Rosettes are red: But will Sunderland love what Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had to say on Valentine's Day visit to city?

The Labour leader made the comments during a visit to the Beacon of Light on the first engagement of his party’s Security, Prosperity and Respect tour in which the leader of the opposition set out his ambitions for the country and pledged a contract of agreement with the electorate.

Sir Keir chose to visit the home of SAFC’s official charity to focus on improving security and in particular the role of youth engagement and development projects as a vehicle to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in Sunderland.

The Labour leader joined in a cookery session, visited an engineering class at the Nissan and Arriva sponsored on-site workshop, and chatted with the Beacon’s Girl’s Football Scholarship Team.

Sir Keir said: “The Beacon of Light is doing a fantastic job. The level of expertise and support is really impressive and I’ve spoken with the young people and I can see the impact it’s having on them.

"I know from my time working in the Criminal Justice System that there aren’t many opportunities for young people to get the skills and confidence to get on and avoid a life of going off the rails and being sucked into crime.”

Sir Keir also cited a chronic cut to the funding of Youth Services and pledged to make crime a priority for a Labour government.

He added: “In recent years there has been a 66 per cent reduction in budgets for Youth Services whilst in the last 10 years there has been a 40 per cent increase in youth offending. All at a cost of around £11bn.

"This is the legacy of this Government. Labour will have a strong position on crime and would be very supportive of initiatives like this. I ran all of the prosecutions in England and Wales for five years and so you’re not going to get anyone more committed to dealing with crime than me because I’ve seen firsthand the impact it can have on victims and young people.”

During the visit, Sir Keir spoke with teenagers taking part in the You Only Live Once project which is run in partnership with Northumbria Police.

The Force’s Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: “The Beacon’s such a fantastic facility which is at the heart of the local community. We’ve worked a lot with the Beacon on the prevention of crime through engaging young people and making sure they’ve access to good opportunities, whether that be sport, learning or just simply getting involved with this great facility.

Ms McGuiness also criticised what she believed was the failure of the Government’s Levelling Up mantra when it comes to reducing crime in the North East.

She added: “The Government talk about levelling up but we’ve seen on average a 70 per cent reduction in funding for Youth Services since 2010 and that has made a big difference to young people and the access they have to mentoring and activities outside of school.

"I think if the Government want to level up they need to focus on things like this which will give people opportunities, help to reduce poverty and essentially reduce crime.”

Keir Starmer slams Government over “disrespecting” the British public over alleged Covid rule breaking

A key aspect of Sir Keir’s three-part-pledge, is a contract of respect between his prospective government and the public – something which in light of the alleged parties and Covid rule breaking inside 10 Downing Street, the Labour leader feels has been seriously eroded with the current Government and Boris Johnson.

He said: “We need a contract between a Labour Government and the British people which is based on the security, prosperity and respect they deserve. I’m afraid the Prime Minister has disrespected the electorate because the message he’s sending is the rules are there but don’t apply to me as Prime Minister or, equally as bad, if I’m caught breaking the rules then I’m not going to give you a straight answer.

"It’s disrespectful to the British public."

On the day the leader of the opposition was looking to commit to his own contract of agreement with the electorate he also slammed Boris Johnson and his Government over breaking their “contract of trust” with the British people.

He added: “The Prime Minister has broken his contract because the laws we all complied with, often at great cost to people, the Prime Minister then broke. He then put forward absurd arguments such as he wasn’t at these parties or if he was he didn’t realise it was a party.

"He has taken the British public for fools.”

SEE ALSO: Sunderland education chief responds to Government’s promise to level up

Labour Leader pledges to ensure mental-health referrals within a month

Sir Keir Starmer has committed that under a Labour government any person who is suffering with their mental-health will be referred to an appointment with a clinical expert within a month of raising concerns.

The pledge came after the leader of the opposition was questioned about the case of North East girl Charley Patterson, who aged 12 tragically took her own life after waiting months to see a mental-health specialist after being put on a waiting list.

Since their devastating loss, the family launched a campaign to ensure people receive professional help within a month of raising concerns – something which Sir Keir has also pledged in his local election manifesto.

He said: “We have to put better investment into mental-health. It’s a crying shame the Government has not done this during its 12 years in office. Mental-health was a big issue before we went into the pandemic and I think it’s an even bigger issue now – particularly for young people.

"That’s why we’ve put forward this very strong plan to ensure people have an opportunity to see the expert they need within a month.”

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