Keir Starmer: I have a plan to make you richer

The Labour manifesto, that I launched last week, rights a wrong that is so fundamental it goes to the heart of who we are as a nation: The undermining of family life. 

The families I meet on the campaign trail are anxious in particular about the cost of living. On Monday at the Port of Southampton, I spoke to a woman worried for her family in a biting cost of living crisis. She is struggling after years of economic decline and stagnant growth. She questions whether any political party can help. 

My promise to her is my promise to Metro readers: Labour has a plan to make working people better off. 

I don’t want to sugar coat it. Serious damage has already been done after 14 years of Conservative government, and a lot of damage will continue to be done. Whether it’s baby milk formula or fruit and veg, prices in the shops are still far too high, working people are feeling the pinch. 

Metro readers don’t need me to tell them that the price of the typical supermarket shop has risen by nearly £1,000 a year since the last general election, as Labour analysis uncovered. They feel it week in, week out. 

And with mortgages already soaring, if elected, we have found that the Tories will add £4,800 on to people’s mortgages over the next five years as a result of their unfunded commitments. 

We have to stop this. That’s why Labour’s top priority is economic stability. An end to the chaos. With our tough fiscal rules and sound public finances we will ensure inflation and mortgages are as low as possible and living standards rising again. 

We are acutely aware of what a struggle life has been in recent years. That is why our plan for change takes the tough decisions needed to put more money in people’s pockets.

Labour will make work pay with a genuine living wage, banning exploitative zero-hours contracts and extending sick pay. And we will fight the Tories all the way on this just as we did with the minimum wage, which we introduced in 1999, and they opposed every step of the way. 

We will do whatever it takes to reform the planning laws to build 1.5million homes to make housing more affordable and get more people on the property ladder.

We will end tax breaks for very wealthy non-doms to deliver free breakfast clubs in primary schools, which we have found would save parents up to £400 a year by cutting expenses on paid-for breakfast clubs or alternative childcare arrangements.

And we’ll use the spare capacity in primary schools to open 3,000 nurseries to give more families access to affordable childcare. 

And we will implement a proper windfall tax on the excess profits of the oil and gas giants. We will use the money for the start-up costs to set up Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security.

And we will tackle the rip offs that mean car insurance costs spiral out of control. 

And our plan for the NHS is equally serious. With over 6million people on the NHS waiting list, according to the British Medical Association, Labour’s first step will be to tackle the backlog with 40,000 more appointments each week. And we will do so by paying doctors and nurses to work evenings and weekends. 

We will go further, with 700,000 emergency dentist appointments because it’s truly shocking that, as of 2022, the biggest cause of children aged six to 10 going into hospital was tooth decay. It’s time to stop the Tory rot. 

Taken together, those steps will get to work tackling the cost of living crisis at its core. 

And they’re fully costed and fully funded at every turn. Our manifesto spells out in black and white how we will pay for every penny we spend. 

And we have been absolutely clear with the public. Working people are already paying too much in tax under the Tories. So Labour will not raise income tax. We will not raise national insurance. We will not raise VAT.

Labour offers stability and change we can afford. 

I know we can’t wave a magic wand and pretend that everything will be fixed overnight. But step by step we need to lift the cloud of anxiety that is hovering above hard working families. People deserve to feel optimistic about the future, not dread. 

Labour’s manifesto will give hardworking families their future back. 

It is a plan for change. A plan for Britain’s future. 

And I believe it is a change worth voting for.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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