Labour will “reimagine the role of government” as a partner to the private sector and take advantage of the opportunities of Brexit, according to Keir Starmer.
Setting out his blueprint for a Labour-run economy, Sir Keir will name six principles – starting with valuing the role of private companies as a partner to the state.
He will also hit out at Rishi Sunak, saying he has “introduced 15 tax rises, increasing taxes more than any other Chancellor in half a century”, according to The Guardian.
The Labour leader has been due to deliver a speech on the economy in Huddersfield, in which he planned to claim that after a dozen years of Conservative government, the “days of economic fatalism are over”.
But, given the escalating crisis in Ukraine, the speech has been cancelled.
“With Labour, Britain will once again grow,” he had reportedly been set to say. “And from the proceeds of that growth we will build a new economy and a new Britain, one based on security, prosperity and respect for all.”
‘White heat’
When he does outline his economic vision, Starmer will also pledge to back British business, saying: “Britain cannot rise to the great challenges of the day without the innovation of business.”
He will say: “A political party without a clear plan for making sure businesses are successful and growing… which doesn’t want them to do well and make a profit… has no hope of being a successful government.”
In an evocation of one of the most famous speeches of an earlier Labour leader – Harold Wilson – Sir Keir will set out his plans to build a “new economy of security”.
Wilson was seeking to become the first Labour prime minister for more than a decade when in 1963 he pledged to harness “the white heat of technological change”.
“Our country and our economy are entirely different now, but we too are going through the white heat,” he is expected to say.
“We face our own revolutions in technology and industry, and it will fall to the next Labour government to shape that change so it works for all.”
‘Taxing the rich’
The remarks will likely be seen as an attempt to draw a line under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, who was viewed with scepticism by big business.
And Sir Keir’s pre-trailed remarks appear to have rankled with the left. Gaya Sriskanthan, co-chair of Momentum told The Guardian: “The public aren’t stupid. They know that pushing more growth, when growth benefits only those at the top, misses the mark.
“Fixing it requires taxing the richest, taking on corporate interests and bringing key industries into public ownership – all policies popular with the British public.
“The Keir Starmer of 2020 recognised this, and was elected leader by the Labour membership as a result. The Keir Starmer of 2022 should follow suit.”
According to the newspaper, Starmer’s other key points will reportedly include: putting money back in people’s pockets; revitalising the places that once powered Britain; ending the era of insecure employment; and driving up productivity and wages.
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