‘Labour will put country before party with our five national missions’

Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar at the launch of Labour's green energy mission.
Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar at the launch of Labour’s green energy mission.
A year ago today, Keir Starmer set out a bold, new plan for mission government. Five ambitious, long term missions to end sticking plaster politics.
This is a different approach to governing. We know mission-driven government brings results – look at Attlee’s creation of the NHS or New Labour’s mission to end child poverty.

Tory short termism is holding Britain back

Keir Starmer wants to replicate this across our entire government to end the chronic Tory short-termism which is holding Britain back.  

In the 12 months since the missions launched, the Conservative plan has failed and Rishi Sunak’s pledges have crumbled. His headline promise – to grow the economy – lies in tatters. 

Make no mistake, this is Rishi’s recession. The economy is smaller now than when Sunak entered 10 Downing Street. GDP per person fell every quarter last year. 

The average British family is now 20% worse off compared to German counterparts.  

Families and businesses are worried

Families and businesses are rightly worried. The Conservatives are rudderless, lurching from crisis to crisis.

Meanwhile, the problems they pledged they would fix only get worse. Debt is at record levels. Inflation is still too high. NHS waiting lists are longer than they were 12 months ago. Sunak’s plan has failed.   

In stark contrast, this changed Labour Party is laser-focused on the issues that matter to the British people.

Labour’s missions show we’re a party back in the service of working people

Unlike the Tories, the bold goals which underpin our missions are not written to appease party members but to improve the lives of the British people. Country before party: a Labour Party back in the service of working people. 

That’s why Keir Starmer and his team have spent the past 12 months developing the detailed delivery plans for each of those missions. The plan from Tory stagnation to Britain’s future.

Ambitious, long term goals require ambitious, long-term policies. That’s what Keir Starmer set out when he launched each mission and that is what Labour has built on in the months since.  

Labour will not play fast and loose with Britain’s finances

Two million more NHS appointments, transforming planning to get Britain building, and creating 500,000 new jobs in industries of the future. All of these are ambitious, yet deliverable. 

And crucially, they are all fully funded. We will never play fast and loose with Britain’s finances the way the Tories and Liz Truss did. 

Keir Starmer will take the missions to Britain’s towns and cities

October’s Labour Party conference saw our missions become the campaigns which will define our offer to the British people. The next steps will take these campaigns out across Britain’s towns and cities.  

Keir’s missions tour is showing communities across the country the change Labour will deliver. 

How we can make this generation of children the healthiest ever with a Child Health Action Plan.

How a publicly owned energy company – GB Energy – can bring bills down. 

How a crackdown on crime can bring pride and respect back to your community. 

Experts back our mission driven approach

Policy experts, business leaders and unions all back Keir Starmer’s mission-driven approach. This approach is framing the debate in Westminster, too. As William Hague has said: ‘Every Prime Minister needs a mission – or they’re sunk.’

There’s no doubt that Rishi Sunak – a Prime Minister without a plan, without a mission and without the support of his party – is sinking like a stone.

A year on from Keir Starmer’s missions launch, as Britain’s future under the Tories looks bleaker by the day, Britain is crying out for change.

This is about serious government with a long term plan to tackle country’s long term problems vs sticking plaster politics and Tory psychodrama.

It’s about a decade of national renewal – that only Labour, and only mission-driven government, can deliver. 

More from LabourList

DONATE HERE

Do you value LabourList’s coverage? We need your support.

Our independent journalists have been on the ground during this local and by-election campaign, which marks the first key electoral test of Keir Starmer’s government. 

We’ve been out and about with Labour activists and candidates across the country from Bristol to Hull, and will soon be heading to Cambridgeshire and Lancashire – as well as Runcorn and Helsby. We’ve also polled readers for their views on the campaign.

LabourList relies on donations from readers like you to continue its fair, fast, reliable and well-informed news and analysis. We don’t have party funding or billionaire owners. 

If you value what we do, set up a regular donation today.

DONATE HERE