Skip to main content
Donate to the 95 years appeal
Starmer looks to Vikings for inspiration as gives his speech at Scottish Labour conference
Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech during the Scottish Labour Party conference at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) in Glasgow, February 23, 2025

 PRIME minister Sir Keir Starmer looked to Vikings for inspiration as gave his first speech to Scottish Labour conference as Prime Minister.

Introduced by a young worker at the Harland and Wolff yard in Methil who praised the Labour UK government’s efforts to secure its future by brokering its purchase by Spanish state ship-builder Navantia, Sir Keir took to the stage amid a flurry of speculation that a Grangemouth announcement was in prospect.

That announcement came in the form of a pledge that workers being made redundant at the site could now look forward to 18 months of wages, and the commitment of £200 million in investment to find a future for the site, later cautiously welcomed as “a start” by Unite.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Then children's minister Maree Todd helps fill boxes alongside young people who were all involved in the new design of the baby box as its unveiled at the APS Group in Edinburgh, March 2019
Scotland / 15 August 2025
15 August 2025
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) demonstrate outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, Scotland, December 15, 2022
Communications Workers Union / 15 August 2025
15 August 2025
Unite hospitality strike
Features / 16 August 2025
16 August 2025

A man at Glasgow’s Communist Party stall wearing a James Connolly shirt proclaimed himself a communist, then denounced asylum-seekers as an ‘invading army’ — but compromising won’t help, argues MATT KERR

Similar stories
Members of Unite protest outside the Scottish Labour Confere
Britain / 21 February 2025
21 February 2025
Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman
Britain / 7 February 2025
7 February 2025
Waspi campaigners at Holyrood
Britain / 19 December 2024
19 December 2024