The Labour party launched its election manifesto on Thursday at an event at the Co-op headquarters in Manchester. Here are some of the main points.
1.Not surprisingly
Keir Starmer made a direct reference to the fact that there was no “rabbit out of the hat” in the Labour manifesto. “If you want pantomime politics, I hear Clacton is good,” he said, referring to Reform Britain leader Nigel Farage, who is running in Essex.
The lack of new material benefited the party’s efforts to present itself as serious and solid. Starmer wanted voters to know what they were getting into, and he was careful to warn that there was no “magic wand” that would solve the country’s problems.
The manifesto itself was reduced to just five key missions, with core policies focused solely on growth through construction, education, crime, the NHS and clean energy. In the words of rival Conservative election strategist Lynton Crosbie, Labour had “taken the barnacles off the ship” and managed to focus on its core priorities.
2.Growth is king
Starmer’s speeches and election manifesto included references to the priority of growth and the importance of wealth creation. He made a strong case for rejecting the idea that tax and spend are the only tools at government’s disposal.
Starmer highlighted expanded housing and infrastructure projects as a shortcut to spurring growth. He also pointed to plans for a sovereign wealth fund and new clean energy provider, Great British Energy, as examples of how the country could grow from day one.
The message was designed to appeal to former Conservative voters and businesses. But he also argued that growth would be different and would benefit society as a whole. “The way we create wealth is broken.” This puts too many people at risk… Creating wealth is our number one priority,” he said.
3.Tax hikes?
Starmer has faced sceptical questions from the media about what would happen if growth wasn’t fast enough and whether a Labour government would raise taxes, cut spending or relax public borrowing rules.
The Labour leader reiterated that “there are no plans to take any tax measures beyond those we have already put in place.”
But Starmer has not ruled out raising some taxes beyond income tax, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax. If the public finances turn out worse than expected after he takes office, the election manifesto gives Labour room to impose taxes on unearned income such as dividends, capital gains and other wealth taxes, as well as give further tax cuts for businesses and close loopholes.
4.Standards
The only major policy area outside the five missions in the manifesto was a push for improved standards after the scandal-hit parliaments under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Starmer made a big promise to reform the House of Lords by abolishing hereditary peers and introducing age limits. He also promised a new lobbying ban on former ministers and fines for those who break the rules, although he did not say for how long.
But it was his word on the standard by which he would be judged, and he would perform better than Rishi Sunak. “Until we see the action that follows, no one will believe anything has changed. When people break these rules there must be action,” he said.
5.Offer hope and change
Starmer’s slogan, “change”, is simple and memorable. In his speech he wanted to persuade people that politics can bring about change, but also acknowledged that “many people have been robbed of hope”. He said he understood the cynicism about politics but wanted to persuade people that Labour could make a fresh start.
To reinforce this idea that politics can make a difference, he was introduced to a man living in a studio apartment with his family and struggling to make ends meet, a teacher diagnosed with terminal cancer that previously could have been treated by the NHS, and by young people voting for the first time.
Providing 100,000 extra nursery places, school breakfast clubs, improving workers’ rights, and hiring more police and NHS staff were all designed to address the sense that Britain’s public services are breaking down. “This manifesto is a manifesto for change. It’s a rejection of cynicism, of the idea that we can’t do more,” Starmer said.