This is available on youtube and as text, it is to my mind one of the best he’s given; he’s clearly more comfortable with the role than previously. The last 11 months of a polling lead which was to leap the following day will have helped, but I hope they don’t believe their propaganda that the May 22 elections was an historic validation of Starmer’s Labour, there were victories but also losses. I have read the speech trying to identify policy promises as opposed to feel-good slogans and anti-tory rhetoric; here are my notes.

 

I made my notes on Diigo, these are quotes from the speech

  • the first step must be to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. The Prime Minister has finally accepted there’s no alternative to Labour’s plan to freeze energy prices.
  • The way to get it back on its feet is with a stronger NHS workforce. That’s the main barrier to capacity right now – staff. … So as Rachel announced yesterday, we will take on an extra 7,500 medical students every year, we will double the number of district nurses, 5,000 new health visitors, 10,000 extra nursing placements.
  • Why we had to show our support for NATO is non-negotiable.
  • So imagine we are looking back at the first term of the next Labour Government. How is Britain different? I’ll tell you. We’ve defeated the cost-of-living crisis and the clouds of anxiety have lifted. Services are there when you need them. Our economy is stable again. Business has the certainty to invest. The NHS is back in good health.
  • And Britain is greener. We’re leading the world on climate change. People look at us and follow our example. New jobs, industries, technologies benefit all parts of the country. … we’re also more dynamic. Our entrepreneurial spirit – unleashed. New technology – improving public services. Cutting edge science and world-class services driving economic growth
  • we will set up an Office for Value for Money.
  • We will only borrow to invest when it’s in the long-term national interest. When the cost of not investing makes it much more expensive for the next generation.*
  • … today I’m so proud to launch our Green Prosperity Plan. A plan that will turn the UK into a green growth superpower. And driving the plan forward is a goal that will put us ahead of any major economy in the world: 100 percent clean power by 2030.  … [we’ll] Back carbon capture. Commit to green steel production. New renewable ports. New gigafactories. And insulate 19 million homes.
  • This will require a different way of working – the biggest partnership between government, business and communities this country has ever seen. It will mean new jobs – more than a million new jobs, training for plumbers, electricians, engineers, software designers, technicians, builders. And it will all start within the first 100 days of a new Labour government. [ No mention of NEDC in Starmer’s speech but it was in Reeves’s. ]
  • a new British sovereign wealth fund will drive us forward on this mission. We will make sure that the public money we spend building-up British industry spurs on private investment, stimulates growth in construction, life sciences, finance and insurance and the British people enjoy the returns.
  • We will end the blight of low pay and insecure work with our New Deal for Working People.
  • The people of Liverpool know what’s best for Liverpool. And the same is true in Burnley, Sunderland, Peterborough, Plymouth. If we want fair growth everywhere, communities need a stake. And they need good affordable housing for working people to own.
  • So we will set a new target – 70% home ownership and we will meet it with a new set of political choices. A Labour set of political choices. …. No more buy-to-let landlords or second homeowners getting in first
  • .. we will scrap business rates, level the playing-field for start-ups and the high street, give employers new flexibility to invest in the world class training they need.
  • .. we need to recruit, train and motivate the very best doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers.
  • .. will revitalise public services and control immigration using a points-based system.

And these, powerful rhetorical flourishes worth are worth remembering,

  • When I talk to working people now, they tell me they work harder and harder just to stand still. That their graft can’t provide their family with a sense of security. That they’re worried their kids won’t have a better life than them.
  • In Grimsby a few months ago I was really struck by a woman I met. She said something to me which was really simple: “I don’t just want to survive; I want to live”.

Ed Miliband was reaching for some of this, i.e. about the intergenerational contract, but Starmer’s language is better. Sometimes he finds and articulates the language of anger and justice.

 

Dave Politics , , ,

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