‘Labour will turn votes into immediate action on the cost
of living’ - Starmer sets the pace as Labour’s new council
leaders commit to delivering emergency cost of living action
plans within 100 days
Labour’s new council leaders came together today [Tuesday] to
meet with and senior shadow cabinet
following last week’s political shift that saw Labour take
control of councils across swathes of England.
All Labour’s new council leaders have pledged to deliver
emergency cost of living action plans within 100 days of taking
control.
Starmer also promised that a Labour government ‘won’t abandon the
ambitions of generation rent’, by introducing ambitious targets
for building good quality and affordable homes, reversing the
damage that 13 years of Conservative government has had on house
building. Echoing this promise, council leaders will review the
housing and development plans which they have inherited to make
sure they reflect local need.
The new Labour councils will draw on the work already being
carried out by Labour led authorities across the country,
‘because where Labour is in power, we deliver for our
communities.’
Labour’s local election campaign focused on how the Party would
tackle the cost of living. The new leaders will begin that work
and ‘not waste a day in delivering on the Labour commitment to
ease the squeeze on people’s pockets.’
Last week’s local election results saw Labour become the largest
party in local government, for the first time since 2002, in a
performance not seen since 1997. The Party took 22 councils and
gained over 500 councillors in a political rout that saw voters
from north to south, across rural England to the coast, come back
to Labour.
Each new Labour council will be twinned with an existing Labour
led local authority to enable them to harness best practice and
‘quickly get a grip of the number one issue keeping people up at
night.’
, Leader of the Labour Party,
said:
“There is appetite for change, right across the country, and what
we saw last week is people looking again at Labour as the Party
that can deliver it.
“Our relentless focus on the number one issue keeping people up
at night, was because we get it. We understand that times are
tough, and prices are biting. That people are making different
choices, changing their lifestyles, and they’re despondent about
the future.
“Labour offered a positive alternative, and people have given us
their trust. It’s now our duty to not waste a day in delivering
on the Labour commitment to ease the squeeze on people’s pockets.
“Where Labour is in power, we deliver. We make fair choices for
working people and their families, and we improve lives. I’m
proud of the gains we made last week, but that pride will now
fuel our impatient pursuit of change. We have a chance to make
things just that bit better for people, and to show that Labour
can not only improve communities, but that we have the plans to
change the country.
“I’m delighted to be immediately working with our new council
leaders to create emergency cost of living action plans, and
review local housing plans. We’ll act now, to ease people’s
pockets, and support their aspirations.
“Our new leaders will review their inheritance and pull every
lever possible to relieve the intolerable burden that this
government has placed on working people.
“It’s time for change and Labour will make that change happen.”
Ends
