LABOUR leaders have used their Christmas messages to highlight the “very best of Britain,” promising to ensure that key workers “get the pay rise and the respect they deserve” next year.

Sir Keir Starmer thanked key workers, describing them as “our country’s rock” and acknowledged that many – including emergency-service workers, NHS staff and carers – “will have to step up again, one more time, this Christmas.” 

The Labour leader also reminded the country that the vaccine means “there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

He will urge people to capture the spirit shown during the pandemic to “rebuild a better future for our country.”

Deputy Leader Angela Rayner published her own message yesterday, reflecting on the tough year and paying tribute to the key workers who have kept Britain going throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

Her message said: “There are no words that I can say that will even come close to doing you justice. We all owe you a debt which can never be repaid.”

Looking to the future, Ms Rayner committed the Labour Party to fighting to ensure that key workers “get the pay rise and the respect that [they] deserve” next year.

Ms Rayner ended her Christmas message by acknowledging the “sacrifices of our key workers on the frontline” and the “spirit of the British people in keeping each other safe.”

Labour has however not responded to union calls for action on pay rises and fair working conditions for staff.