising for the first time that he'd been proud of him.

And Mr Neville said: “It was a privilege to spend the morning with Keir filming this in the beautiful Lake District, he is a future Prime Minister who the country can believe in and trust.

“It’s in your hands. You have the power to make change happen. Vote Labour.”