Today I was listening as usual to “Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg” - How Would Keir Starmer Govern?

This was “Part 2” of the big pitch to voters.

This was not just a message about economic responsibilities when it comes to any Labour government, but also messaging the party is ready for government and a credible choice for the electorate.

Three crucial byelections will test Labour’s support next week. They are keen to ensure that everyone knows that they are riding high in the polls; they want to keep the momentum going and taking these seats will be validatory.

We think we are about a year out from an election - so today’s interview was all about Sir Keir Starmer presenting himself.

There has been much criticism in recent days about how Labour would approach things differently compared to the current Conservative government. Starting with negotiations around public sector pay - Rishi Sunak announced this week that he was accepting the recommendations from the independent pay review body for a pay rise of up to 7% for these workers. This comes after a long running dispute.

Laura Kuenssberg asked Keir Starmer how Labour would approach those negotiations differently. Keir Starmer’s answer was to sort out this current Conservative mess and, “I would do this differently by growing the economy. We have to grow and grow and grow our economy upon which there will be money to spend”.

Laura Kuenssberg: “ . . . if you were Prime Minister right now it's exactly the kind of problem that might face you - a pay dispute with a big powerful union. The doctors say they will not accept it, while Rishi Sunak says no more negotiating.

What would you do: Do you back the junior doctors, or do you back the Prime Minister role”?

Keir Starmer: “We would be round the table negotiating and we would settle this dispute.”

Now of course the economic environment is incredibly difficult, and Labour has acknowledged that if they were to come into power at the next election they will be operating in very difficult circumstances. Of course, we hear a lot about inflation running high and interest rates set to potentially rise even further than in recent times.

So, the question around how we would fund public services was posed to the Labour leader and what exactly he would do with the finances. Keir replied that a Labour government would spend more money on public services.

Laura Kuenssberg: “Do you believe years of austerity has damaged the public sector; do you believe that part of the answer has to be more money? “

Keir Starmer: “A Labour government always wants to invest in its public services . . . [we need] to grow our economy; let me give you the example of the last labour government.

We've now had thirteen years of this government, more or less in fact 13 years since the last Labour government grew the economy and had 10s of billions of pounds more to spend on our public services. That's what I want to replicate - to grow our economy so we've got that yield to put into our public services.”

Now it's interesting watching this interview with the Labour leader. Criticism in recent days from some of the unions includes he isn't being bold and radical. He needed to get across to those who have been criticising him that, just because the economic climate is difficult, Labour won't stop committing to the reforms that they and many others are calling for, if they come into government.