Starmer and Rayner launch local election campaign with new plan to power up Britain
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Labour Leader Keir Starmer and Deputy Labour Leader, Angela Rayner,
today launched Labour’s local election campaign at Black Country
& Marches Institute of Technology in Dudley with a promise to
‘power up Britain’, announcing that every area of England will have
its own ‘local growth plan’ to create and benefit from economic
growth under a Labour government. As working people feel the
real-life impact of a failure to level up, through boarded up
shops, record low...Request free trial
Labour Leader Keir Starmer and Deputy Labour Leader, Angela Rayner, today launched Labour’s local election campaign at Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology in Dudley with a promise to ‘power up Britain’, announcing that every area of England will have its own ‘local growth plan’ to create and benefit from economic growth under a Labour government. As working people feel the real-life impact of a failure to level up, through boarded up shops, record low NHS satisfaction and regional inequality, Starmer and Rayner unveiled Labour’s plan to tackle regional inequality and boost growth and living standards in every corner of the country, calling time on continued decline under the Tories. The announcement comes as new analysis from Labour shows key metrics on which Britain has been levelled-down since the Tories came to power in 2010:
New analysis also shows that since the Tories first announced their ‘levelling up’ plan in 2019the gap in earnings between workers in London and every single other region has increased. Launching the party’s campaign in Dudley - the very place where Boris Johnson championed the Tories’ ‘levelling up’ promise - Labour outlined new detail within its flagship Take Back Control Act, which will place a new statutory duty on combined authorities to develop Local Growth Plans. The plans will be core to Labour’s mission to bring the highest sustained growth in the G7, boosting living standards and good jobs in every part of the country. The new policy was outlined in the party’s new campaign document titled ‘Power and Partnership: Labour’s Plan to Power Up Britain’. Labour’s plan is built on three fundamental principles; that communities must be empowered to truly unlock their potential; that you need an active centre of government to reap the benefits of scale; and that this can only be achieved through strong partnership between Westminster, local government and the private sector. Labour’s plan to release Britain’s untapped strengths includes newly released plans:
Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said: “Everywhere you look, communities up and down the country are feeling the impact of 14 years of decline: boarded-up shops, the soaring cost of living, eye-watering mortgage and rent payments, and a widening gap in earnings with London. This is the real-world impact of Tory chaos and instability on working people playing out before our eyes. “The choice is simple: we can use all the powers at our disposal to allow Britain to compete in the global race for the jobs and investment of the future, or we can sit by while other countries steam ahead. “Labour will relight the fire of our regions and drive growth in every corner of the country. We will deliver long-term funding settlements for councils giving them greater certainty and ending the ‘begging bowl’ culture. We will revamp our high streets by stamping out late payments and implementing a Community Right to Buy. Only by pulling these local power levers can we release Britain’s untapped strength and generate the growth of the future. “That’s the change Labour will deliver. It’s in the hands of voters to vote for that change on 2 May and send a message to a Prime Minister too scared to name a date for the general election.” Angela Rayner MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said: “Britain's regions are more divided than ever, living standards are stagnating and the foundations of a good life are crumbling. “Labour’s plan is focused on achieving growth in every corner of the country, putting more money in people’s pockets, and giving people control over what matters to them. It will deliver on our mission to build an economy where growth boosts living standards and good jobs in every part of the country. Labour will make work pay and rebuild the foundations of a good life in Britain. “You can believe that Labour is committed to tackling regional inequality in Britain because it is in our DNA. For over a century it has been a mission of every Labour Prime Minister to rebuild our economy hand in hand with local leaders so no one is left behind.” Ends
Notes:
“But, with that, an expectation that those powers will be used to grow the local industries that are so important to unlock pride. “The argument is simple: devolution is absolutely essential for taking on regional inequality. Democratic decisions are better made by local people with skin in the game – I’ve always believed that. Because it wasn’t some central planner who built the old Round Oak Steel Factory all those years ago, it wasn’t a big politician who made Stourbridge famous for glass production, or the Black Country and Birmingham – the workshop of the world. No, that sort of pride is not in the gift of politicians, it’s built up over the decades by the people, the businesses and the workers of a community.”
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