Hillsborough Law and Homes for Heroes: What are Starmer’s latest policies?
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Do the new announcements Keir Starmer made in his Labour Party Conference speech give us a clearer idea about where politics will go under him?
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In brief…
- Keir Starmer revealed a few new policies and fresh announcements in his speech at the Labour Party Conference on Tuesday.
- Hillsborough Law will introduce a duty of candour for public bodies, while Homes for Heroes will provide homes for all veterans who need one.
- The News Agents say the announcements were representative of a bigger theme - Starmer’s “driving purpose”.
What’s the story?
There weren’t many new policies to come out of Keir Starmer’s Labour Conference speech, but the handful of new things he did reveal were “hard fought and deeply felt,” says Emily on the latest episode of The News Agents.
Perhaps the most notable announcement, ‘Hillsborough Law’ references the fatal crowd crush that killed 97 people at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in 1989.
Starmer also announced a scheme dubbed ‘Homes for Heroes’, and revealed that Aberdeen will become the home of the new state-owned energy company, Great British Energy.
But what are these policies actually about? And what message do they send?
What is the Hillsborough Law?
Starmer first spoke of introducing such a law two years prior in Liverpool. At conference, he confirmed that it will be introduced in parliament before the 36th anniversary of the tragedy in April.
"That was when I promised, on this stage, that if I ever had the privilege to serve our country as prime minister, one of my first acts would be to bring in a Hillsborough Law - a duty of candour,” he said.
The Hillsborough Law will introduce a legal duty of candour on public bodies, meaning that officials dealing with tragedies must co-operate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal sanctions.
“It is not just about Hillsborough. It is about any future potential cover up of any future potential tragedy,” Emily explains.
The Prime Minister referenced other public disasters, including the Post Office scandal, the Windrush scandal and the infected blood scandal.
“It is about making sure that lies cannot be told at the heart of these terrible, terrible events.”
What is Homes for Heroes?
The only brand new policy to be announced during his conference speech, Starmer vowed homes for all military veterans who need one.
Describing the amount of veterans facing homelessness, Starmer said it was an "injustice hiding in plain sight".
He went on: "In every town and city in this country. People who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, who put their lives on the line to protect us all, but who will not have a safe place to sleep tonight.”
“We cannot stand by and let this happen anymore." He added: "We will repay those who served us and house all veterans in housing need. Homes will be there for heroes."
Recording straight after the speech, Jon said he thought the idea was “interesting”, adding, “I think that this was, I suspect, relatively inexpensive, but will be popular and welcomed on all sides”.
The News Agents take
Lewis isn’t convinced that Sir Keir’s conference speech, the first one by a Labour Prime Minister for 15 years, delivered what it needed to.
“The mission for this speech, which we've been talking about all week, was to give a clearer sense of where politics might go under him,” Lewis says on the latest episode of the podcast.
“And on that, I'm not sure it necessarily actually fulfilled that criteria.”
But Emily thinks the announcement of the Hillsborough Law, whilst only one policy in itself, was representative of a bigger theme, saying he used the law “as a way of talking about his, as he says, driving purpose.”
“Starmer [was] trying to tell us that politics don't have to be rancid and toxic and sour and working against the people.
“Essentially, he's saying, politics can be for you. It can do good for you.”
Listen to the full discuss on The News Agents.
