On Levelling Up and Localisation, Education, and the Green Transition, Chamber joined Labour’s Shadow Secretary of States as they outlined their plans for the future.
In the closing weeks of May, Chamber joined SME4Labour for a reception headlined by no less than three senior MPs in the Shadow Cabinet – Angela Rayner (Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities), Bridget Phillipson (Shadow Education Secretary), and Ed Milliband (Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero).
As the UK enters the General Election campaign, with Labour soaring ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, the Labour Party are still committed to highlighting that they are the Party of change. With Levelling Up having been largely accepted to have not been well implemented (with Chamber’s partner policy institute, Curia, soon launching a report into Levelling Up), education having been hit by the RAAC crisis and the aftermath of COVID-19, and energy security and sustainability becoming a more important electoral issue with greater interest in environmentalism, and controversy surrounding ULEZ and environmental protesters.
The Past and the Future
Even with former leader Ed Miliband in the room, Rayner was quick to highlight past mistakes, picking out the surprise 2015 General Election result (where the Conservatives outperformed polls) as a clear reason for having no complacency in this campaign. With many Labour MPs in the room, and four secretary generals, Rayner pointed out that Labour has had 14 years to learn from past mistakes and, more importantly for her Party, this is their chance to win the General Election and they cannot afford to miss their chance.
But whilst looking back might be appealing to some, Rayner was keen to discuss the future, specifically that a Labour victory is not just a victory for the Party, but also one for the people of the UK.
“It’s about kids all over the UK, that are having their future snatched away”
Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Angela Rayner
Discussing her own background and how a Labour government helped her, she stated that every time Labour has got into power, people’s lives changed for the better. Since taking the role of Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rayner and the Labour Party have set out a number of plans designed to do just this (of course, we will have to wait until the Labour manifesto is released to understand exactly the plans that Labour has for the country). These included
- A housing policy centred around reclassification of the green belt, building affordable homes, and investment in infrastructure
- An employment rights policy to support those not in full-time employment, principally by creating a generic ‘worker’ definition for all those in employment
- Strengthening the role of mayors, with new powers over transport, housing, skills, and other policy areas
Working With Teachers, For Students
In her speech at the event, Phillipson championed Labour’s eagerness to work with teachers.
“I want to work with people…with a background in education, who understand that we want to make sure that all of our children and young people get a brilliant start in life”
Shadow Minister for Education, Bridget Phillipson
She spoke of the UK’s strengths (for instance the country’s top global universities), but also of the underinvestment in the education system and how this risks students not having access to high-quality education. Referencing recent speculation on restricting foreign student numbers from university, and the pledge on childcare support (criticised by organisations including the National Day Nurseries Association for not being enough to resolve the issues in the childcare sector), Phillipson highlighted the need to return education standards whilst working within fiscal rules.
She spoke about the breakfast club policy touted by the Labour Party leadership as an example of them using limited funds effectively (there is ample independent evidence of breakfast clubs leading to improved attendance, attention behaviour, and other learning outcomes for children). The other point raised, although one with more controversy, was the Labour plan to remove the VAT and business rates exemption from private schools.
Whilst there is disagreement on the exact level of income that would be generated from this policy (with some even suggesting a decrease in net income as a result of more students entering state education), polls from Ipsos and Savanta both point to overall support for the policy. With public support and the opportunity to talk about further investment into teachers, mental health support, career guidance, work experience, and better health counselling (as outlined by Phillipson), it’s likely a policy that will be put forward by Labour as one of their key revenue-raisers, in particular, for education.
Fighting Climate Change, and More
When discussing the importance of fighting against climate change, Ed Miliband quickly brought up the intersectionality of climate action with other policy areas. At the event, he linked climate policy with energy independence (one of Labour’s key commitments is to create a publicly owned clean power company, Great British Energy), lower energy bills (reinvesting income from a windfall tax on oil and gas companies), and reindustrialisation (Starmer has promised a £2.5 billion British Jobs Bonus, in part for the energy transition, with incentives for North Sea oil companies to invest in green jobs).
He also referred to a national wealth fund, forming part of the wider Green Prosperity Plan, that would be used to promote a home insulation programme or improve the generation of clean power in the country. Alongside planning regulation and the focus on building, investment in energy revolution has been a pillar of Labour’s plan to revitalise the economy.
Whilst Labour did face criticism for watering down climate plans from the infamous £28 billion number, the total value of investment still stands at above £20 billion (based on independent cost estimates of Labour’s policies – the Party has steered away from giving specifics on investment). For comparison, Hunt’s Spring Statement cost the Treasury £13.9 billion, principally in the form of tax cuts.
Final Thought: All Eyes on the Labour Shadow Cabinet
As we move towards manifesto-writing and manifesto-releasing season, eyes will be centred on specific policy areas. Whilst some areas (for instance, foreign policy with Brexit) might be seen as risky areas to discuss, and to come up with radical policy on, all the portfolios covered by the three Shadow Secretaries of State are likely to be at the centre of media scrutiny.
In 2022–23, the Government spent a total of £219.9 billion (£65.9 billion on Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, £116 billion on Education, £38 billion on Energy Security and Net Zero), with only health and social care, and social security, matching these levels of spending. In an election where every penny will matter and be subject to scrutiny, all three Shadow Cabinet MPs will be under pressure to get their proposals right. Whilst events like these offer glimpses into their plans, the real detail will come in the manifesto, as well as the implementation of said policy (the latter being a focus of Chamber’s partner policy institute, Curia).
This is just one of the articles that appears in the ‘levelling up’ section of Chamber’s pre-election journal. To gain access to our online version, please visit www.chamberuk.com/newsletter, or click the link below.
