Keir Starmer: Labour will fight next election on economic growth

theguardian.com:

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, will attempt to frame the next general election as a battle for the economy, declaring on Monday that a Labour government’s priorities would be “growth, growth and growth”.

Echoing Tony Blair’s assertion in 1996 that his main priorities would be “education, education and education”, Starmer is expected to say in a major speech in Liverpool that there is “no task more central to my ambitions for Britain than making the country and its people better off. This is why I am clear Labour will fight the next election on economic growth.”

He will outline plans for a new industrial strategy council, established on a statutory footing to become “a permanent part of the landscape, that sets out strategic national priorities that go beyond the political cycle; holds us to account for our decisions; and builds confidence for investors that will boost long-term growth and productivity”.

He will say the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have shown that the British economy in its current state is too “brittle”.

The speech comes amid forecasts that the UK’s economic growth will stagnate next year, with consumer price inflation running at 8.2% for the year to June, and a Conservative leadership contest that has seen bruising clashes over the economy, with Rishi Sunak describing Liz Truss’s plans to borrow billions to fund tax cuts as a “fairytale”.

However, Starmer is also facing a challenge from the left of his party, with Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, calling on Sunday for Labour to drop its cautious approach to the economy and fight on a radical manifesto including state ownership and a living standards contract between government and the public.

Starmer has