The next Labour government will “rebuild Britain from the ground up”, Lisa Nandy will vow today, as she lays out plans for “a great rebalancing of power, with wealth, security and opportunity spread across the whole country”.
In stark contrast to Liz Truss – who seeks growth “by turning the North into Singapore on Sea” and prioritising the rich and big business – Labour will grow the economy by investing in all people and all places.
Likening the British economy to “a jet flying on one engine”, Nandy will pledge that Labour will get Britain firing on all cylinders by “building a country where everyone can contribute and everyone has a stake in our future”. Only this way can you both grow the economy and ensure all communities benefit from that growth.
Addressing the Labour Party conference on Monday afternoon, Lisa Nandy will unveil plans to invest to create good, well-paid jobs in industrial and coastal towns; action to build a new generation of council housing; plans to rebalance home ownership towards first-time buyers; reforms to empower people in the private rented sector; and radical new powers for local leaders and communities.
Lisa Nandy, Shadow Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary, will say:
“It will be about the real wealth creators – the women and men who work in our shops, who drive our buses, who deliver our mail, who produce our food, who care for our families and teach our children – who make sure we have what we need to live every day of our lives. Those people are the foundation of our economy,” she will say.
“The people of our country are our great untapped asset. Labour will tilt the balance of power back in their favour, so those with skin in the game, who are in it for the long haul, will feel the whole system pulling in behind them. That is how you grow the economy.”
Nandy will say that tackling housing crisis is central to growth and giving people a stake and the opportunity to contribute.
She will set out plans to “rebuild our council housing stock and bring homes back into the ownership of local councils and communities”, and to “tilt the balance of power” back to those who rent their homes:
“For private renters we will tilt the balance of power back to you through a powerful new renters’ charter and a new decent homes standard – written into law. Because security in your home, the right to make your home your own, and most of all the right to live in a home that isn’t cold, mouldy, damp, unfit for human habitation, is a fundamental human right.”
Labour’s Private Renters’ Charter includes ending no fault evictions, the right to make home alterations, the right to have pets, a four-month notice period for landlords, and a national register of landlords.
Labour’s housing plan will rebalance home ownership towards first-time buyers, with “home ownership opened up to millions more”, driving economic growth and giving more families financial security. Nandy will commit to working with lenders to introduce a system where evidence of meeting rent payments will be included in mortgage affordability tests.
Elsewhere in her speech, Nandy will emphasise Labour’s plan to invest £28bn-a-year “to bring clean energy jobs to industrial and coastal towns across Britain.”
Arguing that “none of the challenges we face can be solved from the centre alone”, she also promised to end the Conservatives’ “Hunger Games-style” devolution and “smash up half a century of centralisation”.
This will include handing “real powers” to local leaders “to invest in skills and housing and rebuild our youth clubs, libraries and high streets”.
It will also mean radical new powers for communities to own, protect and grow vital local assets like historic buildings, town centres, pubs and football clubs.