Sir Keir Starmer is set to lay out Labour’s “plan for change” in a major speech on Thursday, with milestones including raising living standards, ending hospital backlogs and putting more police on the beat.
The prime minister is set to promise a named, contactable police officer for every neighbourhood in England and Wales, who will be focused on dealing with local issues.
Sir Keir is expected to describe the move as “a relief to millions of people scared to walk their streets they call home”, and promise a range of policing reforms to improve performance alongside £100m to support neighbourhood policing.
In a speech billed as setting out the “next phase” of his government, the PM is expected to detail ambitious “milestones” for achieving the five missions laid out in Labour’s manifesto.
He will say: “My government was elected to deliver change, and today marks the next step. People are tired of being promised the world, but short-term sticking plaster politics letting them down.”
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has already branded the speech an “emergency reset” after a challenging five months in office.
Key Points
- Keir Starmer’s big idea? Put more police back on the beat
- Conservatives say only a third of new recruits to be full police officers
Starmer’s plan’s ‘completely dishonest’, claims Tory frontbencher
09:20
Andy Gregory
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp has claimed that Labour’s new plans for a named police officer in every area are “completely dishonest”.
Labelling Sir Keir Starmer’s plan “a desperate attempted relaunch” for an “already failing” government, the former Home Office minister told BBC Breakfast: “Of course neighbourhoods already have Safer Neighbourhood teams with a Safer Neighbourhood sergeant who is responsible for that area ... so that structure exists already.”
“Clearly I support having named contact officers, but it’s not a particularly new thing,” he added.
Politics Explained | What will nationalisation mean for Britain’s rail network and passengers?
09:02
Andy Gregory
In our latest Politics Explained piece, The Independent’s associate editor Sean O’Grady writes:
The rather dry-sounding Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 has received royal assent and is thus now law. It means most of the remaining parts of the British railways sector will be nationalised in the coming years – a quiet, slow revolution but potentially transformative nonetheless.
The “guiding mind” of Great British Railways will take over the contracts from the various, often foreign, operating companies.
The first to return to full public ownership under the new arrangements will be South Western Railways, which will be renationalised in May 2025, followed by c2c in July and Greater Anglia in the autumn.
Although she didn’t stay in office for very long, the former transport secretary Louise Haigh has left behind a considerable legacy. But it’s not that clear what happens next...
Home secretary pressed on closure of police stations
08:48
Andy Gregory
The home secretary has been grilled on where new community police officers are supposed to work, given that 600 out of 900 police stations have been closed nationwide as a result of cuts made since 2010, with the number in London falling from 153 to 45.
“They do have local community bases,” Yvette Cooper told LBC. “In my constituency, for example, as well as having the main police station for the district which is just outside my constituency, we also have a base that’s where the neighbourhood police work from as well that’s actually in the heart of my constituency.
“It will be different for different areas. Ultimately you’re right, if what you’re getting to the heart of is that the previous Conservative government really did decimate neighbourhood policing.”
Neighbourhood policing has been ‘decimated’, home secretary says
08:39
Andy Gregory
Neighbourhood policing has been “decimated” in recent years, the home secretary has said.
Speaking as the government is expected to promise a named, contactable police officer for every neighbourhood in England and Wales, Yvette Cooper told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is about having strong neighbourhood policing teams that are properly connected with local communities.
“We’ve seen neighbourhood policing really decimated over the last 10, 14 years. Most people will tell you they don’t see the police on the beat any more.
“They also don’t know who their local officers are, but it’s been something that many neighbourhood policing teams have done for a long time, and certainly did back in the day – to have a named officer.”
Ms Cooper added: “Good neighbourhood policing is really the foundation of the British policing model. It’s always been the way we’ve done policing – it’s policing by consent in the communities. And we’ve lost a lot of that in recent years.”
Starmer’s reset will ‘capture people’s priorities’ for change, Yvette Cooper says
08:24
Andy Gregory
Home secretary Yvette Cooper has said Sir Keir Starmer’s “reset” will “capture the priorities for people across the country”.
Asked why the PM needs a “reset” after five months in office, Ms Cooper said: “The prime minister is setting out today the plan for change and these really major milestones, that they capture the priorities for people across the country, the things that we’re determined need to change over the next few years.”
She told BBC Breakfast: “Before the election, we set out the big missions for the country. In my area, that was around making the streets safer, around reducing serious violence and also restoring confidence in policing.
“But now what we’re doing, after the Budget and the spending review, is setting out ‘what does that mean in terms of the real major milestones, the difference that we want people to see in their own communities, in their own towns’?.
“And for us, that means 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat because we know that neighbourhood policing has been decimated in communities across the country under the Conservative government, and that’s what we’re going to be putting back on the street.”
Careful, Sir Keir – you’re in danger of ‘resetting’ yourself up to fail
08:14
Holly Evans
When Keir Starmer unveils his “plan for change” tomorrow, he will insist he is totally committed to public sector reform.
But his announcement of “measurable milestones” in six policy areas – living standards, the NHS, housebuilding, education, crime, and green energy – has already provoked an intense debate inside the cabinet.
Some ministers worry the new targets will make it harder to achieve the reforms that will be needed when the government cannot afford to throw money at the many problems in public services.
They fear that chasing the new targets – to avoid headlines about them being missed – will drain so much of the government’s energy and money that it will leave little space for reform.
Read our full analysis here:
PM to announce several ‘missions’ to hit targets set out in manifesto
08:08
Holly Evans
Sir Keir’s policing announcement is expected to be one of several focused on the “missions” Labour set out in its manifesto, which were securing the “highest sustained growth” in the G7, making Britain a “clean energy superpower”, halving serious violent crime, breaking down “barriers to opportunity” and building an NHS “fit for the future”.
Along with the targets set to be announced on Thursday, the Prime Minister is expected to propose a significant programme of public sector reform as his Government continues to face questions on how it will achieve its aims without further raising taxes or borrowing.
The Prime Minister will say: “Hard working Brits are going out grafting every day but are getting short shrift from a politics that should serve them.
“They reasonably want a stable economy, their country to be safe, their borders secure, more cash in their pocket, safer streets in their town, opportunities for their children, secure British energy in their home, and an NHS that is there when they need it.
“My mission-led Government will deliver.”
Conservatives say only a third of new recruits to be full police officers
08:05
Holly Evans
The promise of a named officer for each community is intended to improve relations between the police and the public.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Our neighbourhood policing guarantee is about more than just increasing numbers. It’s about rebuilding the vital connection between the public and the police.
“This marks a return to the founding principles of British policing – where officers are part of the communities they serve.”
But the Conservatives said only a third of the 13,000 new recruits would be full police officers, while the £100 million would not cover what was needed to pay for them, leading to cuts elsewhere.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “The Conservatives recruited over 20,000 extra police officers and gave the police an extra £922 million for policing this year, ensuring the police could protect the public and prosecute more criminals.
“Starmer has once again misled the public by claiming to recruit an extra 13,000 officers when the actual number is 3,000, and even that is not properly funded.”
Keir Starmer’s big idea? Put more police back on the beat
08:04
Holly Evans
Sir Keir Starmer has refreshed a pre-election pledge to restore policing to Britain’s streets as he tries to relaunch his government just five months after winning the election.
The prime minister will announce on Thursday that he plans to put “a named police officer in every neighbourhood” as he tries to win back the trust of voters after a difficult start to his time in Downing Street.
His “plan for change” comes as the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) issues a report raising serious doubts over whether Sir Keir can succeed in his number one mission of creating economic growth.
Read the full story here:
