What are the Top Ten Priorities for Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour Leadership This September?

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"All Aboard" Flower box train feature Brockenhurst railway station New Forest Dorset
  1. International relations

The new Labour government’s leader Sir Keir Starmer is all about service to the country and the community we live in. Sir Starmer is keen to build on Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s good relationships with Europe, America and our international partners around the world.

Fortunately for Keir Starmer the new Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his senior team was able to attend the North Atlantic Trade Organisation NATO conference and network with other international leaders and strategic allies of Great Britain and Northen Ireland shortly after winning the General Election.

On the 18th July the European Political Community (EPC) summit was held at historic Blenheim Palace. (1)

  1. Defence spending

Sir Keir Starmer has committed to spending 2.5% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defence spending including £3 billion per year on military aid to Ukraine for as long for as it is needed. Initial meetings with American President Joe Biden at the international North America Trade Organisation NATO gave the new Prime Minister for the UK an opportunity to encourage our political allies to support Ukrainians in defending their country from Russian invasion.

This week the Prime Minister flew to America to meet with President Joe Biden once more to discuss the eastern European conflict and how to support Ukraine. It has been widely reported that the two leaders discussed the controversial decision to sanction long-range missiles and other weapons, as the threat from Russian bombardment continues to devastate Ukrainian towns and cities, with many more civilian lives lost again in recent days.

  1. National public disorder problems and security challenge

A major security challenge faced Keir Starmer and his leadership team in the form of widespread public disorder in England this summer. The unrest was sparked on the 30th July 2024 by incorrectly spread disinformation about the ethnicity of a man who carried out a shocking and tragic stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in the northern coastal town of Southport.

Street protestors tuned violent and the far-right thugs attacked mosques and other public places that shelter England’s multicultural community. Dozens of police officers were injured.

Hundreds of rioters have been prosecuted so far along with several adults who knowingly and deliberately spread disinformation and lies on social media.

We will analyse the summer riots and the consequences for labour and the country in another article with more detail soon. The violence quickly diminished after it was clear that any person threatening or hurting innocent members of the public and policemen and policewomen would not be tolerated.

The courts have been working overtime over the last month in order to process and prosecute up to 250 people who have been accused of rioting and violence in several protests in communities across England at the beginning of August, particularly in the Manchester region of England.

  1. Tackle pressure on prisons

The previous Conservative government understood that prison places were nearly at capacity in England and Wales and there has been some investment in providing new facilities and places for those that have broken the law and received jail sentences. However, these efforts did not go far enough to prevent Labour coming to power to find many prisons in England are currently struggling to meet the basic demands of prisoners. This includes containing violence and prevent incidents of self-harm within prisons.

Keir Starmer and his leadership team have already made tough decisions. This month Labour leaders have chosen to release up to thousands of prison inmates who have been convicted of relatively less serious offences. The chosen prisoners will be able to walk out of incarceration after they have served up to only 40% of their sentences in some cases. (Source BBC Radio 4 News PM show Friday 6 September 2024).

  1. Public sector pay review

The public sector pay review has been a key priority for the new Labour government. This has been especially in focus because of the serious impact to the delivery of health services during the recent National Health worker strikes, such as the junior doctors strikes.

Not everyone is in agreement that this is the right way to go about getting value for taxpayers and their families in their National Health Services. On the BBC Radio 4 “Any Questions” show today, Alex Salmond previously First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014 criticised the Labour party for cutting fuel credits for pensioners not on welfare benefits after quickly giving public sector workers such as doctors and train drivers above inflation wage increases. (8)

  1. Improve National Health Service standards and long wait times for treatment

Labour has promised to deal with the situation of long wait times of up to a year or more for National Health Service treatment that is experienced by millions of citizens in England. Despite the lockdowns and shutdowns that were supposed to avoid additional impact on the healthcare system Covid disruption has left a backlog of health treatment that has been hard to catch up with. This is despite the amazing work by NHS managers, doctors, nurses and their teams.

Extra funding over the past few years allocated from central government has not solved the problems which cause long waits for treatment in some departments.

Some of the causes of not being able to get on top of the long waits for treatment are complex system failures such as cuts in social care, building and infrastructure underinvestment, medical staff strikes and sickness, training, burnout and recruitment and retention problems.

The Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting declared the NHS to be “broken” so the only way is up for Labour to work with healthcare leaders across the UK to transform the beloved NHS into an efficient and effective organisation for everyone in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to be proud of every day. (6)

  1. Supporting families and children

Labour is in the process of rolling out the Conservative’s policy of at least 15 hours free childcare hours for every child over the age of 2 years. Free breakfast clubs will also be available to all primary aged school children. This will support families and enable more parents to go back to work. Extra funding will be available to pay for training thousands of teachers in subjects where there is currently a shortage. (7)

There is a lot of support for reversing the two-child benefit cap in England (this has already been scrapped in Scotland) However, speaking on ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ Chancellor Rachel Reeves has not committed to doing this yet this year, due to insufficient funds being available at the Treasury, to pay for the increase in benefits. (9)

This is controversial for many politicians including the Green party who support the reversal of this policy. This is because if benefits were increased to families that need them and reflected the number of children in any English household, this would immediately enable thousands of children to move out of poverty. Many of the poorest larger family households in the UK currently are choosing between spending on heating or eating, this winter already.

It was announced today that advertising on a variety of unhealthy foods and drinks are being banned before 9pm with effect from October 2025. This decision by the Labour party leadership is in an effort to prevent obesity and health problems due to the unnecessary overconsumption by children and young people of foods and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt.

Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said “These restrictions will help protect children from being exposed to advertising of less healthy food and drinks, which evidence shows influences their dietary preferences from a young age” (10)

  1. The growth economy and employment strategy: increasing the number of adults currently in work

Labour aims to reduce unemployment and help people who are on long term sickness leave to rejoin the labour market and become economically active again. Government figures show that several hundreds of thousands more working age people left the UK workforce during and after all the difficulties experienced because of covid disruption and an increase in health problems in recent years.

Liz Kendall is the new Work and Pensions Secretary and intends to rejuvenate old fashioned Job Centres and provide new schemes to provide customised help to people to help them overcome the barriers to retuning to work.

The New Deal for Working People aims to strengthen existing workers’ rights and improve working conditions across the national workforce.

There is no doubt that minimising stress for working men and women increases happiness, health and productivity. Critics have been concerned that regulations that increase an employer’s responsibilities and legal costs may actually have a negative impact on economic growth in the long term, making companies more hesitant to recruit and hire extra people.

Labour plans for raising much needed government income

Up to £2.6 billion is estimated, by the Chancellor and her financial team, is able to be additionally generated in tax revenue, by closing existing ‘non-dom’ (residents who are not tax domiciles based in the UK) tax loopholes.

This is of course a debatable ‘quick tax win’ as many multi-millionaires and billionaire’s resident in London and the UK can quite easily choose where in the world, they wish to invest their money and be a tax resident.

Therefore, this policy may well have the opposite effect to that which is intended and affect the government’s economic coffers in a negative direction once introduced, should hundreds or thousands of high-net-worth individuals decide to quickly take their spending power and tax revenue elsewhere. (7)

  1. Build 1.5 million homes

Rachel Reeves wants to “get Britain building again” The Chancellor says this is important and it will help economic growth in the United Kingdom. (9)

Challenges include the existing planning system and the ongoing tension between local councils, local residents and government planning policy and planning regulations. Chancellor Rachel Reeves wants to reform the planning system and introduce a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which focuses on enabling economic growth across the country.

Another factor to consider is the current availability of a sufficiently skilled labour force to deliver the central government target of such a high number of new build properties, every day.

Labour will continue the efforts by the previous conservative government to improve the number, quality and availability of housing across the country. There is huge demand for social affordable housing for those on lower incomes. Thsi is because over the previous decades, it is agreed by all parties, that we have not built enough of the kind of social housing that many individuals and families on a budget desperately need.

Many areas in counties all over England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have new housing that does not effectively meet the needs of the local people but is the type of residential building that has suited the requirements of private developers and house builders. Privately owned housebuilders are usually primarily focused on making a profit and keep their business operations running smoothly.

Labour is looking at the complex area of planning policy to see where the opportunities for simplifying and improving the system are. This is a complicated and expensive area but with the issue of providing enough new housing, like solving the homeless problem in the UK, it is not ‘rocket science’ and delivering better housing for everyone is an achievable and vital goal for this energetic and creative new government to commit to, and succeed in completing.

  1. Infrastructure, transport and energy

Investing in quality infrastructure fit for the future and reducing household bills

Labour is currently introducing more regulation to ensure privately owned utilities, including water companies, will invest in the construction of system upgrades. Labour’s new policies will force companies to invest in major infrastructure improvements, to provide value for UK citizens in the long term.

Sir Keir Starmer and his team are avoiding going down the nationalising strategy road as there is a view that buying back utilities companies is not something that economically speaking, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are in a financial position to be able to do at present.

However, this is all hugely challenging as many United Kingdom based utility service providers are in debt ‘to the tune of’ millions of pounds. Therefore, as costs are passed onto the consumer, this ultimately costs UK residents money through their household bills which have nearly all gone up significantly above inflation year on year, over the past decade.

Any mandated improvements will then additionally also be directly passed on through the cost of energy and utility bills sent to householders. Currently many millions of bill payers and their families on our island are faced with increasing bills. Simultaneously residents experience often low-quality bathing water (and other waterside and water sport activities) affecting their healthy enjoyment of life and their ability to enjoy the sea and river waters, by which they live.

To future proof our basic infrastructure for this generation and also the next generations serious investment is required to replace our, in places, antiquated and leaking systems. There are several big expensive infrastructure projects underway across the country as regional and local councils realise that increasing population density creates an urgent need for major investment to provide water, sewage, electricity, communication and gas and other renewable energy supplies to homes and businesses throughout the UK.

This situation is closely linked to another important priority for Labour to improve:

Fuel Poverty and financial hardship currently experienced by millions of individuals and families in the UK.  (6)

There is also the massive challenge of providing cleaner greener energy to our homes and businesses (which are currently heated mostly by natural gas) and a Labour manifesto objective to deliver this by 2030 which is less than 6 years away. (7)

Finding ways to build energy independence in the UK to provide a more secure energy provision will also involve major infrastructure investment, which will cost many millions of pounds to introduce.

Labour’s Great British energy company will be ‘owned by the British people’ based in Scotland and the plan promises to ambitiously make progress in developing secure (nationally managed) energy whilst creating good jobs and lowering bills for citizens.

Great British Energy’s three initial priorities

“Great British Energy will have three initial priorities working alongside private partners:

  1. “Co-investing in new technologies: Great British Energy will help speed up and scale the deployment of new technologies, with public investment helping to crowd in investment in areas like floating offshore wind, tidal power and hydrogen as they develop into mature technologies.” (11)
  2. “Scale and accelerate mature technologies: Great British Energy will also help scale and accelerate the roll-out of mature technologies, like wind, solar and nuclear. It will partner with existing private sector firms to speed up deployment of mature renewable technologies to meet our ambitious clean power timelines. It will also build organisational capability and expertise to deliver energy megaprojects like nuclear power stations, reducing project and construction risk.” (11)
  3. “Scale up municipal and community energy: GB Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities and cooperatives to develop 8GWs small-scale and medium-scale community energy projects. Profits will flow directly back into local communities to cut bills, not to the shareholders of foreign companies. This will help to create a more decentralised energy system, with more local generation and ownership, and will help to create a more resilient energy system.” (11)

Boosting onshore and offshore wind power infrastructure development sounds fantastic and we all want to minimise our reliance on fossil fuels and protect our environment to meet our climate objectives.

We do have considerable opportunity as an often (but not always) the British Isles are a very windy island, so maximising the natural opportunities that wind technology can could contribute to reliable energy independence.

All these major infrastructure projects are potentially and actually located in different parts of the country and often in areas of outstanding or special beauty and much-loved unspoilt countryside and coastlines.

Those households who benefit from receiving cheap and reliable energy may live many hundreds of miles away from the location of the turbines, machinery, equipment and power stations and their physical networks of different varieties.

The challenge is to overcome the natural reluctance of villages and towns to shoulder a heavy burden in terms of plant and new infrastructure allocated altogether on their doorstep and as far as the eye can see. Financial incentives and new jobs for communities agreeing to host much needed infrastructure development could be part of the answer to ensuring British energy independence, which could be imperative during these uncertain times internationally.

Transport

Although electric vehicles are now commonplace on our roads in the UK there is a lot to be done to create an efficient and affordable transport system in the UK that helps to maximise the potential for economic growth and well-being, for both UK citizens and international visitors.

Many major cities have frequent long traffic jams that slow up productivity and unnecessarily increase carbon emissions in England. The South East of England is often affected by miles of queues, with infrastructure improvements such as the A27 bypass shelved because they are too expensive to deliver at this time.

Train travel is a great opportunity and has a splendid and innovative history in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but there are also massive challenges to overcome to deliver services that meet the expectations of commuters, students and international leisure travellers used to the efficient and reasonably priced services currently delivered at standard, in many other European countries.

Although many people who work on the railways are wonderfully helpful key workers, often UK train services are still super expensive, unreliable and overcrowded train services that millions of people struggle to rely on in order to get to work and other important appointments.

The Conservatives cancelled their flagship HS2 rail infrastructure project and train drivers (who have recently been given pay rises despite no improvement in services discernible to rail users) have been consistently on strike in recent months, so there is a lot that can be improved. (7)

Bus services are a postcode lottery and not everyone can afford to run a car of any variety and additionally not everyone lives near a bus stop or train station. Labour strives to improve transport and also “promote social mobility and regional equality” which sounds great.

“Buses in England outside London were privatised and deregulated by law in the 1980s, before limited powers were given to metro mayors as part of devolution, allowing them to set routes and timetables.” Stated the Guardian newspaper explaining why some of our most convenient public transport networks are not as appropriate, accessible and affordable as they could be. (12)

Impressively labour have wasted no time in making a radical change to the existing organisation of transport in communities by enabling local authorities across England to run and control bus services. This means local council leaders can introduce and be more flexible about providing routes and services that closely meet the people who live in their specific area.

The new transport secretary Louise Haigh called it a “bus revolution” but time will tell whether councils have the funding to truly deliver the kind of system that local people (often in rural locations) really need to reliably get them to their healthcare appointments, educational institutions, social and family meetups and crucially to their employment workplaces. (12)

Conclusion

The delighted elation for Labour politicians at the exciting and decisive win gained in the July UK General Election, after being in opposition for 14 years, has now faded with the summer evening sunshine. It is time to get down to the real and sometimes shocking business of leading this amazing, beautiful, talented, often problematic and occasionally troubled country.

The enthusiasm and determination of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and their capable senior team is admirable, and also occasionally rather depressing if considering the serious situation of attempting to balance the nation’s financial books post covid, Brexit, energy crisis and conservative leadership changes.

If the UK can experience economic growth and prosperity and also be an alternative green energy hub that the world can admire, that will be amazing. There is a lot of work to do as many government departments are currently underfunded and trying to make it work with diminishing resources that have already suffered budget cuts during the austerity years.

There is no doubt that there are opportunities to work smarter with existing budgets but also it is clear there is still a lot to do in all directions, to make any significant improvements to the quality of life and future prospects of British citizens.

Sir Keir’s leadership will be essential to ensuring that Labour manifesto priorities are delivered while simultaneously hiring and leading the great teams that are needed to focus on serving our communities well in the long term, whilst providing the services and facilities that are needed right now.

The first role of government is to preserve the security of the people. All Members of Parliament led by the Prime Minister will need to embrace and adapt to a changing international landscape with key elections in America in November this year that may significantly change the balance of power. There are ongoing serious international conflicts that affect the UK and all nations around the globe.

Careful diplomacy will be needed to assist in creating a more peaceful planet, maintaining our security and defence and handling situations out of our government’s direct control, such as the unexpected energy crisis, that in recent years have affected almost all our lives living in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the recent NASA International Space Station Missions can provide much needed inspiration of how we can succeed in creating a more peaceful world, if many countries can work together with the right mindset and a fresh perspective:

“The main goal of the International Space Station is to work on peaceful projects. In space, we’re all people from Earth.” declared Sunita Williams who is a talented NASA Astronaut who has definitely found her “happy place”.

We hope Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s professional, serious, calm and collaborative approach can help lead the United Kingdom’s citizens back on earth to build and develop the best health and prosperity that is possible over the coming years, for a nation heading into the 21st century.

 

(1) ‘What will Keir Starmer’s first few weeks as prime minister look like?’ Rebecca Mckee and Jack Pannell, Institute for Government, 26 June 2024 ‘What will Keir Starmer’s first few weeks as prime minister look like?’ Rebecca Mckee and Jack Pannell, Institute for Government

(2) ‘Who is the Speaker of the House of Commons and what do they do?’ Jennifer Clarke, BBC News, 9 July 2024 ‘Who is the Speaker of the House of Commons and what do they do?’ Jennifer Clarke, BBC News

(3) ‘First Minister John Swinney announced his first Programme for Government on 4 September 2024’ Scottish Government official press release 4 September 2024 ‘First Minister John Swinney announced his first Programme for Government on 4 September 2024’ Scottish Government official press release

(4) ‘Violent scenes as far-right protesters ‘hijack’ vigil for 3 girls killed in Southport knife attack’ Helen Regen, Niamh Kennedy, Maija Ehlinger, Duarte Mendonca, Radian Gigova, CNN News, 1 August 2024 ‘Violent scenes as far-right protesters ‘hijack’ vigil for 3 girls killed in Southport knife attack’ Helen Regen, Niamh Kennedy, Maija Ehlinger, Duarte Mendonca, Radian Gigova, CNN News

(5) ‘Further footage released of people wanted over riots’ 5 September 2024 (5) ‘Further footage released of people wanted over riots’ BBC News

(6) ‘Labour’s first week: Eight key plans, and the challenges ahead’ Matt McGrath, Kevin Peachey, Nick Triggle, James Landale, Daniel Sandford, Simon Jack, Sima Kotecha, BBC News, 13 July 2024 ‘Labour’s first week: Eight key plans, and the challenges ahead’ Matt McGrath, Kevin Peachey, Nick Triggle, James Landale, Daniel Sandford, Simon Jack, Sima Kotecha, BBC News

(7) ‘What can we expect from Labour’s First 100 Days in Power’ Ella Dutton, Brevia Consulting, 12 July 2024 ‘What can we expect from Labour’s First 100 Days in Power’ Ella Dutton, Brevia Consulting

(8) ‘Any Questions?’ Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the Skypark in Glasgow, BBC Radio 4 Series, 14 September 2024 ‘Any Questions?’ Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the Skypark in Glasgow, BBC Radio 4 Series

(9) ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ Featuring Chancellor Rachel Reeves, BBC One News, 21 July 2024 ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ Featuring Chancellor Rachel Reeves, BBC One News

(10) ‘Ban on junk food TV adverts before 9pm to come in next year’ Alex Boyd and Zahra Fatima, BBC News 12 September 2024 ‘Ban on junk food TV adverts before 9pm to come in next year’ Alex Boyd and Zahra Fatima, BBC News

(11) ‘Vote to switch on Great British Energy’ Website promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, 20 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0SS,       14  September 2024   ‘Vote to switch on Great British Energy’ Website promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party

(12) ‘Labour to give English local authorities power to run bus services’ Gwyn Topham, Transport Correspondent, The Guardian, 9 September 2024 ‘Labour to give English local authorities power to run bus services’ Gwyn Topham, Transport Correspondent, The Guardian

(13) International Space Station Quotes, BrainyQuote website, 14 September 2024 International Space Station Quotes, Sunita Williams, NASA Astronaut, BrainyQuote