LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer said yesterday that Labour ‘won’t be able to spend our way out’ of the ‘mess’ left by the Tories.
While promising a ‘decade of national renewal’ if he wins the next general election, he added that ‘the party won’t be ‘getting its big government chequebook out’.
In other words, the bankers will still call the tune and Labour will not challenge them, no mind expropriate them.
Starmer did not mention the word ‘socialism’ once as he pledged to carry on with Tory policies.
In his speech in Stratford, east London, Starmer also looked ahead to the election, pledging to create the ‘sort of hope you can build your future around’ as he again warned workers not to expect big increases in public spending.
He emphasised: ‘Of course investment is required – I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone.’
‘But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess – it’s not as simple as that.’
Austerity plus is set to continue under Starmer.
Declaring his allegiance to the employers and his opposition to nationalisation he added: ‘For national renewal, there is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community.’
Even before he spoke he was briefing journalists that he would say a Labour government led by him wouldn’t be ‘getting its big chequebook out again’.
That word ‘again’ was striking – implying that perhaps previous Labour governments of the Blair-Brown era had spent too much.
However, by the time he gave his speech the word ‘again’ didn’t pass Starmer’s lips.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government needed to ‘work in partnership with business’ on things like investing in renewable energy.
She added that the health service needed ‘reform’ as well as more money.
Asked whether she supported the idea of using spare capacity in the private sector to bring down NHS waiting lists, she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’ve got to do whatever it takes to bring down waiting lists … If there’s spare capacity, absolutely we’ve got to use it.’
Reeves said her party would face a ‘tough inheritance’ but the ‘cavalry is coming’ with a future Labour government.
Reeves also said Labour would oppose plans to impose minimum service levels during strikes.
However, the Tory government is now poised to confirm new legislation covering key sectors including the health service, rail and education.
The Times newspaper reported that under the laws employers would be able to sue unions and sack staff who were told to work under the minimum service requirement but refused.
Starmer spoke about his message of hope for the New Year. We’re going to roll up our sleeves, fix the problems and improve our country. We can’t keep expecting the British people to just suck it up. Not without the hope – the possibility – of something better.
‘Don’t get me wrong – I’m under no illusions about the scale of the challenges we face … ‘It’s why every crisis hits Britain harder than our competitors. The only country in the G7 still poorer than it was before the pandemic. The worst decade for growth in two centuries. Seven million on waiting lists and rising. That hasn’t happened elsewhere.’
He added: ‘It’s why we’ve got a fully costed plan for the biggest NHS training programme in its history. We’ll tackle the capacity crisis with more doctors, more nurses, more health visitors. And we’ll broker a fair pay agreement that will transform the pay and conditions for every carer in the country.’
He spoke about: ‘A new approach to the power of government. More strategic, more relaxed about bringing in the expertise of public and private, business and union, town and city, and using that partnership to drive our country forward.
‘We will announce these missions in the coming weeks – our manifesto will be built around them. And they will be the driving force of the next Labour government.’
He warned: ‘But let me be clear – none of this should be taken as code for Labour getting its big government chequebook out. Of course investment is required – I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone else.
‘But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess – it’s not as simple as that.’