Sawt Falasteen - UK Labour leader Starmer vows 'decade of national renewal' if elected

Starmer used a keynote speech to his resurgent centre-left party's annual conference in Liverpool to outline how he would govern differently from the Conservatives under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Pledging to tackle a cost-of-living crisis sparked by Brexit, pandemic lockdowns and the war in Ukraine, Starmer said there was "no magic wand" and urged "ambition, determination, patience".

"A decade of national renewal -- that's what it will take," Starmer told a cheering audience, promising "Britain will get its future back".

"We will face down the age of insecurity together," he said in a wide-ranging speech lasting almost an hour, which was initially disrupted by a protester who showered glitter on Starmer and shouted "true democracy is citizen-led" and "politics needs an update" before being led off stage.

Starmer urged voters to trust Labour.

"People are looking at us because they want our wounds to heal, and we are the healers," he said, vowing to modernise the state.

"People are looking to us because they want to build a New Britain, and we are the builders."

- 'Plan for Britain' -

The speech comes with the opposition party enjoying double-digit leads in most opinion polls ahead of a general election that Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must call by January 2025.

Starmer has shepherded Labour back to the centre ground since becoming leader in April 2020, after succeeding left-winger Jeremy Corbyn following a landslide defeat to the Tories at the last general election in 2019.

"There is a vision here that I have not seen sort of presented by the party in a while," said Labour party member Henry Pearl ahead of the speech.

"I feel that we're a government in waiting, as opposed to an opposition party," the 27-year-old told AFP.

Despite being well ahead in the polls, Starmer has faced criticism for being too cautious and for not clearly spelling out a vision for the United Kingdom.

Starmer sought to confront that criticism, pledging to "bulldoze" his way through restrictions on much-needed housing, rejuvenate the ailing economy through modernised infrastructure and support for green industries and get the country's cherished public health system "back on its feet".

"Today we turn the page on the question why Labour, with a plan for Britain built to last, with higher growth, safer streets, cheap British power in your home, more opportunity in your community," he said.

- 'Trickle-down nonsense' -

Labour has rolled out a few policies at the conference, which kicked off on Sunday and is likely the last before the election.

Starmer announced a £1.5-billion ($1.8-billion) plan to tackle waiting lists in the state-run National Health Service that have ballooned due to the impact of industrial action and a huge Covid pandemic backlog.

He also said Labour would target building 1.5 million houses over five years.

His deputy, Angela Rayner, announced a raft of pledges to strengthen workers' rights, including banning so-called zero-hour contracts, a type of casual work where minimum hours are not guaranteed.

Labour is expected to put the economy front and centre of its campaign.

Starmer attacked the ruling Tories' right-wing economic orthodoxy as "trickle-down nonsense, that sees wealth trickle up and jobs trickle out".

The Conservatives have had three leaders since the last election, with Sunak taking over from Liz Truss after her radical tax-slashing agenda spooked the financial markets.

Reeves said the chaos that followed proved that "you can never trust the Tories with our economy ever again" and that she would introduce a law requiring any future tax and spending changes to be subject to an independent forecast.

Labour lawmakers are warning against complacency and apathy, though.

O.Salim--SF-PST