‘We are the builders’ says Starmer at Labour conference
Promising the delivery of 1.5m homes, planning reform, and the end of “sticking plaster politics”, Labour Leader Keir Starmer rallied his party in Liverpool on Tuesday.
Starmer described Labour as “a party of service” that would put the country first, party second if it came into government.
“We are the builders”, he told Labour Party Conference attendees.
Starmer added later: “Getting Britain building again is critical for economic growth. It is our most important mission.”
With that in mind, here are some of Starmer’s key promises from the speech:
1.5m homes will be built within five years.
Starmer noted that there are numerous obstacles to delivering so many homes, citing the “restrictive” planning system, lack of local plans, and land banking as culprits. He also highlighted the fact that some people don’t want homes built near them. To those individuals, he had a message. “A future must be built,” Starmer said. “If we continually wash our hands of this task, we all end up in a rut. It’s time to get Britain building again.”
The Green Belt will be re-examined.
Starmer said that the delivery of the much-needed homes for Britain would not come at the expense of the Green Belt. Instead, it was the “Grey Belt” that was in jeopardy – sites that are designated as Green Belt but are actually brownfield.
More development corporations are planned.
Starmer said he would increase the number of these public sector companies, which are dedicated to driving development schemes in their area.
Britain will be rewired.
The National Grid will get much-needed upgrades to increase its capacity and ability to handle more clean energy. That will be necessary, as Starmer also promised to create a publicly-owned energy company, GB Energy, that will be based in Scotland.
The next generation of Labour New Towns is coming.
Starmer promised “shovels in the ground” and “cranes in the sky” to deliver on this promise.
New infrastructure will be delivered in partnership.
Starmer said Labour would create a National Wealth Fund, which would invest in critical infrastructure projects. “As we share the risk, we must also share the rewards,” he said. “We will make sure the British people will retain a stake in our investment.”
No quick fixes.
Starmer noted that “long-term solutions are not oven-ready” in his speech, and urged his party to stay the course. Labour has a plan, and it is, in Starmer’s words, “a plan for a Britain built to last.”
Did labour in the House of Lords just block a revision to an old EU rule on road of waste water – essential blocking the development of a 100,000 homes ! They can’t be trusted to make difficult decisions
By Stuart wood
@stuart wood and rightly so, why should anyone be allowed to pollute our rivers because they do not want to spend money on technology to prevent it. New housing can and is being built with all the protections in place, greed and profit should not trump our natural environment. This is not the Victorian era and we should not accept pollution in our rivers or our beaches.
By GetItBuilt!
Stuart Wood there, parroting the tired whining of a government that has lost all sense of what it’s actually supposed to be doing. Argues that protecting water courses is blocking development (of no more than one-third of a year’s worth of housing, by the government’s own target) whilst simultaneously slowing up the plan-making process and completely botching the whole Green Belt issue, which is going to block a lot more than 100,000 houses. The entire country is in a state because of the government’s failure to make difficult decisions. The reality is that they’re too scared to do anything thanks to some noisy backbenchers, despite having a huge majority.
By Unlevelled for balance
Unlike Blair, he will not be inheriting a booming economy.
By Elephant
It was minor change in environmental regulations – but if labour want to “build Britain” it’s going to take adjustments to planning and regulations- clear from the evidence so far they are not willing to take such measures
By Stuart wood
Some great work from Centre for Cities on lifting restrictions within 800m of all train stations within 45mins commute of our major cities. Over 40,000 hectares with sustainable commuting baked in.
By Anonymous
Well said Getitbuilt
By Anonymous
Most developers protested when the Cameron government scrapped the “green cr@p” Zero Carbon Hones initiatives as they’d already invested in technology and materials to implement it.
At the heart of current conservative ideology is this false assumption is that to stimulate growth, as much regulation must be got rid of as possible whereas in actual fact, what business value most is stability. Well drafted regulation is a spur for improved productivity and competitiveness as well as driving better outcomes for end users and society.
By Not a zealot
A National Wealth Fund….this is something my friends and I have been talking about for years.
By Manc Man
I’m as keen as anyone to see a better direction for the nation, however I fear these are very much the same labour promises that are trotted out periodically without the first idea of how to implement any of them. A 5 minute discussion with anyone actively engaged in development in either a private or public capacity will tell you there is absolutely zero chance of the homes pledge being delivered. He states a restrictive planning system, but what restrictions would he lift? Removal of environmental protections, de-list protected species? He says he will prioritise brownfield, what brownfield? Where is there 1.5million homes worth of brownfield which is not allocated for other uses such as industry or employment? There’s nothing about expediating the determination process, it can take well over a year for even a moderate application to be determined currently, how long does he imagine it will take to address a new settlement of 50,000 houses, new services and vast infrastructure? Empty promises from the uninformed yet gain (as with any politician).
By 4thought
Feeling much more positive after seeing Labour’s announcements than I did after the Tory conference last week. I’m looking forward to there being adults in Number 10 as for the last 13 years we’ve had nothing but screaming toddlers screaming “woke” at everything they don’t like. The Conservatives have achieved absolutely nothing, and my main takeaways from their conference last week were that they only want more transphobia and traffic congestion.
Labour, on the other hand, have a strong vision for Britain, tackling the issues that people actually care about: the NHS, housing, the economy, cost of living. Counting down the days until they are in power.
By Anonymous
@stuart wood they rightly blocked it. Why should we accept lower environmental standards due to the developers wanting to line their pockets?
By Levelling Up Manager
Just had almost 30 affordable homes blocked by a Labour run authority on an allocated housing site; I will believe it when I see it.
By Observer
they need to fund these changes and the economy is stagnant and public spending is already sky high. also development is not an easy fix and he wont be able to make any difference – hollow
By Anonymous
Isn’t it amazing that at these conferences they promise made up numbers about anything you want to hear, like a five year old with a Christmas wish list parroting things they don’t really believe or understand. It’s all the same old blah, blah blah we saw from Labour the last time they were in. You’ll see the reasons they get voted out very quickly, they always scare so many people off with their penchant for the race to the bottom. When you look at the ‘talent ‘ on the front bench they can deploy its like the student union..lots of heat but very little light. If this lot do get in it will be just as big a shambles as last time and all because the Tories ran out of talent and honesty long ago. And that’s where we are once again., who are the least worst. Anyone who believes the headline politics at these conferences is a fool or chooses to be fooled. I’m looking elsewhere for a party that can really reform modern politics. I could be looking a long time.
By Red Ken