Whose side are you on? Stability or chaos, service or self-interest?

Starmer asks voters to make the right choice in major election speech | Labour pledges 40,000 extra NHS appointments & 13,000 more police

- ASHLEY COWBURN

KEIR Starmer said the election was a question of: "Whose side are you on?" and promised to put the needs of working people at the heart of every decision if Labour wins power on July 4.

In his first major campaign speech, the Labour leader vowed to stand up for working people, promising he could be trusted on the economy and on national security.

Speaking in Lancing Parish Hall, West Sussex, Mr Starmer made an appeal to undecided voters.

He said: "The choice is yours. You can stop the chaos, you can turn the page, you can join with us, and together we can rebuild our country."

Voters faced a choice between "service or self-interest, stability or chaos, a Labour Party that has changed, or a Tory Party that has run away from the mainstream".

Mr Starmer said he had "dragged" the Labour Party back to service.

He said: "I will do exactly the same for Westminster." Outlining his plans for government, Mr Starmer said he would cut NHS waiting lists by offering 40,000 extra appointments, tackle anti-social behaviour with 13,000 more neighbourhood police and support officers, and deliver a publicly owned energy company, Great British Energy.