Keir Starmer has attempted to relaunch his struggling government with a new set of six “milestones” aimed at persuading voters he is making progress.
After five months in Downing Street beset by scandals over freebies and the loss of his chief of staff and a cabinet minister, the prime minister delivered a keynote speech at Pinewood Studios in a bid to steady his ship.
But in a sign of the difficult task ahead of him, his address to an event packed with Labour supporters was met with a muted audience response and little applause.
It reflected the findings of a new national poll from Find Out Now UK that puts Labour in third place on 23 per cent, behind the Tories on 26 per cent and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK on 24 per cent.
And the event was overshadowed by a warning from the Bank of England that his chancellor’s much-criticised Budget would lead to job losses.
Sir Keir tried to inject some energy into his flagging government by announcing that his “milestones” were raising living standards, building 1.5 million homes, putting 13,000 new police on the beat, giving children the best start in life, ending hospital backlogs, and securing green energy.
But in a 54-minute speech and question-and-answer session, he appeared quickly to come unstuck on some of his past promises.
He was accused of watering down a previous pledge by stating that only 95 per cent of energy will be “clean” by 2030, rather than 100 per cent as before. Energy secretary Ed Miliband was deployed to provide reassurance that the plan had not changed.
And he downgraded the promise of economic growth – previously the centre of Labour’s election campaign – to a detail after “raising living standards”.
There was barely a mention of a previous pledge to hire 6,500 new teachers.
There was also no mention of domestic abuse despite representatives of campaign groups on the issue being in the audience.
But a defiant prime minister, who joked about how he could be the next James Bond after appearing at the studios where the 007 films were made, insisted that his government is delivering for the country.
Sir Keir said: “This government was elected to deliver real change for working people – and that is exactly what we are doing.
“We have already stabilised the economy, secured an extra £26bn for the NHS and launched a Border Security Command to tackle illegal migration.
“Faced with a dire inheritance, we know that we cannot deliver our plan for change alone. Mission-led government means doing things differently, and a decade of national renewal will require the skills and determination of us all.”
New cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald has been charged with rewiring the civil service to deliver the plan, he said.
The prime minister has repeated promises to cut immigration but stopped short of setting any targets.
Sir Keir pledged his government would “reduce immigration – legal and illegal” but was unclear how this would be achieved.
Under repeated questioning from reporters as to why he had not included immigration in the list of six “milestones, he said cutting immigration “will only be done with a serious plan” and – referring to “illegal” immigration – repeated his argument that the only way to do this would be to go after people-smuggling gangs.
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister offered “nothing concrete on immigration – because Labour have no plan to control numbers” while Reform UK criticised him for not including “any measurable targets” in his milestones.
Voters want “a serious plan to ensure we’ve got control of our borders, not arbitrary caps, not gimmicks”, the prime minister said.
His six milestones were meant to go alongside three foundations of economic stability, national security and secure borders.
Previously, he had announced five missions and six first steps which were entwined into his “plan for change” document.
The event gave the impression of a major rally and election manifesto launch even though the audience did not appear to be energised by the content of the prime minister’s speech.
But his biggest headache came from the Bank of England, with its survey of chief financial officers showing the majority expect lower profit margins, higher prices and lower employment. More than a third warned of lower wages.
Following the Budget, the Bank of England’s survey of small, medium and large businesses shows that 59 per cent of firms expect lower profit margins, 54 per cent expect to raise prices, 54 per cent expect lower employment and 38 per cent expect to pay lower wages than they otherwise would have done.
Andrew Griffith, shadow business and trade secretary, said: “The Bank is right to warn that businesses are taking a hit from Labour’s Budget. Ultimately, it’s working people who will pay the price as employers scale back on pay, cut jobs and raise prices for everyday items.
“If Labour are serious about growth, they should listen to the very real concerns from business.”
While there was some welcome for the speech, there were warnings that Sir Keir’s government will need to find new investment to achieve his milestones.
Patricia Marquis, executive director of the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) England, said: “To achieve his plan, the prime minister needs to join the dots between hitting NHS targets and solving the crisis in nursing. We deliver the vast majority of care, but our workforce is severely depleted and recruitment is collapsing. This impacts every service, including non-urgent, the very issue he wants to address. A plan for change needs a plan to turn our profession around.”
This came as Sir Keir again refused to repeat the recent pledge by his chancellor of “no new taxes” – giving rise to concerns about another tax raid in the spring.
He did receive some support from the right-wing Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), previously associated with Liz Truss’s disastrous economic policy.
Dr Kristian Niemietz, head of political economy at the IEA, said: “Britain’s inability to build anything is not just a problem for one or two sectors of the economy in isolation: it is the mother of all problems, affecting nearly every part of the economy to varying degrees. The government’s recognition of this is welcome, and the prime minister is right to point out that our planning system has not just left us short of homes but of key infrastructure too, including transport and energy.”