They were delivered within 24 hours to approximately the same location in east London. What were the main differences between the set-piece New Year’s speeches by Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer?
big message
Rishi Snack: Prime Minister pledges five ‘peace of mind pledges’ to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce the national debt, cut NHS waiting lists and pass laws related to unofficial crossings and revealed what he called. His one big promise was a compulsory math study by age 18, with an even more opaque timetable attached.
Kia Sturmer: The Labor leader likewise had little policy to reveal other than a somewhat cheeky new name for an existing decentralization plan. More broadly, Sturmer promised hope and longer-term planning, a phrase used no less than eight times in the speech, in contrast to what he called the “plaster politics” of government.
economy/growth/inflation
snack: Most of these were contained in five pledges. In the post-speech Q&A, he seemed to indicate that by the end of 2023 he could reach his target even with a quarter growth rate, but this feels less ambitious. Beyond that, the prime minister made some rather silly words about the transformative economic power of innovation.
Starmer: When it comes to economics, I’m not as specific as Sunak. Sturmer’s main, and pre-tracked, pledge is to “issue a big government checkbook” to boost daily public spending, even as Labor continues to commit to critical infrastructure investments, particularly on green energy. “I will not do it.” “100% clean power generation by 2030”.
NHS
snack: Reducing wait times was one of the prime minister’s five promises, but it appears to be just a spring 2024 target. place of social care.
Starmer: Also generally a restatement of existing policies, including Labor’s plans to train more NHS staff, and a mandatory reference to the threat to health services by ‘plaster politics’.
strike
snack: Ministers said they “value public sector workers very highly” and called for a “reasonable dialogue”. This tone was undermined slightly hours later when news broke about No 10’s plans for the anti-strike act.
Starmer: The Labor leader had significantly less to say about this in his speech. , pledged to repeal the anti-strike law.
small boat
snack: Again, another of his five promises, he only promised to pass legislation to address strait crossings, not actually reduce the number of strait crossings. After the speech, Sunak was particularly evasive when asked if he would promise this as well.
Starmer: Not mentioned at all in the speech. When asked about the issue, Sturmer reiterated Labor’s somewhat broader plans for the region, including speeding up asylum decisions, for example.
personal bit
snack: Family old standby. In addition to referring to his doctor father and pharmacist mother, Sunak said his family “helps answer some of the profound questions we face as a nation.” In slightly suggesting that this is modern conservatism, he emphasized that this applies “regardless of what your family looks like.”
Starmer: For the few remaining Brits who don’t know that he comes from a working-class background, the Labor leader said his family’s phone was hung up amidst an early childhood cost-of-living crisis in the 1970s. said.