Labour leader crashes lorry while being given HGV-driving lesson
It’s Keir Starmaaaagh! Labour leader crashes lorry while being given HGV-driving lesson in Greater Manchester
- Sir Keir Starmer was visiting a HGV training centre in Greengate, Manchester
- He was told ‘you’d have failed his test’ during a crash course in HGV driving
- Prior to visit Sir Keir’s urged Government to tackle haulage driver shortages
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was told ‘you’d have failed your test’ after he was given a crash course in HGV driving today.
Sir Keir had been visiting a HGV driver training centre in Greengate, Middleton, Greater Manchester, amid his party’s repeated calls for the Government to act on haulage driver shortages, when he was offered the chance to get behind the wheel.
However just moments later comical footage showed Sir Keir crash the large vehicle into metal frames behind him as his instructor confirmed: ‘You’d have failed your test.’
The visit to the HGV training provider comes after Sir Keir urged the Government to tackle haulage driver shortages ‘before yet another Christmas is ruined by Tory failure’.
Sir Keir Starmer reverses the lorry during a visit to a HGV driver training centre in Greengate, Middleton, Greater Manchester, today
Just moments later the Labour leader crashes the large vehicle into metal frames behind him
During the clip, the Labour leader is seen carefully reversing the HGV lorry as his instructor sat beside him gives him instructions.
However just seconds later a crash is heard in the background as the lorry collides into metal structures behind and Sir Keir’s instructor says: ‘Put it in neutral, handbrake on. Turn your ignition off.
‘You’d have failed your test.’
The Labour leader begins to remove his seat belt before replying: ‘OK very good. Very good.’
Speaking ahead of his visit today Sir Keir said: ‘The haulage sector is trying to save Christmas, get medical supplies to where they’re needed and keep our forecourts open, whilst the Government is missing in action with their out of office on.
‘This is a crisis made in Downing Street but so far being mopped up by businesses and workers.
‘The industry has warned they need 15,000 extra drivers to meet Christmas food deliveries alone, which a sticking plaster boot camp scheme just isn’t going to deliver.
‘This Government must break the habit of their decade in power by acting with the urgency required before yet another Christmas is ruined by Tory failure.
Sir Keir Starmer looks at his side mirrors and he tries to navigate the lorry at the training centre
Seconds after the crash the Sir Keir instructor says: ‘Put it in neutral, handbrake on. Turn your ignition off. You’d have failed your test’
‘Ministers need to listen to industry to build a secure HGV workforce, they must set out how exactly they are going to attract people to training, including by listening to Labour’s plan to create more apprenticeships, and ultimately address how they are going to improve pay and conditions for this vital sector.’
The latest scenes come just days after Sir Keir Starmer revealed his nickname of ‘Special K’ as he paid a visit to a Kellogg’s factory in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester.
The Labour leader, who met business leaders, apprentices and trade union representatives to discuss problems with distribution and shortages, told reporters he shared a name with one of the manufacturer’s well-known brands.
He said: ‘I’ve been dubbed Special K since I was born, K for Keir.’
Prior to his visit, Sir Keir criticised the Prime Minister for ‘refusing to take responsibility’ for shortages and ‘offering only jokes and slogans’.
He said: ‘Boris Johnson failed to act when industry warned him of driver shortages months ago, allowing this chaos to develop.
‘Without an adequate plan to recruit and train more drivers now, the chaos will continue as demand rises in the run-up to Christmas.
‘Britain needs a high-wage high-productivity economy, but this Government has no plan to get there.
‘Instead, wages are stagnant, bills are rising, and the Conservatives are raising taxes on working families and small businesses.’
Source: Read Full Article