(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer pledged to fast-track the approval of at least 150 major infrastructure projects as one of a series of milestones he wants his new UK government to be measured by, as the prime minister tries to reset the political narrative after just five months in power.
But following a major speech in Buckinghamshire on Thursday, Starmer was repeatedly forced to deny his language around the clean energy transition and the government’s growth targets represented a watering of key pledges in the Labour Party’s general election manifesto.
Though the government has said the milestones were long-planned, the speech was effectively a relaunch after a sharp decline in Labour’s poll ratings. It focused on issues surveys show voters care most about: the cost of living, healthcare, the economy and crime. Starmer promised to boost police numbers and end hospital backlogs, among other measures.
“This government was elected to deliver real change for working people — and that is exactly what we are doing,” Starmer said. He described the milestones as the “gauntlet being thrown down” to the civil service, and that they would enable voters to “hold our feet to the fire.”
The problem for Starmer was that, as on many issues since the government came to power, there was immediate confusion over the messaging — and whether the new “milestones” were consistent with the previously announced “missions” or even the election manifesto.
For example, Starmer appeared to drop the timeframe of the end of the five-year parliament session for the target to achieve the “highest sustained growth” among Group of Seven nations. He also talked boosting disposable income, but without putting a numerical target on it.
The Treasury later clarified that the government still intends to reach the highest growth in the G-7 by the end of the parliament.
Then there was new language on the pledge to transition to clean power by 2030. In the document, the government referred to “at least 95% clean power” by then, a percentage that wasn’t included in a manifesto that referenced a “zero-carbon electricity system.”
A spokesman for the Energy Department pointed out that the Climate Change Committee’s definition of clean power is “at least 95%.” It’s also the case that Labour repeatedly said that gas power stations would remain on the system.
“There’s no watering down, there’s a doubling down on the determination to achieve it,” Starmer said of the energy pledge.
He also got a boost from the left-leaning Resolution Foundation, which welcomed the focus on improving living standards. “The new milestone should focus minds across Whitehall on the need to boost household incomes,” it said.
Still, the fact that a major speech would require Starmer to clarify so frequently is far from ideal, and suggests the government has work to do to overcome teething problems that are already at risk of defining the administration.
The government struggled to shake off allegations of cronyism in the opening weeks after its election win, and Starmer was then forced to make a shock move in ousting his chief aide Sue Gray after weeks of infighting between aides.
The stuttering beginning continued as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered a tax-raising budget at the end of October that unsettled markets and was widely criticized by businesses. Policies removing cold weather payments to pensioners and closing a tax loophole on farmers have also faced steep opposition. Economic growth, the cornerstone of Labour’s election manifesto, has ground to a halt amid the fiscal uncertainty.
Then last week, Starmer suffered his first cabinet resignation as then transport secretary, Louise Haigh, quit over revelations about a past fraud conviction.
In his speech, Starmer reiterated the plan to build 1.5 million homes during the parliament, and to recruit 13,000 more police officers. He said those measures, as well as plans to cut National Health Service waiting lists would all contribute to growth. He also said the government wants to ensure 75% of five-year-olds are “ready to learn” when they start school — up from about two-thirds.
But he declined to put a figure on his pledge to cut both legal and what the government considers illegal migration, an omission likely to trigger criticism especially from the right-wing media.
“We will fix the foundations, repair the damage, reform government and rebuild Britain through the power of change,” he said.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.