Labour promises change

Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Downing Street with his new Cabinet and immediately rolled out his new policies. Labour’s expected landslide victory meant that the new Prime Minister had months to prepare his top priorities. After 14 years of Conservative rule, many of which were mired in mismanagement, scandal and corruption, it was clear that a new party would step in.

Starmer’s catchphrase throughout was “we are the party for change”. And initial indications are that he is fully committed to that.

They include tacking the growing illegal immigration problem, deepening widespread poverty, increasing food prices, unaffordable rents and soaring energy bills. These sorts of problems are many people living in the Cayman Islands can identify with.

The cost of living crisis is so bad in the UK that Labour is considering introducing free breakfast clubs in elementary schools. It says initial steps include tackling zero-hour contracts and helping with alarming energy bills. Childcare is so expensive it is sometimes more than a household’s rent or mortgage. There is a plan for a free childcare rollout and more nursery places.

Labour also intend to hit long-missed health service waiting time targets by 2029 and hire 6,500 teachers, 5,000 tax investigators, 3,000 fully-trained police officers and 8,500 mental health staff.

The Labour leader is preparing his first King’s Speech, the legislative plan for year one which will be delivered on July 17. Issues on his agenda include an employment rights bill, renters’ reforms, tax changes from this fall, a review of business taxes, an increase in National Health Service appointments and a publicly-owned energy firm.

Huge public expense but the funds to pay for it all will come from tax rises of only around £8.5 billion, a figure analysts believe is nowhere near enough to fix a state depleted from years of austerity and poor budget management under the last Conservative government.

The Tories accused Labour of over-promising on vital services and infrastructure, generating fears of much higher taxes. But Sir Keir and party seniors have repeatedly stated they are committed to keeping the major taxes where they are. Nevertheless, Labour has not pledged to bring the overall tax burden down.

The party has not ruled out rises for Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty and other property taxes, and fuel duty. Labour has pledged to raise stamp duty for foreign buyers from 2 to 3 percent, raising a purported £40 million. Labour has promised to improve hiring and firing policies for people in casual jobs and also to ensure minimum wage salaries are adhered to.

Labour intend to decarbonize electricity by 2030 and plan to borrow an average of £3.5 billion a year to fund its Green Prosperity Plan, and will seek billions more in private investment to match public funds. GB Energy is the publicly-owned energy firm Labour intends to create within its first year, and aides have said grants will start being paid “within months” to councils introducing lower energy plans. 

For old-school vehicle drivers, Labour intends to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Labour has pledged to restore this phase-out date, which had been delayed by the Conservative government. Many feel this is an unrealistic target as the UK’s infrastructure to accommodate only electric vehicles falls way too low.

Lack of affordable housing has been a bane of many governments in the post-war years yet, Labour pledges they will build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament of five years.

Immigration and border controls is a hot topic in the UK. “I will bring immigration numbers down from 685,000 in 2023,” Sir Keir promised, but refused to commit to a number, or to cutting net migration numbers every single year. “They need to come down, we’ve got a plan to bring them down, but you can’t wish them down,” he said.

To control the flow of soaring immigration, a new border control body “will be created in the first 100 days,” said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, led by a former police, military or intelligence chief working across intelligence and enforcement agencies and reporting to Cooper directly to reduce small boat crossings in the Channel.

The controversial plan to send migrants to the east African country of Rwanda was immediately scrapped, despite the Tories already spending hundreds of millions on it. However, Starmer, a former lawyer, has said he will consider sending migrants seeking asylum to a third country while UK processing takes place, “if that was possible to do it in compliance with international law.”