STARMER'S BATTLE LINES FOR ELECTION

HE SETS OUT FIVE KEY PLEDGES ‘TO GIVE BRITAIN BACK HOPE AND CONFIDENCE’ | Starmer apes Blair as he vows important role for private sector

- Nicholas Cecil

SIR Keir Starmer today set out his battlelines for the next election as he unveiled his five long-term missions for a New Labour-style government.

In a keynote speech in Manchester, the Labour leader vowed to give Britain its “confidence, hope and future” back with a landmark reshaping of how the nation is governed. His blueprint for a “mission-driven” Government was still short on detail on how he would achieve his key aims.

But coming about a month after Rishi Sunak published his five pledges, Sir Keir laid out his rival plan for the general election, expected in 2024.

Its aims, which will be the “backbone of the Labour manifesto” and the “pillars of the next Labour government” if he wins, are to:

Secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 by the end of a Labour first term.

Make Britain a clean energy superpower. 

Build an NHS fit for the future. 

Make Britain’s streets safe and tackle violence against women and girls. 

Break down barriers to opportunity for every child by reforming childcare and education.

With echoes of Tony Blair’s New Labour, Sir Keir stressed there would be a “massive role for the private sector in mission-driven government” and that “everything will not be fixed just by spending more money”.