Mission impossible! Keir Starmer says he is making ‘case for change’ as he unveils five ‘missions’ for government in speech – but is forced to admit he has already ditched nationalisation… and refuses to commit to scrapping tuition fees

• Keir Starmer has set out five ‘national missions’ at keynote speech in Manchester
• They are an attempt to challenge the five pledges announced by Rishi Sunak 

Keir Starmer unveiled his five ‘missions’ for government today – but has already been forced to admit watering down previously pledges.

The Labour leader said he was making the ‘case for change’ and the UK could be the fastest-growing G7 country as he delivered a keynote speech. 

Sir Keir told an audience of activists in Manchester that his government would be ‘mission-driven’ and his goals were ‘laser-focused’. Echoing the five-point blueprint set out by Rishi Sunak last month, he said voters would be able to ‘measure’ his success. 

But he was also left blustering as he was challenged over ditching previous promises from his leadership campaign, including nationalising energy firms. He insisted the vows have not ‘all been abandoned’ and he had needed to ‘adapt’ after Covid and the Ukraine war.

But Sir Keir refused to stand by his commitment to abolish tuition fees, merely saying he would look at what is ‘affordable’. 

He has also marked out a significantly different tone on ‘jihadi bride’ Shamima Begum, saying judges were right to refuse her appeal against being stripped of British citizenship.  

With polls consistently showing Labour has a double-digit lead over the Tories, Sir Keir is facing mounting pressure to set out what he would do in government.   

Keir Starmer unveiled his five ‘missions’ for government today – but has already been forced to admit watering down previously pledges

Sir Keir told an audience of activists in Manchester that his government would be ‘mission-driven’ and his goals were ‘laser-focused’ 

A YouGov voting intention survey released yesterday showed the Tories on just 22 per cent of the vote, down two points from two weeks ago

The ‘five missions’ are intended to counter the five key pledges announced by Rishi Sunak last month and will form the backbone of Labour’s election manifesto. 

The broad themes will be the economy, the NHS, crime, climate change and education. 

But while Mr Sunak vowed to ‘stop the boats’ – with new laws to ban those using the Channel route from claiming asylum – Sir Keir is not expected to make any commitments on immigration.

The issue could become a vital battleground in the looming general election, expected to be towards the end of next year.

Sir Keir told BBC Breakfast he would look to ‘fix the fundamentals’ in Britain to restore ‘pride and purpose’ in the country.

‘The idea behind this is really based on the frustrations, the everyday frustrations that people have that almost nothing seems to be working, everything needs to be fixed and all we’ve really ever had for many years now is sticking-plaster politics,’ he said.

‘The classic example of that is the NHS. We have a winter crisis in the NHS every year. We just about fix it, get through to the summer and then go back into the next year’s winter crisis.’

He added: ‘We can’t just go on every year doing the same thing. We need something which is longer term.

‘So this is the big fixing the fundamentals to make sure we can restore, if you like, the pride and purpose to Britain, the great potential that our country has.

‘They are long-term missions, they are a statement of intent to how we intend to govern.’

Sir Keir denied dropping all the pledges that won him the party’s leadership contest but said some of the promises needed to be adapted.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: ‘So far as the pledges when I ran for leader are concerned, they are important statements of value and principle.

‘And they haven’t all been abandoned by any stretch of the imagination. But what I have had to do is adapt some of them to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

‘Since I ran for leader, we’ve had Covid, we’ve had the conflict in Ukraine, we’ve had a Government that has done huge damage to our economy. Everybody recognises that.’

Sir Keir was accompanied by a host of shadow cabinet colleagues including deputy leader Angela Rayner (right)

Asked about his leadership nationalisation pledge, Sir Keir said his team last year had found ‘we would have to spend a lot of public money on public ownership, that because the energy companies were still buying on the international market, it wouldn’t lower the price and we wouldn’t be able to lower the bills for people into the autumn’.

He added: ‘Having done that analysis, I took the political choice that it would be better to have an energy price freeze paid for by a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies that made profits they didn’t expect to make.’

Yesterday Mr Sunak mocked Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions over the plan. He said: ‘We have heard that tomorrow he’s going to announce five missions.

‘But we already know what they are – it’s uncontrolled immigration, it’s reckless spending, it’s higher debt and it’s softer sentences. And for the fifth pledge, Mr Speaker, it’s that he reserves the right to change his mind on the other four.’

And last night Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: ‘Keir Starmer will say anything if the politics suit him. He lacks principles and has no new ideas.’

Sir Keir will only outline his five pledges in his speech this morning before fully launching two of them for May’s local elections, with the remainder staggered in the run-up to the general election.

He will urge voters to judge on whether he can deliver growth for every region as part of a ‘decade of national renewal’.

Mr Sunak’s five pledges was to ‘stop the boats’, with new laws to ban those using the Channel route from claiming asylum and deport them swiftly

A grim poll yesterday showed Labour has surged 28 points ahead of the Tories.

The YouGov voting intention survey showed the Tories on just 22 per cent of the vote, down two points from two weeks ago.

Labour was on 50 per cent of the vote, an increase of three percentage points. 

The Lib Dems were on 9 per cent, down one point, the Greens were unchanged on 6 per cent and Reform UK were on 7 per cent, up one point.

Critics said the survey contained many in the 24 to 49-year-old age bracket, who are more likely to vote Labour.

But it followed other polls published in the previous 48 hours that also put Labour well ahead. A Deltapoll survey found Labour had a 22-point lead while a Redfield & Wilton survey put the party on a 27-point lead.

How do Starmer and Sunak’s key pledges compare? 

• STARMER: 
• A plan for the economy with an aim of securing the highest sustained growth in the G7 group of developed nations.
• Build an NHS fit for the future.
• Make Britain’s streets safe.
• Break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage.
• Make Britain a clean energy superpower.

• SUNAK: 
• Halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living and give people financial security.
• Grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity across the country.
• Making sure national debt is falling.
• Get NHS waiting lists down and ensure people get the care they need more quickly.
• Stop the small boats crossing the English Channel.

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