As Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership runs out of road, contenders for the Labour crown have been busy burnishing their lists of promises to the party faithful. Andy Burnham, widely seen as the Prime Minister’s main rival for the throne, has been firing off new policies for months. From slashing the number of peers in the Lords to raising taxes on homeowners, the Mayor of Greater Manchester is seeking to present himself as the transformative left-wing candidate.
Wes Streeting, though far behind in support from the membership and PLP, has vowed to take Britain back into the EU and resume North Sea drilling. Meanwhile, Al Carns is still under the illusion that he has a shot at securing the keys to Downing Street, and has been busy setting out a manifesto for beefing up the armed forces.
The next few months are set to see all three contenders – and perhaps more yet to emerge – reel off ever more promises to the membership, whether realistic or otherwise. Sir Keir is also likely to conjure up some red meat ideas of his own. However putting the Prime Minister to one side, as of mid-June, here is what has been pledged so far.
Andy Burnham
- Slash the number of peers in the House of Lords and make the chamber subject to an ‘indirect election that could be linked to a general election’.
- Cut business rates for pubs and music venues by 20 per cent.
- Replace council tax with a land value tax.
- Abolish death duties and replace them with a flat-rate ‘national care levy’.
- Introduce proportional representation.
- Bring all utilities into public ownership or wrap them in yet more red tape.
- Oppose benefits being given to migrants.
- Support the Supreme Court’s ruling on trans women being able to access female loos.
- Put fiscal rules up for debate.
- He has suggested that he would radically alter Britain’s tax system, introducing a 10 per cent ‘starting rate’ for lower earners while raising the top level of income tax to 50 per cent.
- He has called for higher council tax on homes in London and the South East, potentially above the £2 million mansion tax proposed by the government.
- Burnham has been critical of Mahmood’s reforms to make migrants wait longer before being granted the right to stay in the UK. However, he said the thrust of the Home Secretary’s plans to reduce illegal migration struck the right balance between ‘fairness [and] security at our borders’.
- On Brexit, Burnham has said he hopes Britain will rejoin the EU in his lifetime, and that Labour has been too reluctant to call out the ‘disaster’ of leaving the bloc.
Wes Streeting
- A plan to increase high-skilled immigration to the UK, arguing that Donald Trump is telling scientists and AI experts they are not welcome in the US. Streeting will announce a plan to loosen immigration restrictions in order to ‘attract the best and the brightest minds from around the world’ to Britain.
- Aides say he would introduce a global talent programme with a target of recruiting 20,000 world-leading scientists, AI experts and engineers over the next three years. The programme would be housed in No 10 and have a budget of £250 million.
- Says tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gas fields should be used to cut energy bills. ‘Opponents of the North Sea [drilling] say it sets the wrong example to the world. But the worst example we can set is that net zero can only be delivered on the backs of the poor and working people’s jobs. This is the route to Nigel Farage walking into Downing Street and destroying our renewables industry.’
- Wants to equalise tax on assets and income, which he describes as a ‘wealth tax that works’.
Al Carns
- Says the Troubles Legacy Bill is ‘unfit for purpose’ and backs protecting British veterans.
- Supports a higher level of defence spending than the current government.
- Says oil and gas will be with us for a generation, and that energy is a security issue.
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