Key points from the Labour Party conference

This year’s annual Labour Party conference is over. Party members, politicians, activists, and delegates got the chance to debate and vote on the party policies and hear their leaders speak from Sunday 25^th to Wednesday 28^th of September in Liverpool. Here are some of the key points from the conference.

Keir Starmer’s Conference Speech

Tuesday was the day of Keir Starmer’s speech. The leader of the Labour Party addressed the “cloud of anxiety that hangs over working people." Starmer called for strong leadership and need for change. He also criticized the state of British economy and accused current government of neglecting the working class for the sake of the richest 1%. In terms of living crisis, he mentioned the necessity of helping the working people, as well as supporting the NHS. He also announced the launch of the Green Prosperity Plan and emphasised the importance of delivering 100% clean energy by 2030.

Modernisation of the NHS

According to Wes Streeting MP, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary: “The next Labour Government will agree a 10-year plan with the NHS to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community.”

The objective is to shift resources from hospitals to social care and GPs, ensuring that fewer patients need to go to hospital and thus reducing the cost of hospital care in the long-term.

Labour also committed to:

• increasing the number of medical school places from 7,500 to 15,000
• doubling the number of district nurses qualifying every year
• training 5000 new health visitors a year
• creating 10,000 more nursing and midwifery clinical placements each year

The money for the expansion will be provided by reintroducing the 45p additional rate of income tax, paid by those whose income is exceeding £150,000 a year.

Great British Energy

Keir Starmer has announced that within the first year of a Labour government, the party will create new, publicly owned energy generation company – Great British Energy. It is a part of Labour’s plan on how to cut energy bills, deliver energy security, and create jobs for the British people.

In his speech, Starmer mentioned that several British energy generators are completely or partly owned by foreign governments or companies: “The largest onshore windfarm in Wales. Who owns it? Sweden. Energy bills in Swansea are paying for schools and hospitals in Stockholm.”