Labour leader Keir Starmer will deliver a major speech in Manchester this morning in which he will set out five bold missions for a better Britain.
The missions will form the backbone of Labour’s election manifesto and will be the five key pillars of a Keir Starmer administration if Labour wins the election. Labour’s missions will be unashamedly long term – looking at ‘a decade of national renewal’. “Long term problems”, he will say, “require long term solutions”.
Keir Starmer believes that the five missions will give Britain a much-needed long-term plan and are intended to tackle some of biggest and thorniest challenges facing the country.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, will say:
“It means providing a clear set of priorities.
“A relentless focus on the things that matter most.
“An answer to the widespread call for someone that can ‘fix the fundamentals.’
“A long-term plan to unlock Britain’s pride and purpose.”
In his new year speech, Keir Starmer spelled out his diagnosis of the current problems facing the country, with an attack on ‘sticking plaster’ politics – short term fixes, usually botched jobs, often responding to the headlines of the day, or the divisions in the Tory Party, but never solving problems for the long term – a sticking plaster, never a cure.
That is what he believes Rishi Sunak’s ‘promises’ represent – the height of sticking plaster politics – designed to get the Tories through the next few months, and attempting to clear up the Tories’ own mess of the last 13 years, but with no ambition for Britain.
Mission driven government, he will say, is about serious plans, properly understanding the root cause of problems and working in partnership with business, trade unions, and civil society. A Labour government will draw on the best expertise, and learning from those on the ground in all parts of the country: “Without a serious plan, there will be no light at the end of a very long tunnel for the British people.”
Labour will set out over the coming months both the measurable ambitions for each mission but also some of the first tangible steps to achieving them, including addressing the immediate crises in the NHS and the economy.
The first of these measurable goals – on growth – will be announced today. Labour’s plan for growth will be at the heart of its election manifesto.
Keir Starmer will say:
“Each mission will be laser-targeted on the complex problems which drive our crises. The root causes that demand new thinking.
“New solutions born in all parts of our country. New ways of harnessing the ingenuity that is all around us.
“Each mission will come with clear, measurable outcomes.”
He will say that missions are not just another word for priorities or promises, they signal both what Labour would do differently, and crucially how it would do it.
“Mission-driven government is a different way altogether.
“Not state control or pure free markets, but a genuine partnership, sleeves rolled-up, working for the national interest. Not command and control, Whitehall knows best. But an approach that understands what national renewal means – change for all, from all.”
Keir Starmer will say:
“The more I delve into these challenges, the more I can see things that are simply not working.
“Things that could be sped up, joined up, given direction, made to work better. This is at the core of my politics. Government can prevent problems, as well as fix them. Can shape markets rather than serving them. Can lead a collective national effort on growth and innovation.
“But without reforming the role of government – none of that will happen. Equally, I’m not concerned about whether investment or expertise comes from the public or private sector – I just want to get the job done. And I mean that – we have to get it done.
“With missions comes greater stability and certainty – instead of a government chopping and changing all the time, blowing with the wind. The missions will be anchor points to show clearly the direction of travel.”
