Labour appealed to pensioners and young families with election promises to increase “wealth” and “turn the tide” on the Conservative government’s performance.
Sir Keir Starmer will launch Labour’s election manifesto in Manchester today, where he will “speak directly” to these two groups of voters.
The Labour leader is expected to promise “change” to voters if he becomes Prime Minister, with a shadow minister saying his plans will be “rooted in the realities of people’s lives”. I.
He also countered concerns about real-world spending cuts, saying growth of the kind seen under the previous Labour government could add an extra £70 billion to public services.
writing I Speaking ahead of the announcement, shadow budget chief Jonathan Ashworth said Starmer would set out a “bold vision for growth and wealth creation” and promise “stability, investment and reform”.
Mr Ashworth said: “Keir has transformed the Labour Party with his strong leadership and today he will speak directly to Britain’s families and pensioners to set out how he will transform the country. Labour’s manifesto will be rooted in the realities of people’s lives.”
“There are working families struggling every day to make ends meet,” Mr Ashworth said, accusing Chancellor of losing touch with reality.
He accused the Conservatives of presenting unfunded policies in the form of a “wish list” and claimed there was “no money for it.”
And in contrast to Labour’s promises of cautious economic policy, Ashworth said Labour would “set out a detailed costing plan to transform the country and get us out of the high tax, low growth cycle the Conservatives have got us into”.
Labour has not announced any plans to cut taxes, but Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have said there will be no increases to income tax, national insurance or VAT.
Mr Starmer has not ruled out raising other taxes, such as capital gains tax and inheritance tax, if he comes to power, but said there will be no “fiscal surprises” in the manifesto.
Mr Ashworth said Labour would create jobs, invest in clean energy and reform welfare and public services to “get people back to work”.
The party said it would maintain the triple lock on the state pension, increasing it each year in line with cost of living and wage increases, and introduce free breakfast clubs in primary schools.
“Unlike the Conservatives, all our reforms will be fully costed – we will know where every single penny is coming from,” he said.
Mr Starmer also promised to cut NHS waiting times, set up new border forces to tackle boat crossings, crack down on anti-social behaviour and hire more teachers.
But the chancellor is under pressure over the possibility of making real-world spending cuts to public services, with Labour promising to stick to current fiscal rules that prevent further borrowing for day-to-day spending.
Mr Starmer will likely double down on his plans, saying “if we can grow the economy as much as the previous Labour government, we can invest an extra £70 billion worth of public services”.
He will describe Labour as “the party of wealth creation” and “the party of business and workers”.
A Declaration on “The Realities of People’s Lives”
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour candidate and Shadow Treasurer
After 14 years of chaos and decline under Conservative government, it’s time for change. Today, Keir Starmer outlines what that change will look like.
Keir has transformed the Labour party with his strong leadership and today he will speak directly to Britain’s families and pensioners to set out how he will transform the country.
Labour’s manifesto will be rooted in the realities of people’s lives.
Every day in Leicester we see working families struggling to make ends meet: prices are soaring in the shops, choice is scarce on the supermarket shelves, energy bills are soaring, pensioners are left shivering in the cold and mortgage repayments are skyrocketing because of the Conservative government’s reckless attitude to the economy.
Shadow Lord Treasurer Jonathan Ashworth (Photo: Getty)
Rishi Sunak has no idea. At the Conservative manifesto launch at Silverstone on Tuesday he said with a straight face that the economy was “getting healthier every week”. Yet less than 24 hours later, things have gone spectacularly wrong.
Unemployment has risen by around 200,000 since Rishi Sunak became chancellor – it is the first time since 1979 that employment numbers will end a parliament lower than when it started.
Instead of a credible plan for the future, the Conservatives have panicked and presented a desperate wish list. Billions of pounds promised but unfunded. No savings to be found. No money. As night follows day, it means another five years of chaos under a Tory government and an extra £4,800 in mortgage repayments.
They have learnt no lessons from Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget. It doesn’t need to come to this.
Keir Starmer will set out a bold vision for growth and wealth creation for families across this country. We will turn the tide and deliver stability, investment and reform.
We will break out of the high tax, low growth cycle the Conservatives have trapped us in, with a detailed and costly plan to transform our country.
Our industrial plan will create good, good-paying jobs for people and our investment in clean, renewable energy sources will cut your energy bills forever.
We will get people back to work through a programme of welfare reform, skills reform and public service reform.
Britain’s retirees have worked hard all their lives and played by the rules – we will guarantee them an increase to their state pension through the triple lock.
Families with young children, long neglected by the Conservatives, will benefit from free breakfast clubs in primary schools, and we will help young people who have been locked out of their dreams of home ownership get onto the home-buying ladder.
Unlike the Conservatives, all our reforms will be fully costed – you will know where every penny is coming from.
The British people know the cost of Conservative chaos – they want an alternative, not a repeat of the same chaos.
Keir Starmer has transformed the Labour Party and now he is ready to change the country. Today’s manifesto is our plan for change.
“Wealth creation is our number one priority. Growth is our core business, the objective and means of our national renewal. Economic growth is the mandate we are asking for Britain in this election.”
He said his manifesto represented “a complete change of direction, focused on our cause. A government that serves its people and its families.”
He will argue that Labor’s strict spending controls, promise of a long-term industrial plan and a cap on corporation tax at 25% will ensure economic stability.
And he will say his plans to set up Great British Energy will “accelerate the transition to clean electricity” and create jobs.
He also said the revised plan would enable the construction of 1.5 million homes and new infrastructure.
The manifesto promises to give local mayors greater powers over local spending, double down on Labour’s promises to help more people get into work through employment service reforms and strengthen workers’ rights.
And he promises to “reform our immigration and skills system to ensure Britain can develop home-grown skills in a workforce plan that meets the needs of our industries and economy”.
I made clear last week that the manifesto would include a commitment to reduce net migration, but would not include a specific numerical target.
Israel is also expected to go a step further than the current administration and promise to recognise a Palestinian state before the end of peace talks.
Labour has not committed to scrapping the controversial cap on second-child benefits, but party insiders have said they expect to try to find a way to repeal the policy during this parliament.
In its plans to strengthen workers’ rights, Labour will protect the right to collective bargaining and promise to ban “fire and re-hire” practices and “exploitative” zero-hours contracts.
Labour will not promise to roll back the new voter ID rules introduced by the Conservative government, but it will promise that military and armed forces cards will remain valid.
As the in-house writer for GallantCEO.com I prefer to remain anonymous as I do not seek anything from my writing only the self gratification of writing for a good cause such as this.
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