Keir Starmer unveiled his five ‘missions’ for government today – but has already been forced to admit watering down previously pledges.
The Labour leader said he was making the ‘case for change’ and the UK could be the fastest-growing G7 country as he delivered a keynote speech.
Sir Keir told an audience of activists in Manchester that his government would be ‘mission-driven’ and his goals were ‘laser-focused’. Echoing the five-point blueprint set out by Rishi Sunak last month, he said voters would be able to ‘measure’ his success.
But he was also left blustering as he was challenged over ditching previous promises from his leadership campaign, including nationalising energy firms. He insisted the vows have not ‘all been abandoned’ and he had needed to ‘adapt’ after Covid and the Ukraine war.
But Sir Keir refused to stand by his commitment to abolish tuition fees, merely saying he would look at what is ‘affordable’.
He has also marked out a significantly different tone on ‘jihadi bride’ Shamima Begum, saying judges were right to refuse her appeal against being stripped of British citizenship.
With polls consistently showing Labour has a double-digit lead over the Tories, Sir Keir is facing mounting pressure to set out what he would do in government.
Keir Starmer unveiled his five ‘missions’ for government today – but has already been forced to admit watering down previously pledges
Sir Keir told an audience of activists in Manchester that his government would be ‘mission-driven’ and his goals were ‘laser-focused’
Sir Keir was accompanied by a host of shadow cabinet colleagues including deputy leader Angela Rayner (right)
A YouGov voting intention survey released yesterday showed the Tories on just 22 per cent of the vote, down two points from two weeks ago
The ‘five missions’ are intended to counter the five key pledges announced by Rishi Sunak last month and will form the backbone of Labour’s election manifesto.
But while Mr Sunak vowed to ‘stop the boats’ – with new laws to ban those using the Channel route from claiming asylum – Sir Keir did not make any commitments on immigration.
Instead he jibed that the government was not following Labour’s proposals of creating a dedicated NCA team.
The issue could become a vital battleground in the looming general election, expected to be towards the end of next year.
Sir Keir used Tony Blair’s promise of being ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ as he set out his national missions.
‘Mission one – secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 with good jobs, productivity growth in every part of the country, growth that makes everyone, not just a few, better off.
‘Mission two – build an NHS fit for the future by reforming health and care services to speed up treatment, harness life sciences and technology, reduce preventable illnesses and cut health inequalities.
‘Mission three – make Britain’s streets safe by reforming the police and criminal justice system, preventing crime early, tackling violence against women and girls and stopping criminals getting away without punishment.
‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’
The fourth mission was to ‘break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage, for every child, by reforming childcare, reforming education, raising standards everywhere and preparing young people for work and life’ and the fifth was to make Britain ‘a clean energy superpower’.
Earlier, Sir Keir denied dropping all the pledges that won him the party’s leadership contest but said some needed to be ‘adapted’.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: ‘So far as the pledges when I ran for leader are concerned, they are important statements of value and principle.
‘And they haven’t all been abandoned by any stretch of the imagination. But what I have had to do is adapt some of them to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
‘Since I ran for leader, we’ve had Covid, we’ve had the conflict in Ukraine, we’ve had a Government that has done huge damage to our economy. Everybody recognises that.’
Asked about his leadership nationalisation pledge, Sir Keir said his team last year had found ‘we would have to spend a lot of public money on public ownership, that because the energy companies were still buying on the international market, it wouldn’t lower the price and we wouldn’t be able to lower the bills for people into the autumn’.
He added: ‘Having done that analysis, I took the political choice that it would be better to have an energy price freeze paid for by a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies that made profits they didn’t expect to make.’
Yesterday Mr Sunak mocked Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions over the plan. He said: ‘We have heard that tomorrow he’s going to announce five missions.
‘But we already know what they are – it’s uncontrolled immigration, it’s reckless spending, it’s higher debt and it’s softer sentences. And for the fifth pledge, Mr Speaker, it’s that he reserves the right to change his mind on the other four.’
And last night Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: ‘Keir Starmer will say anything if the politics suit him. He lacks principles and has no new ideas.’
Sir Keir will only outline his five pledges in his speech this morning before fully launching two of them for May’s local elections, with the remainder staggered in the run-up to the general election.
He will urge voters to judge on whether he can deliver growth for every region as part of a ‘decade of national renewal’.
Mr Sunak’s five pledges was to ‘stop the boats’, with new laws to ban those using the Channel route from claiming asylum and deport them swiftly
A grim poll yesterday showed Labour has surged 28 points ahead of the Tories.
The YouGov voting intention survey showed the Tories on just 22 per cent of the vote, down two points from two weeks ago.
Labour was on 50 per cent of the vote, an increase of three percentage points.
The Lib Dems were on 9 per cent, down one point, the Greens were unchanged on 6 per cent and Reform UK were on 7 per cent, up one point.
Critics said the survey contained many in the 24 to 49-year-old age bracket, who are more likely to vote Labour.
But it followed other polls published in the previous 48 hours that also put Labour well ahead. A Deltapoll survey found Labour had a 22-point lead while a Redfield & Wilton survey put the party on a 27-point lead.
