Keir: Tories beaten hope out of Britain

Starmer vows to level up regions for real

-  LIZZY BUCHAN and ASHLEY COWBURN

KEIR Starmer said the Tories "beat the hope" out of Britain as he launched Labour's campaign for the local elections.

The Labour leader berated PM Rishi Sunak for "bottling" a May general election, saying: "I was hoping we'd be launching a different election campaign here today." And he accused Sunak of failing to deliver on former PM Boris Johnson's flagship promise to stamp out regional inequalities.