Labour Plans for Britain

During this year of continuous elections, the one in the United Kingdom was one of the few with predictable outcomes. After 14 years of rule by the conservative party, the country has thrown them out of government, and elected the Labour administration, led by Kier Starmer. Mr Starmer has a large mandate, with a sizeable majority in parliament, allowing him to easily pass legislation. The only question that remains is what the legislation will be. The Labour manifesto is one place to start. The promises made by them are humongous, and will require large reform and a radical change in the “not in my backyard” culture throughout British society. 

Planning regulations are some of the most required changes. Labour wishes to build 1.5 million houses by 2030, a lofty goal which will require a lot of back and forth with local government councils and residents of their constituencies. However, this goal will not be achievable without support from private businesses. Building new homes will require a large influx of incentives from the government. While housebuilders do have the capacity to build, prevailing market conditions may not suit them.

The government also wants to reshape England's troubled National Health Service (NHS). This public health provider has long struggled with excessive wait lists and an overworked labour force. The government plans to conduct 40,000 more appointments per week. The way in which this is to be conducted is questionable, with the Minister for Health, Wes Streeting, stating that the NHS is “broken” and does not serve anyone with its long wait lists, but not proposing a credible solution. The Labour Manifesto claims that this will be undertaken through private-sector partnerships and by encouraging workers to carry out appointments “out of hours”. While backed up by workforce planning and training, this may not be enough to solve persistent issues, even if additional help is sought from spare capacity in private hospitals.

Labour also has plans to revitalise Britain's failing economy, with promises of balancing the budget and lowering the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio by the end of their first term. They plan to keep Income Tax and VAT at its current rates while capping corporation taxes at their current rate of 25%, marking a break from the Conservatives’ plan of unfunded tax cuts. Accompanied by a strong industrial strategy, focusing on the UK’s strengths, this may incentivise foreign businesses to invest in the UK and allow more local businesses to be set up without any uncertainty on government planning. The government also intends to enshrine the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and allow it to forecast any major taxation or spending changes, enabling better fiscal responsibility. Labour also plans to fix loopholes in the tax system, raising over 8 billion pounds of extra tax money.

The new government's energy plans intend to remove restrictions implemented on wind farms, causing a great rise in investment into green energy in the UK. It also plans to increase investment in nuclear and solar energy, while phasing out gas and coal power by refusing to grant new coal and oil licences. It plans to introduce a new public industry known as the Great British Energy, which will provide clean energy to British homes by co-investing in technology while also utilising local energy production. Furthermore, Labour plans to regulate energy companies closely and ensure that prices are not too high for consumers.  

These plans are likely to encourage investment into the UK and allow it to shift to green energy sources, enabling the UK to achieve its goal of becoming a clean energy superpower. The plans for Great British Energy and increased regulation may lead to a fall in prices for consumers if handled properly, however, if there is too little investment in the company, the whole project could fail, as it may be forced to use older, less efficient energy sources. 

Justice and policing were key parts of Labour’s re-election campaign. They aim to increase neighbourhood policing by hiring 13,000 new police officers. Meanwhile, the government also wants to increase the efficiency of police departments by implementing a program intent on reducing costs by establishing shared services and encouraging specialisation. Labour intends to target petty crimes using “Respect Orders”, which aim to ban persistent offenders from town centres, causing a reduction in public drinking and drug usage. 

Knife crime will also be tackled by banning various weapons such as katanas, machetes and certain blades and restricting their online sale. Protecting women and girls is stated to be one of Labour's prime objectives. They plan to increase the number of rape and sexual offences units and fast-track rape cases. 

At the same time, Labour wishes to speed up the justice system by making more prosecutors available and serving sentences befitting their crimes. To ensure this, the government will also invest in building more prisons and increasing the space available in British prisons. The objective of reforming prisons is a major one, as Britain’s prison population is closing in on the maximum capacity. These policing initiatives, if undertaken quickly, may lower the UK’s crime rate and prevent re-offences. Its justice system reforms may, however, hand cases to inexperienced junior prosecutors, which could result in criminals walking free. 

The last goal on Labour's agenda is an increase in opportunities available to children and adults alike. Labour intends to provide free breakfast to all primary school students and open up more nursery schools for children. Labour intends to fix Britain’s teacher shortage by hiring 6,500 more qualified teachers, increasing the quality of learning in classrooms. It will also introduce the arts and sports to all schools.

The government wishes to implement a new body known as “Skills England”, which will train the British workforce to reduce the gulf between the skill set required in today's world to work under enterprises. These plans may allow for a better education of children and allow for the British workforce to be upskilled, but will require large investment into Skills England and may require more than 6,500 new teachers.

The way Labour’s success will be measured will be through its ability to strengthen its position and pass through as much legislation as possible during this parliamentary session. It will have to maintain a strict balancing act between the government's budget and taxation, while raising enough extra revenue to fund its schemes. If not enough money is invested into these schemes, it may result in more governmental bodies providing minimal to no benefits to the people they are meant to serve. On the contrary, if too much is invested, Labour's promise of economic stability, the main issue plaguing the country, will be sacrificed. How well Sir Kier will manage this difficult position will be especially pertinent in the coming years.