Labour launches ‘manifesto for wealth creation’ and ‘plan to change Britain’
Starmer describes the manifesto and “a manifesto for wealth creation, a plan to change Britain”.
Labour will start to rebuild Britain, served by the old argument – that we serve working people, he says.
He sees so much potential in Britain. He refers to meeting someone who could not afford to buy his own home. And he tells the story again of his visit to Alder Hey hospital where he was told the most common reason for children having operations were tooth decay.
Imagine what would happen if a Labour government were addressing these problems, he says.
Key events
Q: [From Jim Pickard from the FT] The private equity industry is lobbying hard against the carried interest tax rise. Are you still committed to that, or is there some wriggle room?
Starmer says the plans have been set out. He says Rachel Reeves is highlighting the page in the manifesto saying everything is fully funded. She wrote every word of it, he says.
And that was the final question.
Q: [From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar] Sunak has struggled to lead a government of integrity. Will you do any better?
Yes, says Starmer. He is determined to do better. He will get on with changing ethical codes from day one.
But you don’t just need codes; you need action, he says.
We are going to turn this around, and put politics back in the service of working people.
Q: [From Kitty Donaldson from the i] What will you do in the first week of a Labour government?
Starmer says the first thing he will do is insist politics is devoted to service, to putting country first, ahead of party.
Q: [From Jason Groves from the Daily Mail] Are you happy fighting the election promising higher taxes of £8bn, while the Tories promise cuts of £17bn?
Starmer says every day the Tories are making unfunded promises. But the less from Liz Truss is, if you make unfunded promises, working people pay the price.
Q: Did you really think Jeremy Corbyn would be a great PM?
Starmer says he never thought Labour would win the next election.
After that, he realised Labour must change. Corbyn is no longer in the party. That is how much change he has introduced.
Q: [From Ben Riley-Smith from the Telegraph] Can you confim taxes will go up under your plans?
Starmer says there is no tax rise in the manifesto not already announced.
There is no plan in the manifesto requiring tax rises beyond these, he says.
Q: What is the plan for new asylum seekers who arrive in the UK illegally? Can they apply? And if they can, isn’t than an incentive to come?
Starmer says at the moment asylum seekers cannot be processed. That means they cannot be removed. “We’ve got to fix that,” he says.
He says the new border security command will smash the gangs running this trade.
Q: Do you have a plan to take children out of poverty?
Starmer says there is a strategy for this. Wealth creation is part of that.
Starmer says immigration is too high. The government has lost control of it, mainly because it does not have a skills strategy. The goernment is using immigration as a growth strategy. He will have a skills strategy instead.
Q: Are you worried you might win just because people hate the Tories?
Starmer says it is not enough for people to hate the Tories. That is why he has changed Labour.
He says he is enjoying the campaign. He is asking people to give him mandate.
Q: [From Christopher Hope for GB News] Are you on course for a one-party socialist state? Is that a good thing? And are the Tories just claiming this to suppress the vote?
Starmer says not a single vote has been cast yet. But he does want a mandate for change.
Q: [From ITV’s Robert Peston] You are betting on growth. But what happens if growth does not happen quickly enough to stop cuts being needed within a year.
Starmer says he has run a public service. There will be no return to austerity.
And Labour’s plans do involve new money going into public services, he says.
Q: [From Sky’s Beth Rigby] There is nothing new in this. Rishi Sunak threw the kitchen sink at his manifesto. You won’t even take the safety catch off. Is this a Captain Caution manifesto?
No, says Starmer. It is a serious plan.
He says he is a candidate for PM, not a candidate to run a circus.
Starmer takes questions from reporters
Starmer is now taking questions from journalists.
Q: [From Chris Mason from the BBC] Talk to the voter who fears that you might only really say what you will do after you win.
Starmer says Labour’s manifesto is a manifesto for change. It is a rejection of the idea that we can’t do any better, based on four years of hard work.
He understands why people are cynical. For many people hope has been beaten out of them. He will neve accept defeatism.
(That did not really address Mason’s question at all.)
Starmer says he is fed up of politicians “lecturing young people about their responsibility to our nation” when they sacrificed so much during Covid.
He is referring to Rishi Sunak, and his plan for national service.
And he speaks about how important it is for parents to know their children can have a better life.
When he was growing up, they were not wealthy, he says. He says he knows what it is like to be embarrased to to bring mates home because the carpet is threadbare, or the window cracked.
But he was to blame for the cracked window, he joked. He did that with a football.
He says his parents were always comforted by the idea their children would have better opportunities. He wants to restore that, he says.
Here is a picture of the protester who interrupted Starmer’s speech earlier. (See 11.30am.)
Starmer is now using the passage briefed overnight about how wealth creation is his priority. (See 9.14am.)
We will reform the planning rules, a choice ignored for 14 years, and build the homes and infrastructure up.
We will level up your rights of work, a choice ignored for 14 years, and raise your wages and your security.
We will create a new industrial strategy, a choice ignored for 14 years, and we will back it with a national wealth fund, invest in clean steel imports, giga batteries, and we will create 650,000 new jobs for communities like yours.
