Starmer pledges new powers to local communities with ‘take back control’ bill

Keir Starmer has pledged to “spread control out of Westminster” through a ‘take back control’ bill to be introduced in Labour’s first term in government.

In his new year speech, delivered in East London this morning, the Labour leader declared that his party will “embrace the take back control message” and “turn it from a slogan to a solution” by devolving new powers to local communities.

Starmer said: “The decisions which create wealth in our communities should be taken by local people with skin in the game. And a huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.”

He pledged to devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and council funding and to give communities a “right to request powers which go beyond this”.

“This will be in a new take back control bill – a centrepiece of our first King’s Speech. A bill that will deliver on the demand for a new Britain. A new approach to politics and democracy. A new approach to growth and our economy,” Starmer said.

Discussing the Brexit referendum, the Labour leader said he “couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made”, telling attendees: “People who wanted public services they could rely on. High streets they could be proud of. Opportunities for the next generation. And all of this in their town or city.”

Starmer added: “It was the same in the Scottish referendum in 2014. Many of those who voted ‘yes’ did so for similar reasons. And it’s not an unreasonable demand.

“It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what “take back control” meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.”

Labour said the bill would deliver on Starmer’s plan to build an economy in which “grassroots growth” is prioritised, by ensuring key services are delivered at a local level, with the public being “given the chance to shape them and have much greater say on how money is spent”.

The party said the legislation would enable English towns and cities to develop “credible, long-term growth plans”, delivering “bespoke packages of powers” that would support “new internationally competitive economic clusters in high-value industries” and create high-skilled jobs.

The bill would set out frameworks for local leaders to request and negotiate powers over economic policymaking, which Labour said would establish a “presumption towards moving power [out] of Westminster” and allow local areas to “bid for any powers that have already been devolved elsewhere”.

The legislation would also require the government to respond to any requests, with an “in-built assumption that local areas know best what powers they need”. If ministers are unable to agree to the devolution of certain powers, they would be obliged to set out the conditions that would need to be met for them to do so.

The plans build on the recommendations set out by the commission on the UK’s future, which published its report in December.

The commission, which was led by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, concluded that there should be a constitutional requirement to rebalance the economy and equalise living standards across the country over time.