All the policies announced at Labour conference 2022 as Keir Starmer gives big speech

Keir Starmer will today declare Labour ready for government in his first conference speech since Boris Johnson was ousted.

In an hour-long address while the Tory budget leaves markets in turmoil, he will claim Labour is “the party of the centre-ground” and “the political wing of the British people.”

He’s expected to announce a couple of big new policies, including a plan to get 1.5million more people on the housing ladder.

Otherwise his speech is not teeming with loads of different announcements. Critics of the Labour leader have in the past complained he needs to get more policies in the shop window to inspire the public.

The Labour leader has previously junked large parts of the party’s 2019 manifesto, distancing himself from Corbyn-era pledges on free tuition and raising income tax on the top 5% of earners.

His allies hit back that he needs to win back the trust of the British people – after Labour’s worst election defeat since 1935 – before spelling out new policies.

Whatever you think of this, Labour has actually announced a fair number of policies during this conference – some headline-grabbing and some boring, technical or useful years down the line.

Amid all the coverage of the Liverpool get-together it’s easy to miss the detail. So we’ve pulled together all the announcements from conference as a handy guide.

Bringing home ownership up to 70%

Labour plans to get 1.5million more people on the housing ladder as Keir Starmer says it is the party of home ownership.

In his keynote speech, the party leader was due to pledge more properties while giving first-time buyers first dibs on new developments in their areas.

Labour will also raise stamp duty on foreign buyers, and stop them snapping up whole blocks of flats before they have been put on the market for local people.

The party chief will set a target for 70% of the population to own their own home in the first five years of a Labour government, up from 65% now.

Reversing Tory tax cut – and spending it on the NHS

A Labour government would reverse the “hugely divisive” Tory decision to scrap the 45p Income Tax rate for the highest earners.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she’d spend the £2bn-a-year she’d get back on one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history.

She said a Labour government will double the number of medical school places from 7,500 to 15,000, and double the number of district nurses qualifying every year.

They will also create an additional 10,000 nursing and midwifery clinical placements every year. That is despite the tax cut being funded by borrowing.

Labour would not reverse the Tory decision to cut Income Tax’s basic rate from 20p to 19p next April. It benefits higher earners more than lower ones but helps most of society.

Nationalising railways

Labour would bring the railways back into public ownership if it wins the next election, the Shadow Transport Secretary announced.

Louise Haigh said franchises would move back into public hands “when contracts expire”, so not straight away, to avoid exit payments.

Although this was included in the 2019 manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn – along with mail, water and energy – there has been confusion about whether it remained a Labour commitment.

Keir Starmer clarified to the Mirror that Labour would stick with plans to nationalise the railways but had dropped a pledge to do the same for utility firms.

Ms Haigh also used her Labour conference speech to pledge “an Elizabeth Line for the North” and to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 in full.

Zero-carbon energy system by 2030

Shadow Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said that “zero-carbon power” will be achieved by 2030 after “sweeping away” Tory dogma.

He said it would be achieved by trebling onshore wind, trebling solar power, quadrupling offshore wind, tidal power, nuclear, hydrogen power.

It compares to the Tory pledge to reach Net Zero in the entire economy by 2050 – a plan Liz Truss has just decided to review.

The former party leader re- announced £60bn investment over a decade to insulate 19 million homes – a move he told the conference will save £1,000 off bills, while cutting carbon emissions.

Renters’ reform charter

Lisa Nandy announced the party will build a new generation of social housing and also give private tenants new rights.

Under a Renters’ Reform Charter, the Shadow Levelling Up Secretary said a Labour government would end automatic evictions for rent arrears and abolish no-fault evictions – after years of Tory delays.

She also promised to create a national database of landlords, a legally binding decent homes standard, and examine schemes to make tenancy deposits more “portable”.

Prison threat for water bosses

Labour said it will clean up the water industry, with a legally binding target to end 90% of sewage discharges by 2030.

There will be stronger legal sanctions and fines for bosses and companies that fail to do so, and who do not meet monitoring rules.

In the worst cases, water bosses could face prosecution or even jail time, it is understood.

Water firms will also no longer be able to borrow billions of pounds to be paid out to shareholders while failing to invest in infrastructure, he said.

Scrapping business rates

On the first day of the conference, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed Labour would cut and eventually scrap business rates – a tax some firms have called to be suspended during the energy crisis.

The party said it would replace them with a “new system of business taxation fit for the 21st century”.

She said: “Our high street businesses do so much to enrich our lives and our communities, facing huge adversity in the past year.

“They are struggling right now, with a cliff-edge in rates relief coming in March”.

Skills and apprenticeships

Keir Starmer was due to announce an overhaul of skills and apprenticeships based on work by Blair-era peer Lord Blunkett.

The apprenticeships levy will change so firms can spend up to 50% of their contributions on other types of spending.

Labour would also devolve spending on adult education to combined authorities, and establish a new expert body, Skills England.

Domestic abuse register

Domestic abusers will be forced to sign a register so they can be monitored in the same way as sex offenders, the Shadow Justice Secretary announced.

Steve Reed said it would help identify patterns of behaviour and start to address an “epidemic of violence” against women and girls.

He added: “Under the Conservatives, criminals are repeatedly let off while victims are being let down. It’s time to put those suffering at the hands of offenders first.”

Specialist courts for rape cases

Every crown court in England and Wales will have a courtroom to deal with rape trials, shadow Justice Secretatry Steve Reed announced.

A Labour government would ensure rape cases are listed as a priority to bring down “unacceptable” waiting times, and hire expert support workers to ensure victims are treated with care and sensitivity.

Mr Reed said: “While the Tories have effectively decriminalised rape, Labour will put victims back at the heart of the justice system.”

Legal right to consular assistance abroad

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy committed Labour to “a new legal right to consular assistance for British citizens who fall into difficulty abroad.”

Labour said there is currently no legal obligation for the UK to give consular assistance to a UK citizen, even in cases involving allegations of torture.

Hillsborough Law

A new Hillsborough Law aimed at holding public authorities accountable following tragedies will be introduced if Labour wins the next general election.

It will include a duty of candour, legal aid, an independent public advocate and a code of ethics.

The announcement to create a ‘Public Authorities (Accountability) Bill came ahead of the Labour conference and Keir Starmer told the Liverpool Echo he would make it a “priority”.

Campaigners, including families of the 97 who died as a result of the 1989 disaster, have been long calling for new laws and regulations to prevent future injustices where there is state involvement.

New football regulator

Keir Starmer confirmed Labour would set up an “independent statutory regulator for football” as he welcomed Gary Neville to the party conference.

The party said it would help stricken clubs like Bury, Derby County and Oldham and stop the sport having to come up with its own solution in medium-sized towns.

Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell said: “The benefits are not being fairly shared in the football pyramid. Without financial oversight and regulation, many clubs have been left open to transient owners taking big gambles with their club’s future.”

Industrial strategy

In an attempt to offer certainty to business, Jonathan Reynolds announced plans to help firms deal with “future shocks”, transform skills, and making Brexit work.

The strategy, the party said, will have four central missions, including delivering clean power by 2030, caring for the future, harnessing data for the public good and building a resilient economy.

Launching the strategy, the Shadow Business Secretary said the party would set up a new statutory body – similar to the Committee for Climate Change – to ensure Labour in power meets its commitments.

Crackdown on fraud by major corporations

Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry unveiled plans to make it easier to prosecute large corporations for fraud.

She accused the government of “waving the white flag to white collar crime”, and said complex rules which shield companies by forcing investigators to prove executives are involved will be scrapped.

Ms Thornberry added that a “convictions first” culture will be restored at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), with new funding models looked at.