UK opposition Labour Party sets out 5-point plan with eye on general election

File image: A general view of the House of Commons in London, Britain on March 3, 2021. (Image: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters)

The UK’s opposition Labour Party on Thursday set out a five-point plan to provide the country with a “mission-driven” government in time for the next general election, due to be held next year.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said his five goals – to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7, build a National Health Service (NHS) fit for the future, make Britain’s streets safe, break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage, and make Britain a clean energy superpower – will form the core of the party’s manifesto for the 2024 polls.

With the opposition currently holding a 20-point lead on the governing Rishi Sunak-led Conservative Party, the latest announcement is seen as firing the starting gun on Labour’s ambitions to form a government.

“These missions will form the backbone of the Labour manifesto. The pillars of the next Labour government,” Starmer, 60, said in a speech in Manchester.

“They will be measurable, so we can track progress and be held to account. Long-term so we can look beyond the day-to-day. Informed by experts and the public so we can build a coalition for change. And each will support our drive for growth. Each will help us get our future back,” he said.

Starmer promised to achieve his goal for the British economy “by the end of the first term” and said this would be “powered by good jobs and stronger productivity in every part of the country”.

On law and order, he invoked predecessor and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he promised to be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.

Starmer said he is “not concerned about whether investment or expertise comes from the public or private sector – I just want to get the job done”.

The five central missions are in contrast to the Labour Party’s position in the last general election in 2019 when the party pledged to nationalise energy, rail, mail, and water.

During his speech, the Labour leader repeatedly hit out at the Conservatives for “13 years of sticking plaster politics” which he blamed for many of the country’s problems.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said the Labour leader would “say anything if the politics of that moment suit him”.

In his New Year speech last month, British Prime Minister Sunak, 42, set out his own five goals for the country as growing the economy, halving inflation this year, ensuring the UK’s debt is falling, cutting NHS waiting lists, and passing new laws to stop small boat illegal migrant crossings. P