Labor leader Keir Starmer pledged in the party's manifesto to prioritize wealth creation and economic growth in the UK.
Speaking at the Coalition's headquarters in Manchester, Starmer stressed the importance of tackling the country's economic problems and laid out a vision designed to win over former Conservative voters.
Economic growth is a cornerstone
Starmer highlighted the brokenness of current wealth creation systems:
“The way we create wealth is broken and it makes many people feel insecure. Creating wealth is our number one priority,” he said.
He pledged that the Labor Party would be pro-business and pro-labour, aiming to balance economic growth with social equality.
The Labor leader criticized the unequal distribution of opportunities across Britain, pointing to problems such as housing shortages, the cost of living crisis, low wages and inadequate healthcare.
Britain has lost its balance. It is very difficult for people to move. Opportunity is not evenly distributed.
Five missions and a cautious approach
The report focuses on five key tasks: economic growth, clean energy, halving crime, reforming childcare and education and building a future-proof NHS.
This moderate approach contrasts with the Conservatives' heavy-handed policy delivery and reflects Labour's strategy to avoid giving opponents opportunities to undermine its campaign.
Starmer stressed the long-term nature of the proposed changes: “We don't have a magic wand.”
He downplayed the lack of new policies in the manifesto.
“It's not about rabbits pulled out of hats, or about pantomime. I'm running for prime minister, not to run a circus.
Reform of business friendly policies and ethics
The manifesto aims to restore Labour's economic credibility and attract former Conservative voters. The corporation has pledged not to raise taxes and plans to launch an industrial strategy focused on clean energy and rapid planning reforms to encourage the development of new infrastructure.
Starmer also promised to set the highest standards in public life, proposing a new Ethics and Integrity Commission.
The party plans to introduce legislation to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords and introduce a mandatory retirement age of 80. Also, Labor aims to make it easier to remove disgraced peers and ensure active participation in the second chamber.
Starmer reaffirmed his long-standing intention to replace the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber, although the statement did not provide a specific timetable for this change.
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