In his first speech of the New Year, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has set out his priorities for government that would deliver a “decade of national renewal” should his party be successful at the next general election.
Speaking in East London, Sir Keir said that Labour was “under no illusions about the scale of the challenges” ahead, with public sector strikes, the cost-of-living crisis and turmoil within the NHS all posing major issues.
He promised that Labour would bring an end to the Conservative government’s “sticking plaster politics” and finally address long-term problems.
Yet, he suggested that dealing with all of these issues would take time and not be a simple matter of being “able to spend our way” out of the “mess” that the Tories had left.
Much to the chagrin of some on the far left of the Labour party, Sir Keir acknowledged that there would be a need for investment and for a Labour government to work with the private sector to deliver on its ambitions in power.
Sir Keir said: “Of course, investment is required - I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone. But we won't be able to spend our way out of their mess - it's not as simple as that.
“For national renewal, there is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community.”
Explaining to reporters that delivering all services through the state would not be possible, Sir Keir promised that he’d pursue a “partnership” with the private sector which would see an “agile, active state” working together with industry.
Elsewhere in his address, Sir Keir said that he wanted to enable regional communities the chance to “take back control” of their “economic destiny”, promising to turn the former pro-Brexit Vote Leave campaign slogan into a “solution”.
The “solution” Sir Keir pledged would come in the form of new legislation, that would transfer powers from central government to regions and give local authorities new powers over transport, energy, housing, culture, childcare and employment creation in their areas.
Sir Keir said: “The decisions which create wealth in our communities should be taken by local people with skin in the game, and a huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.
“It's not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It's what ‘take back control’ meant (in the 2016 EU referendum). So, we will embrace the ‘take back control’ message but we'll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change.
“That phrase ‘take back control’ was really powerful, it was like a Heineken phrasing, got into people. And the more they ask themselves, ‘do I have enough control?’, the more they answer that question, ‘no’.”
The need to devolve more powers to regional communities has been recognised by the government in its Levelling-Up agenda, with devolution deals being drawn up to give regional mayors greater influence over affairs in their areas.
Another of Labour’s pledges targeted toward dealing with the current NHS crisis is to deliver one of the health service workforce’s “biggest expansions”.
MPs warned last year that the NHS was currently short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives, a statement that was indicative of the scale of the workforce squeeze. As a result, the health service is facing extreme pressures as hospital admissions rise with the onset of winter illnesses, bed-blocking continues, A&E admission and ambulance waiting times increase and the lingering treatment backlog going back to the pandemic edges up.
One of Labour’s plans to finance the training of the new personnel required to alleviate the situation is to abolish non-dom tax status to ensure that more of the wealthy pay their fair share into the public purse.
Although the NHS crisis has been further dogged by industrial action by nurses and ambulance staff in December, Sir Keir also promised that his government would repeal any legislation introduced by the Conservatives that was aimed at curbing strikes.
The Times reports that the government is preparing to announce new legislation that will create new obligations for minimum levels of service provision on strike days. The laws are said to cover critical sectors such as health, the railways and education.
The new laws would give employers the power to dismiss staff who refuse to work to help deliver the minimum level of service expected. They would also empower bosses by enabling them to take legal action against trade unions.
But Sir Keir said that such a move would only “make a bad situation worse” and not improve relations between government and industry.
The Labour leader added that his party would be setting out new policies in the weeks ahead which would form part of Labour’s election manifesto for the next national poll, expected to take place no later than January 2025.
