Sir Keir Starmer claimed social mobility was “going backwards” under the Tories as he pledged to “break the link” between people’s circumstances when they are born and “where they end up”. 

The Labour leader will deliver a major speech in Gillingham this morning in which he will set out the last of his five “missions” which will guide a potential future Labour government. 

The fifth mission is to “break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage, for every child”. Focusing on the need for education reform, Sir Keir will promise to smash the “class ceiling” if his party wins the next general election. 

Speaking ahead of his speech, Sir Keir told BBC Breakfast: “The ambition is to remove barriers to opportunity and really I would describe it as saying we want to break the link between where people start in life as children and young people and where they end up because for years that has been flatlining or going backwards, this sense that you are determined more by the earnings of your parents than you are by your talent. 

“That is why one of the ways I have described this is breaking the class ceiling that we still have in our society.” 

The Tories accused Labour of offering “empty words” on education reform and claimed the party offered “nothing but flip flop after flip flop”. 

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