LABOUR must inspire people and give them hope to ensure victory over the Tories at the next general election, John McDonnell MP said yesterday.

The former shadow chancellor said that the party had to urgently take the fight to the government as Labour would not win power “by default.”

Addressing a fringe meeting at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr McDonnell said: “I think the election could come by spring next year or the following year so we need to get out there urgently.

“This week should be really setting out the basics of Labour’s programme, then we go out on the stomp around the country.

“The potential is enormous, but what I’m worried about is that people think we can win the [next] election by default. 

“You have to inspire people and give them hope so that they come out and support us positively and not just reject the Tories.”

The Hayes and Harlington MP, who was key ally of ex-leader Jeremy Corbyn, urged current boss Sir Keir Starmer to embrace public ownership of key utilities, which polls suggest is backed a majority of both Labour and Tory voters.

Should it win power, the opposition front bench has pledged to renationalise the railway network but to leave the energy sector alone, despite sky-rocketing gas and electricity bills and many smaller providers going bust in recent months.

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack, who also addressed the meeting, warned that Sir Keir is “going against the public mood.

“I think it’s economically and politically wrong and I don’t think it’s chiming with the public mood either — they’re in danger of seriously getting it wrong.”

Cat Hobbs, founder of campaign group We Own It, told delegates that public ownership must be a key part of the response to the cost-of-living crisis, which has seen working people hit by a toxic mix of declining take-home pay and soaring inflation.

She blasted Prime Minister Liz Truss for giving tax breaks to the wealthiest, saying: “There’s a handful of people in this country that this crisis isn’t hitting and almost everyone else is hurting really badly.

“I think there’s a huge opportunity to be on the side of the 99 per cent and to offer real solutions to the problems in their lives.”