- Written by Kate Whannell
- political reporter
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to outline the first steps his party will take if it wins the next election.
The six pledges include a Border Patrol Command to fight the criminal gangs behind the small boat crossings and the recruitment of 6,500 teachers.
Speaking at an event in Essex on Thursday, Sir Keir said the pledge would help start a “decade of national regeneration”.
The Conservatives said the Labor leader was on his “16th fresh start” and had “no coherent plan”.
Last year, Sir Keir outlined five “missions”: growing the UK economy, making Britain a clean energy powerhouse, improving the NHS, reforming the justice system and raising education standards.
The Labor leader has now added a sixth promise, a border plan, as he attempts to assure voters in his speech that he will take “urgent” action on the issue.
The six steps are expected to form a key part of Labour’s election campaign, with some voters recalling the pledge card Tony Blair presented when he led Labor before the 1997 general election. will let you.
- Adhere to strict spending rules to achieve economic stability
- Cut NHS waiting lists by 40,000 more appointments each week – funded by tackling tax avoidance and non-defence loopholes
- Border Patrol Command activated to stop gangs arranging small boat crossings
- Establishment of Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power energy company
- Increase police presence in neighborhoods to reduce anti-social behavior and introduce new penalties for offenders
- It will hire 6,500 teachers and pay for it by eliminating tax breaks for private schools.
Labor has not given an exact date for implementing these policies, but Pat McFadden, shadow business secretary and Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, said the party would implement them “as soon as possible”. .
Mr McFadden told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As soon as I am elected, I will implement the reforms necessary to deliver the first steps.”
He said the six pledges had “been the basis” for the party to prove it “can be trusted with public funds and can be trusted with defence”.
The party will also launch an advertising campaign that will include advertising vans and billboards, marking its biggest advertising spend since the last general election in 2019.
Labor is expected to hold separate presentations to voters in Scotland and Wales in the coming weeks.
This incident is a further sign that the party is in full pre-election mode.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak can choose when to hold an election, but it must be held by January 28, 2025.
Earlier this week, he gave a wide-ranging speech that included strong criticism of his Labor opponent, attacking Sir Keir’s defense spending record and claiming he would make Britain less secure.
A Labor Party spokesperson insisted the six steps were “not the sum total” of the party’s election proposals and insisted the party also supported other policy commitments such as housing and workers’ rights.
“For example…the national minimum wage was not on the pledge card in 1997, but it was one of the Labor government’s most important achievements.Similarly, our manifesto supports our full provision and It will be.” ” He said.
Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden said Labour’s plans would not amount to a “mountain of beans”.
He said the Conservatives were “firmly committed to reducing inflation from 11.1% to 3.2%, strengthening our economy and putting £900 back into the pockets of hard-working people, and a fair immigration system with no boat crossings”. Ta.
Cabinets of shadows piled up on a train leaving London.
The events Labor is organizing are all about creating momentum and attracting attention, they hope. Videos and speeches will be shown, and at the end Sir Keir Starmer will take his turn to answer questions.
Shadow ministers will then walk around beaming in front of the cameras, as they often do after a leader’s speech at a party conference.
The promotional text sent in advance shows Sir Keir taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. These are branded as his first steps, not Labour’s.
It’s very personal, even for the president.
My purpose today is not to say anything completely new. But to turn the existing plan, laid out in the party’s so-called government mandate over the past year-plus, into an easy-to-digest policy text that can be repeated over and over again over the coming months.