“Labour’s offer on the road” – Starmer visits Blackpool to set out how Labour will create “real opportunities”

Keir Starmer will begin a two-day visit to Blackpool today [Thursday] as he kicks off a summer “on the road”, taking Labour’s offer out to communities across the UK.

The Labour leader will hold a series of meetings and events across Blackpool to debate Labour’s plans to provide “real opportunities” to people across Britain: “whoever you are and wherever you live.”

The visit is part of Starmer’s commitment to spend more time away from Westminster over summer and have a national conversation with businesses, community groups and members of the public, in a series of events and informal discussions. Starmer will put forward Labour’s proposals and hear directly from people as part of his plan to reconnect Labour to communities.

Highlighting the impact of the pandemic on young people, Starmer today warns of “permanent scarring” of Britain’s younger generations without swift action. Across the two days, Starmer will have conversations with sixth-form students, apprentices, hospitality workers and young people from local community groups.

The Labour leader will be debating a series of ideas with local people about how to create real opportunities for everyone:

• Labour’s £15bn Children’s Recovery Plan – including breakfast clubs and small group tutoring to help children catch up, mental health support in schools and an extension of free school meals.

• A Jobs Promise to ensure every young person away from work for six months is offered a quality education, training or employment opportunity.

• Labour’s proposals to ‘Make, Buy and Sell More in Britain’ – to help bring the jobs of the future to towns like Blackpool.

Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, speaking ahead of the visit, said:

“For too long, politics has felt too remote from ordinary people’s lives and opinions. That’s why I’ve committed to spending a lot more time outside Westminster this summer, taking Labour’s offer on the road and direct to voters.

“I’ve got plans to create opportunities for everyone, and I’m looking forward to debating them with local people in Blackpool. I’ll be having robust conversations with people, particularly those who didn’t vote Labour at the last election.

“Conservative failure over the past decade has restricted opportunities for too many people. And the pandemic has rapidly worsened that, particularly for young people. Unless we act now, and act fast, we risk the permanent scarring of an entire generation.

“So in Blackpool I’ll be putting forward Labour’s proposals to create real opportunities across Britain. Opportunities that everyone deserves and that help our country thrive. Whoever you are and wherever you live, you deserve every chance to get on in life.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

Labour’s £15bn Children’s Recovery Plan, informed by the Party’s Bright Future Taskforce of education experts – delivers the bold action that teachers, parents, children, education experts and employers have said is needed. Labour’s plan would deliver:

• Breakfast clubs and new activities for every child
• Quality mental health support in every school
• Small group tutoring for all who need it, not just 1%
• Continued development for teachers
• An Education Recovery Premium
• Ensure no child goes hungry
• ‘Labour’s Children’s Recovery Plan: https://labour.org.uk/childrens-recovery-plan/

Labour’s Jobs Promise would guarantee equality training, education, or employment opportunities for young people who have been out of work, education, or training for six months. Labour’s plan would:

• Transform Kickstart into a commitment that every 16-24-year-old will be offered a quality education, training or employment opportunity before they have been out of employment, education or training for more than 6 months.
• This could be support into a full-time FE or HE course, an apprenticeship or a work placement.
• Labour is calling again for the UK government to put unspent funds from its apprenticeship levy towards a wage subsidy that could create 85,000 new apprenticeships for young people aged between 16 and 24 this year.

Labour’s proposals to make, buy and sell more in Britain include:

• Making more in Britain by giving more public contracts to British companies, big and small, by:
• • Asking every public body to give more contracts to British firms big and small, using stretching social, environmental and labour clauses in contract design to raise standards and spend and make more in Britain.
  • Passing a law requiring public bodies to report on how much they are buying from British businesses including SMEs.
  • Leading a culture change in government, putting the growth of local industries first, and reviewing the pipeline of all major infrastructure projects to explore how to increase the materials made in Britain, upskill workers to get the jobs of the future.
• Help bring jobs of the future to Britain, by:
• • Investing in reshoring jobs in the same way we invest in Foreign Direct Investment, by helping every business considering reshoring access the expertise and support they need.
  • Working with colleges and universities to make sure we’re honing the skills and apprenticeships for the jobs of the future.
• More: https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-will-make-buy-and-sell-more-in-britain/