Keir Starmer ditches ANOTHER Labour pledge of free bus travel for under-25s as he says Britain would be better if Corbyn had become PM… before heading to Davos summit

• Keir Starmer has admitted series of Labour pledges are unlikely to come to pass
• Insisted during LBC phone-in that UK would be better with Jeremy Corbyn as PM
• The Labour leader is heading to Davos for the World Economic Forum this week 

Keir Starmer jettisoned another Labour pledge today admitting that he cannot stand by the offer of free bus travel for under-25s.

Sir Keir said the 2019 manifesto should be treated as ‘gone’ as he was grilled over ditching a swathe of commitments.

The Opposition leader also insisted that Britain would be better off if hard-Left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn had become PM – rather than guiding the party to an historic trouncing.

Speaking during an LBC phone-in as he prepares to head for the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Sir Keir said he had to be ‘realistic about what is possible’ after Covid and with the war in Ukraine raging.

He said the next Labour manifesto will need to be written ‘from scratch’, and everything will be fully costed. 

Asked about the promise of free bus travel for young people, Sir Keir said that was also ‘under review’. 

Speaking during an LBC phone-in as he prepares to head for the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Keir Starmer said he had to be ‘realistic about what is possible’ after Covid and with the war in Ukraine raging

Pressed on whether the country would be in a better position if Jeremy Corbyn (right) had won the 2019 election, Sir Keir said: ‘We could hardly be in a worse place.’

Pressed on whether the country would be in a better position if Mr Corbyn had won the 2019 election, Sir Keir said: ‘We could hardly be in a worse place.’

Yesterday Sir Keir refused to stand by his pledge to abolish tuition fees, in the latest of a string of U-turns.

Despite making the promise when he ran to be leader in 2020, he sidestepped questions on whether it still stood. 

He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: ‘I think the tuition fees system needs to be changed, I don’t think it’s working.

‘But looking at the damage that’s been done to the economy… we will only make commitments that we can afford at the next general election so we need to look at that promise again.’

His refusal to commit to the policy follows shifts on Brexit, the NHS and welfare. 

Sir Keir last week struggled to explain major volte faces over his pledges to defend EU free movement and ban the NHS from using private sector capacity.

He has also retreated on commitments to nationalise public utilities, has warned against tax rises – even on the richest – and it was confirmed the party would not scrap Universal Credit.

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