Keir Starmer speech live: PM accused of dropping economic growth as key target at attempted Labour relaunch

Calls to end the cap on the two-child benefit came after Sir Keir Starmer refused to do so in a speech.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech today, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham, said: “The Prime Minister recognizes that families cannot make ends meet, but if there is to be change, it will require re-investment in social security support. It is a way to improve the living standards of children and to give every child the right chance to succeed. Lifting the two-child limit is the first action the government’s child poverty task force needs to help struggling families.”

Sir Keir Starmer has been repeatedly asked to explain what his missions compare to his milestones.

Members of the press watching his speech in Buckinghamshire expressed their confusion to the prime minister, who was forced to detail the differences.

In a document released alongside his speech, Sir Keir outlined a series of “milestones” he promised to achieve during this parliament’s term in order to fulfill the “missions” he had set for himself before the election.

He insisted that his milestones were not a reset of his priorities or confusing for the public to understand.

The Prime Minister told reporters: “I announced the missions two years ago as our five national missions to give a sense of purpose-driven government, and like all the strategies I’ve put in place since I became Labor leader… we had a strategy, we had a plan and we stuck of that.

“So those missions failed two years ago, we stuck with them, now I just repeated them.”

He added: “We’ve set milestones so people can measure whether we’re making real progress on our missions, going back to what we said two years ago and how will that feel for me? Will I have more money in my pocket? Will I be able to make an NHS appointment if I need one?”

Sir Keir continued: “This is, if you like, something that the public will use to hold us to account for what we say we can achieve in missions in the first five years.

“And I’ll be completely honest about it, it’s also designed to stimulate and drive the reform that we’re going to need if we’re going to ensure that we bring about the change that’s so desperately needed.”

Kemi Badenoch has slammed the Prime Minister’s reboot announced this morning as confirmation that Labor is “still not ready for government”.

The Conservative Party leader said in a post on X: “The Prime Minister’s emergency reset confirms that Labor had 14 years in opposition and were still not ready for government:

“Nothing specific about immigration – because Labor has no plan to control the numbers

“The fastest growth of the G7 in this parliament has declined – due to the blow to the economy from the budget

“Costly energy decarbonisation plans watered down – as poor pensioners lose winter fuel.”

“And less than a third of Labour’s 13,000 neighborhood police are actually new officers

“This reboot cannot hide the reality of a government that doesn’t know what it’s doing.”

Keir Starmer said Labor would introduce 150 new major infrastructure projects in the UK, but gave few details.

Hopes may be raised that the plans could include dozens of rail projects at risk in the party’s spending review.

The Independent revealed in October the full list of these 36 vital transport links and hubs, all of which still face cancellations.

Whether today’s announcement will mean that these rail projects will be revived remains to be seen.

The Liberal Democrats accused the government of “simply moving the goalposts” after Sir Keir Starmer announced a new set of targets in his “plan for change” on Thursday.

Party leader Ed Davey said: “After years of Conservative chaos, people want real change rather than the government just moving the goalposts.

“The Liberal Democrats will hold this government to the fire to deliver on its promises, above all to fix the NHS and care.”

He also took aim at the government’s failure to include a plan to ensure people can see a GP when they need it, saying: “Promising to crash waiting lists while ignoring GP services is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“Millions struggle to get to their GP or have to wait weeks for an appointment, which only puts more pressure on our hospitals as people go without the care they need.”

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of watering down his clean energy pledge, after a document accompanying the prime minister’s “blueprint for change” speech said the UK would be on track for at least 95 per cent clean energy by 2030.

Before Labor was elected, the party promised to ensure Britain “leads the world with 100 per cent clean power by 2030”. Meanwhile, the party manifesto promises “clean government by 2030”.

Pointing out the disagreement, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said: “They have watered down their plans because they know they come with a monumental price tag.

“Labour don’t tax you to pay for the NHS – they tax you to pay for Ed Miliband’s ideology.”

Sir Keir Starmer said clearing the asylum backlog and returning people to their home countries if their claims were rejected was a “much more significant deterrent” to those wanting to cross the Channel in small boats than the Tories’ plan for Rwanda.

He accused the previous government of “blowing taxpayers’ money up the wall” on the deportation scheme, with a total of £715m spent on the scheme.

It comes just days after the Prime Minister blasted the Tories for what he called an “open borders experiment” after net migration topped 900,000 last year.

The Prime Minister promised to introduce 150 new major infrastructure projects.

Sir Keir Starmer described the pledge as a “clear message” to NIMBYs.

He said the new projects would add to Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.