London (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled “ambitious” plans to reform housing, boost police numbers, and fix ailing health services in a de facto reboot of his government Thursday after a bumpy first five months in power. The Labour leader laid out six targets to “take the country forward” on which voters can judge his administration, seeking to move on from several unpopular decisions that have overshadowed his fledgling premiership.
“Today, we publish new milestones, measurable milestones that will also give the British people the power to hold our feet to the fire,” Starmer said in a speech from a film studio in Buckinghamshire, west of London. The “plan for change” includes “missions to make our country strong, missions to make working people better off, missions this government will deliver,” Starmer added.
Some of the pledges had been announced before, such as building 1.5 million new homes within five years and putting thousands more police on Britain’s streets to tackle anti-social behaviour. Starmer also pledged to improve living standards “in every part of the UK” as his government aims to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, and vowed to cut National Health Service waiting times. A new pledge to improve pre-school education for children and a repeated commitment to achieve 95 percent clean energy by 2030 completed the six milestones, which aim to renew public faith in the government and boost plunging poll ratings.
Notably missing from Starmer’s milestones was a target to bring down immigration numbers. He said that reducing regular and irregular migration was a priority but did not commit to a figure. Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch criticized what she dubbed an “emergency reset” for having “nothing concrete on immigration.” “This relaunch can’t hide the reality of a government that doesn’t know what it is doing,” Badenoch said on X.
Starmer’s government can point to several policies already announced, including the launching of a publicly owned clean energy company and the lifting of a ban on new onshore wind farms. It has also strengthened workers’ rights and announced that the renationalisation of Britain’s railways will commence next spring. Starmer also received praise for his handling of this summer’s far-right riots and has visited more than a dozen countries to repair relations damaged by Brexit.
However, an Ipsos opinion poll on Wednesday found that 53 percent of Britons said they were “disappointed” in what the Labour government had achieved so far. Starmer’s first weeks in office were dominated by controversies over scrapping winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, keeping a child benefit restriction, and for accepting gifts from a wealthy donor. They were also overshadowed by the departure of his chief of staff Sue Gray following intense media scrutiny over her role. Last week, Starmer suffered his first ministerial resignation when Louise Haigh quit as transport secretary.
His finance minister’s debut budget on October 30 failed to provide a more positive narrative after coverage focused on farmers and business owners angry at increases in inheritance tax and employer payroll contributions. Critics say the business tax rise, an increase in the national minimum wage, and plans for higher state borrowing will undermine the Labour government’s overriding mission to fire anaemic growth. Starmer has repeatedly claimed he is taking “tough decisions” after 14 years of Conservative government.
He has accused the Tories of leaving behind a £22 billion ($28 billion) “black hole” in the public finances, a prison system bursting at the seams, and an NHS on its knees. The Conservatives accuse Starmer of exaggeration, but the challenge he faces was highlighted Thursday with NHS leaders warning that hospitals are “busier than ever” and there is “barely a spare bed in the system.” “(There is) no taking our country forward without levelling with you honestly about the trade-offs we must face together,” Starmer said. “The path of change is long. It’s hard. And there are few thanks in the short-term.”
© 2024 AFP
