“There is no quick fix to the mess that the Tories have made of this country,” declared Keir Starmer, as he unveiled his six election pledges and promised “a decade of national renewal”.
Speaking from Essex, at an event attended by his entire shadow cabinet, the Labour leader insisted this six-point plan was “fully funded and ready to go”.
Starmer pledged to cut NHS waiting lists by providing 40,000 more appointments each week – funded by tackling tax avoidance and non-dom loopholes – and to recruit 6,500 new teachers, paid for through ending tax breaks for private schools. He reiterated plans, announced last week, to create a new border security command to stop small boat crossings, promised to crack down on antisocial behaviour by putting 13,000 neighbourhood police on the streets and vowed to set up Great British Energy, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas giants. Underpinning all these plans was a final pledge to stabilise the economy by sticking to tough spending rules.
