Keir Starmer outlines his plan for growth and Luciana Berger returns to Labour

This morning, Keir Starmer will continue outlining the “missions” that he has said will form the backbone of Labour’s plans for government. The Labour leader will shortly give a speech in central London, and his comments will focus on the mission to boost economic growth. Starmer will ask the public to “judge me on whether you feel better off after five years of a Labour government” and stress that he is committed to the goal of achieving the “highest sustained growth in the G7”.

Starmer is to be introduced by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is expected to declare that Britain is failing to realise its potential but add: “With Labour’s mission, we will increase economic growth to drive higher living standards and lower poverty, leading to good jobs and stronger public services.” Starmer will seek to emphasise that the commitment to growth is not just about economic expansion by-the-numbers but will focus on “national renewal and national pride”. He will also talk about Labour needing to “find the courage to take on vested interests” within the economy and echo the themes of devolving power to the regions, which formed the core of his new year speech. Starmer will stress that he and the party have a “fundamental belief … [that] … unless we unlock the potential of every region and every nation, we will never fix our economy”.

Labour’s economic growth mission comes with a suite of endorsements from business leaders, including the former Confederation of British Industry director Carolyn Fairbairn, who said Labour’s economic plans constitute “a promising foundation for injecting much-needed growth back into the UK economy”. Among the plans set to be released today is a pledge to change the planning system to allow more young people to purchase property.

Over the weekend, Starmer announced that former MP Luciana Berger would return to Labour, writing that he was “delighted” that she had accepted his invitation to rejoin the party. Berger, who represented Liverpool Wavertree between 2010 and 2019, left the party in 2019 in protest at the handling of antisemitism allegations and having herself been subject to antisemitic abuse. In a letter, Starmer said she had been “forced out by intimidation, thuggery and racism”. He apologised to Berger and said the day she had left would “forever be a stain on Labour’s history”. Responding, Berger wrote that she was “pleased to be returning to my political home”. Speculation is now rife that Berger will make a return to politics, something that she has said she is “not ruling out”, and she was spotted at London Labour’s regional conference last month. She contested Finchley and Golders Green for the Liberal Democrats in 2019, where Sarah Sackman has already been selected to stand for Labour at the next election.