Sir Keir Starmer has outlined Labour’s ‘Plan for Change’ in a landmark speech, outlining several new milestones which the Labour government hopes to acheive.
The event marked something of a relaunch of Labour’s policy aims, and builds on previously made commitments. The prime minister says the new pledges will define Labour’s aims to be acheived by the end of this parliament.
They include higher living standards, cutting NHS waiting lists clean power, and new infrastructure committments.
Speaking at Pinewood Studios, Sir Keir said: “This government was elected to deliver real change for working people - and that is exactly what we are doing.
“Faced with a dire inheritance, we know that we cannot deliver our Plan for Change alone. Mission-led government means doing things differently, and a decade of national renewal will require the skills and determination of us all.”
The prime minister also insisted that the new plans were not confusing, telling reporters: “These are, if you like, something for the public to use to hold us to account on what we say we can achieve on the missions in the first five years.”
But viewers could be forgiven for struggling to follow along. Putting it all together, Labour’s plan now comprises three foundations, five missions, six milestones, all of which are interconnected.
Responding to Sir Keir’s speech, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the government “doesn’t know what it is doing.”
“The prime minister’s emergency reset confirms that Labour had 14 years in opposition and still weren’t ready for government,” she said.
Here are the six milestones that were announced today:
Living standards: Delivering higher, real, household disposable income and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by the end of the Parliament, as part of the goal of having the highest sustained economic growth in the G7 group of wealthy democracies.
Housebuilding: Building 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects.
NHS targets: Meeting the NHS standard of 92 per cent of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment.
Policing: Putting police back on the beat with a named officer for every community and 13,000 additional officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood roles in England and Wales.
Early years education: Getting a record 75 per cent of five-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school.
Clean energy: Putting the UK “on track” to at least 95 per cent clean power by 2030.
