Sir Keir Starmer has made his first speech in 2023 today. The Labour leader promised an end to the "sticking plaster politics" in Westminster by shifting the powers away from London and modernising central government.
The Labour leader promised a "Take Back Control" bill to devolve powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision to regional bodies in England. Wales has powers in these areas already. He also said Labour would give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his first speech on Wednesday, January 4. During his speech, Mr Sunak shared his plans to ensure that all school pupils in England would study some form of maths to the age of 18 as an attempt to tackle "low numeracy rates". He also promised to cut down on inflation, grow the economy and cut NHS waiting times. You can read more about the prime minister's speech here.
Sir Keir, who gave his speech on Thursday morning in east London, chose a different approach, saying that his party would deliver a "national renewal" if it wins in the next general election. He also pledged that he would create "a new government and a new way of governing" for the future.
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During his speech, he said: "Economic change must go hand in hand with political change. We have an economy that hoards potential, and politics that hoards power. It is no coincident that that leaves us with more regional inequality than anywhere else in Europe - they feed off each other.
"And that's why I say Britain needs a completely new way of governing. Yes, we need to use the power of dynamic government, harness technology to drive through reform, convene a real industrial partnership between business and unions. But all of that must be done in service of a politics which trusts communities.
"The Westminster system is part of the problem... as a system it doesn't work. Sometimes I hear talk about a huge day in Westminster, but all that has happened is someone has passionately described a problem and then that's it. Nothing has changed, the circus moves on, rinse and repeat."
In December, the Labour party announced its proposed plans on reforming devolved powers in Westminster. The recommendations came from a report carried out by former prime minister Gordon Brown. According to the former PM a Labour government would abandon "centuries of centralisation" of power.
But the report was criticised by some political figures here in Wales. Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP described the report as "timid" and a "damp squib for Wales". Meanwhile, Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies, criticised the report on Twitter, by saying: "The big lie in Labour’s report out today is that places like Wales have not seen growth because of the Conservatives. Labour are in charge in Wales. They have been for 25 years. That’s why Wales has the lightest pay packets in Britain. To see the cost of Labour look to Wales."
According to Politico aggregated polls, Labour is currently in the lead with 46% of the voting intention while Conservatives currently has 24%. Looking ahead to the next election, Sir Keir promised that he would create the "sort of hope you can build your future around", and added: "That's why showing how we can change the country is so important this year. We can give people a sense of possibility again, show light at the end of the tunnel".
But the Labour leader also said that he was "under no illusion of the scale of the challenges we face". He warned his voters that the party "won't be able to spend [their] way out" of the "mess" caused by the Tory party, despite recognising the need for investment.
He said: "Of course, investment is required - I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone else. But we won't be able to spend our way out of their mess - it's not as simple as that... There is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community."
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