Keir Starmer responds to rise in populism in 'plan for change' speech
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As Keir Starmer sets out his ‘plans for change’, The News Agents ask if this speech was really a response to the rise in populism in the western world.
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Read time: 4 minutes
In brief:
- Keir Starmer delivered a speech outlining six key "missions" for Labour, including economic growth, housing, NHS improvements, and energy security.
- Starmer explicitly warned against populism, arguing that "easy answers" won't solve Britain's challenges, while acknowledging growing public impatience with traditional politics.
- The News Agents question whether his “technocratic” style might struggle to counter the rising populist sentiment in Western politics.
What’s the story?
Keir Starmer has today (5 December) set out his “plans for change” in a new speech at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
While the aim of the speech was to deliver six “milestones” he pledges to achieve over the course of his parliament, there was also a message to the public - that populism is not the answer to their anger or fears.
The Prime Minister acknowledged there is a “growing impatience with traditional politics” but said “populism isn’t the answer to Britain’s challenges”.
“Easy answers won't make our country strong, but nobody can deny that this kind of politics feeds off real concerns. In fact, that's the crux of the matter. People haven't become radical ideologues. We are still, in our values, a pragmatic nation”.
The speech comes a mere month after the American people said yes to Donald Trump’s populism, and less than 24 hours after France’s centrist government fell apart.
“What he's trying to say is that traditional politics doesn't have very long to make itself felt,” Emily Maitlis says on today’s episode of The News Agents.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, agrees populism is a “challenge” across the western world at the moment.
She joined Emily, Jon and Lewis today on The News Agents.
“That is a challenge at the moment, trust in politics is low. People are looking around the world, people are looking for other options, for how we can do things differently.
“That is a big responsibility that we all feel, and that's why the milestones outlined today are something people can judge us on what we actually do, whether we make their lives better”.
Keir Starmer bringing 'water pistol to a knife fight' in battle against populism
What are Keir Starmer’s six missions?
The milestones set out in today’s ‘Plan for Change’ are:
Raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, so working people have more money in their pocket as the government aim to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, with higher Real Household Disposable Income per person and GDP per capita by the end of the Parliament.
Rebuilding Britain with 1.5 million homes in England and fast-tracking planning decisions on at least 150 major economic infrastructure projects.
Ending hospital backlogs to meet the NHS standard of 92% of patients in England waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective treatment.
Putting police back on the beat with a named officer for every neighbourhood, and 13,000 additional officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood roles in England and Wales.
Giving children the best start in life, with a record 75% of five-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school.
Securing home-grown energy, protecting billpayers, and putting us on track to at least 95% Clean Power by 2030, while accelerating the UK to net zero.
What's The News Agents take?
“I think the story of this is that Labour are scared,” Emily says.
“When they tell us that we need to put our foot on the gas, what they're saying is ‘this is not working quickly enough to stop losing people to populism’”.
But if Starmer’s speech was not just to lay out his pledges for the British people, but also to counter the rising support of populism in the western world, is he getting the messaging right?
Lewis isn’t convinced Starmer’s “technocratic” approach is going to land as well as he would like.
“Sometimes it feels like Labour is bringing a water pistol to a knife fight. It feels like they're talking in a language which is quite old fashioned”.
Jon agrees; “Labour have seen that over the hill are coming the populists, whether it be Farage, Trumpism or Le Pen, and they're closing in.
“But they're still firing the same weapons back, even though the enemy has fundamentally changed.
“It's like they're not quite keeping pace with the weapons that they need to take on this new enemy”.
A better approach, Emily suggests, would have been to make the headline of the speech that asylum returns are up by 53%, but instead she says he almost delivered it in “parenthesis”.
“That would have been a bit more of a zinger for people to take away, not new, but something that people can pocket”.
The problem could be the thought that, as Starmer suggested, what people want from their politics hasn’t changed - clean streets, fixed potholes, secure borders and so on.
“That is a very contestable idea,” Lewis says.
“There is at least a strong argument to say that what a big proportion of the public wants is someone to channel invective and anger in their politics.”
But, Starmer is probably the most imperfect vehicle for that sort of politics, he adds.
“If you were going to AI an anti populist, someone who finds it very difficult to channel invective and anger in an age of fury, you would create Keir Starmer.”
That, Emily says, should be a good thing.
“We don't really want our politicians to become vehicles of invective and hatred and destruction”.
Listen to the full discussion on today’s episode of The News Agents.
Listen to the full discussion on today’s episode of The News Agents.
