Today Sir Keir Starmer set out plans for the “biggest ever transfer of power from Westminster to the British people”, with the publication of ‘A New Britain’, a report by the Commission on the UK’s Future.
Speaking in Leeds, Starmer said this report is “central to fixing our broken economy and fixing our broken politics” and “breaks new ground” as it offers change within the UK. This is a 150-page report that promises no less than outlining the future of the country.
A New Britain
The report, commissioned in one of his first acts as Labour leader, is the centerpiece of the work of the commission, led by former Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown. It contains radical plans for higher standards, wider devolution and better growth, with lots on much-needed constitutional reform.
But just how relevant is this for people currently struggling with the pressing demands of the cost of living while watching a failing transport system and an NHS struggling to cope? This was a question posed by the BBC’s Chris Mason at the press conference this morning when he asked, “what do you say to people who are struggling to pay bills? This seems just high-minded stuff.”
As expected in a tome that is 150 pages long, there is actually something for everyone. Whilst many have jumped on the report’s promise to abolish the House of Lords in its current form, there are 40 recommendations to give local communities new powers over skills, transport, planning and culture, to drive growth.
In fact, having an economy that works for everyone and for every part of Britain is a substantial element of this report.
Innovation and new technologies
Brown mentioned how they have identified 288 economic hubs (accounting for 90,000 firms) around the UK that are involved in innovation in the new technologies of advanced manufacturing, clean technology and digital and life sciences “coming out of all the different parts of the UK”.
The need for far more balanced growth between the North and the South is obvious. The ability to do this will be through delivering greater powers, combined with local growth plans, to support these clusters.
According to Starmer it is local people who know the assets of their areas best and can bring together local leadership, businesses, innovators, skilled workers, unions and entrepreneurs, that can drive a new ‘pro-growth’ strategy.
This is not to downplay the role of London and the South East, but to recognise there is much outside of this so-called honey pot and this is where many of the jobs for the future are being created.
And this is the bit where the devolution agenda really kicks in. According to Labour’s press release, the commission proposes real economic empowerment for our devolved government, the mayors, and local authorities, including:
- New powers over transport and infrastructure
- New powers to stimulate growth, with longer funding settlements, and commitments to R&D that take into account local economic plans
- New powers over development and housing, such as compulsory purchase orders on vacant sites
- A regionally oriented investment bank to ensure start-ups have access to equity capital needed to scale
- Powers over economic development and job creation and the devolution of jobcentres
- Powers to link training and skills to local employment needs through devolution of colleges.
No wonder mayor Oliver Coppard was excited when I talked to him about this on Saturday. He has only been a metro mayor since May but the prospect of having the tools to do more for the local economy may soon be a reality.
Transport concerns
Still, this is Leeds, and the elephant in the room soon appeared.
What about the buses and the trains, asked one journalist. It’s a question that would probably have been asked by several more, but they never actually made it to the press conference because their trains had been canceled.
Improving rail and transport links is vital not just to the local economy but to get kids to school and people to college, and to keep friends and family connected. “It is really important in a cost-of-living crisis to control fares and I have reduced fares”, said Mayor Tracy Brabin.
But it’s more than that. Metro mayors desperately need control of the bus system so they can determine routes and services that best fit the needs of their communities. Meanwhile the government needs to get to grips with the train service before the country enters some sort of transport paralysis.
Rewiring Britain’s economy and democracy
Putting our broken transport system to one side, this is a report that is long overdue – and it sets out a compelling diagnosis of Britain’s challenges and some radical solutions for ‘rewiring’ Britain’s economy and democracy.
And yes, it talks of some of the constitutional stuff that probably doesn’t excite the people in the Dog and Duck on a Monday night. But if we don’t talk about it now, then when?
This report details how Britain has the sharpest inequalities and the slowest growth behind comparable economies It includes polling showing how too many people feel ‘invisible’ in their own country and forgotten by politicians.
“The center hasn’t delivered. We have an unbalanced economy which makes too little use of the talents of too few people in too few place”, said Starmer.
And people do need to see politics done differently. If nothing else, the last five years have exposed just how much the public have fallen out of love with politicians and how far standards in public life seem to have been disregarded by this government.
So, the House of Lords will be reformed and hereditary peers will go, but this is just one part of a much wider package of constitutional reform. The aim is to have regional representatives in a second chamber and a recommendation of “tighter enforcement of the rules, with the public directly represented in a new integrity commission” for politicians and public life. Second jobs for MPs will also be regulated.
Bold and ambitious
This is bold and ambitious stuff – and for an unashamed pro-devolutionist like myself, something to be genuinely excited about.
So what next?
“We will have a period of consultation and how we are going to implement this – this is NOT going to be a talking shop… It’s important we do this before we write the manifesto so we can deliver at the next general election”, Starmer told the audience at Leeds today.
“I want the first five years of the Labour government to be about delivery”, he added.
“You’ve been waiting for 12 years to get into power”, said one journalist. “Are you now just going to give it away?” Starmer replied that it’s not about giving it away, it’s about putting it where it needs to be.
One thing for sure – the way our political system is currently constructed is neither working nor delivering for large parts of the country.
This report – two years in the making – is ambitious and broad reaching. Gordon Brown should be commended for trying to do something that has been sadly missing from public life for years – articulating the problems and what good could look like for the whole of the UK.
