“The Labour Party is committed to ‘building Britain back again'”: Starmer announced one of the biggest campaigns Labour would undertake if the party came to power. The overall plan is to build 1.5 million homes in urban areas to tackle Britain’s housing crisis through the use of the so-called \u201cgrey belt\u201d lands. \u201cGrey belts\u201d are areas that have “already been built on”, such as abandoned car parks and shopping centres. New affordable housing will be created by bulldozing existing planning restrictions and allowing companies to buy land cheaply.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecade of National Renewal\u201d: Starmer promised a higher level of devolution, specifically that the UK councils would receive higher authority in local policy regulations. This includes management of the local policies, such as distributing public funding for local housing and controlling private bus companies (while Starmer stressed that Manchester and Liverpool already had such powers, this should be extended to all other, smaller councils).<\/p>\n
\u201cA true partnership\u201d: The Labour Party is concerned about the recovery of the British economy. Starmer emphasized that to implement the project of \u201crebuilding\u201d Britain, the party is going to work closely with the private sector and launch a new \u201cNational Welfare Fund\u201d. Labour hopes to:<\/p>\n
“The cost-of-living crisis and the revival of the NHS”:Starmer did not provide a specific action plan or figures, but said reform was needed. \u201cBecause if all we do is place the NHS on a pedestal then I\u2019m afraid it will remain on life support. I know some people don\u2019t like the word \u2018reform\u2019, but I tell you now, there\u2019s no other option,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA New Mindset \u2013 Great British Energy\u201d: The Labour Party aims to invest in clean energy. Labour proposes to do this by creating a new energy company, Great British Energy, which would be based in Scotland: \u201cBecause though Great British Energy will be a shared mission, Scotland has the skills. Scotland has the ingenuity. And Scotland is at the heart of a Britain built to last.” Starmer said: \u201cFor the first time in a long time, we can see a tide that is turning. Four nations that are renewing. Old wounds of division exploited by the Tories and the SNP beginning to heal.\u201d It should be noted also that Labour won seats in the recent Scottish by-elections.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the results of the Labour conference and the proposals of the party leader, experts disagreed. Alex Prior, a lecturer in politics and international relations at London South Bank University, and Clara Eroukhmanoff, a senior lecturer in international relations, argue<\/span><\/a> that Starmer has managed to build a strategy that is \u201crelatable\u201d and attractive to British voters. And while the Conservatives have emphasized Starmer’s knighthood (“They repeat the word \u201cSir\u201d over and over when referring to Starmer in order to imply that he is upper class rather than working class \u2013 his actual background,” experts explain), the Labour leader overturned this narrative. He demonstrated his \u201cauthenticity,\u201d described how his family struggled with poverty as a child andemphasized: \u201cI\u2019ve felt the anxiety of a cost-of-living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you!\u201d<\/p>\n However, David Gauke, a former Conservative cabinet minister and MP for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019, says<\/span><\/a> Labour’s successes are only apparent when compared to Tory failures: “A difference has been made but from a Conservative perspective it is not a positive one. The Tories had a poor conference, Labour a very successful one.\u201d<\/p>\n As Gauke notes, \u201cFor the first time since 1996, this looked like a Labour opposition is destined for election victory,\u201d as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak failed to \u201cdistance himself from the fiscal irresponsibility of Truss and the general irresponsibility of Boris Johnson.\u201d Sunak thus enabledStarmer to \u201ckeep attacking Truss and Johnson\u2026 and tie them to the current Conservative Party.\u201d Gauke also stressed that Starmer had demonstrated \u201cthere was recognition of the importance of a thriving private sector, fiscal responsibility and the limits of the state\u201d and proposed a \u201cmore pragmatic approach to Brexit\u201d and an industrial strategy, thus helping tobring the private sector to Labour’s side. However, \u201cthere remain unresolved tensions,\u201d such as the fiscal situation and rising interest rates on government debt. \u201cIt will become increasingly obvious that taxes will have to go up. Miliband\u2019s \u00a328bn Green Prosperity Plan will likely never be affordable. Labour\u2019s employment rights agenda \u2013 the expansion of collective bargaining, full rights for workers from day one and the abolition of zero-hour contracts \u2013 will cause tensions with business in time. Delivering planning reform is much harder than promising it. Labour\u2019s Brexit policy is too timid to be transformative,\u201d says Gauke.<\/p>\n And Beth Rigby, political editor of Sky News, drew<\/span><\/a> a direct analogy between the campaign strategies of Keir Starmer and Tony Blair: \u201cJust like Blair in 1996, Starmer used his moment to appeal beyond his room to the undecided and doubters, to convince the public his party had really changed and was a party that instead of holding people back would help them on.\u201d Rigby further highlighted the similarities between Starmer’s and Blair’s promises, which focused on “economic growth, work with business, a competitive tax regime and support for enterprise”.<\/p>\n But despite the criticism, the latest poll<\/span><\/a> by The Times showed Sunak’s approval rating against Starmer was at a record lowpost-conference and that Labour had received a boost in confidence votes, with Labour at 47% and the Conservatives at 24%. So, it is clear that the voters\u2019 confidence in the current government is rapidly declining, and Labour\u2019s potential for future electoral success is on a speedy rise.<\/p>\n Photo: \u00a0@Joel Goodman<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n