Keir Starmer to outline six election pledges

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is to outline the first steps he would take if his party wins the next election.

The six commitments include a border security command to tackle the criminal gangs behind small boat crossings and recruiting 6,500 teachers.

At an event in Essex on Thursday, Sir Keir will say the pledges will help begin “a decade of national renewal”.

The Conservatives said the Labour leader was on his “16th relaunch” and had “no coherent plan”.

Last year, Sir Keir outlined five “missions” of growing the UK economy, making Britain a clean energy superpower, improving the NHS, reforming the justice system and raising education standards.

The Labour leader has now added a sixth pledge – the plans for the border – and in a speech will attempt to assure voters he would take “urgent” action on the issues.

The six steps are expected to form a key part of Labour’s election campaign and will remind some voters of the pledge cards presented by Tony Blair when he was leading the Labour party ahead of the 1997 general election.

They are:

Pat McFadden, the shadow business secretary and the party’s national campaign coordinator, told BBC Breakfast the pledges were “what Labour would do if people vote for us at the next election” and were an “appealing and exciting offer of change that would make a real difference to people’s lives”.

He added: “These are things we are going to campaign on between now and whenever the election is called.”

The party will also be launching an advertising campaign – including ad vans and billboards – which will constitute their largest ad spend since the last general election in 2019.

Labour is expected to hold separate launches for voters in Scotland and Wales in the coming weeks.

The event is a further sign that political parties are in full pre-election mode.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak can choose when to hold an election, but it has to take place before by 28 January 2025.

Earlier this week, he delivered a wide-ranging speech which included strong criticism of his Labour opponent, attacking Sir Keir’s record on defence spending and arguing that he would make the UK less safe.

A Labour spokesman has insisted the six steps are “not the sum total” of the party’s election offer and insisted the party also stood by its other policy commitments, such as housing and workers’ rights.

“I would remind you for example… the national minimum wage was not on the pledge card in 1997, but it was one of the most important achievements of the Labour government, and in a similar vein, our manifesto will be our full offering.” he said.

Tory chair Richard Holden said Labour’s plans did not “amount to a hill of beans”.

He said the Conservatives were “sticking to the plan which is working to strengthen the economy – with inflation down from 11.1% to 3.2% and £900 back in hard-working people’s pockets – and a fair immigration system with boat crossings down”.