Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer promises a "take back control" bill to transfer power from Westminster to communities
In a speech in London, he says the legislation would hand sweeping powers to people, towns and cities
The act would be "a centrepiece" of Labour plans if it wins the next general election
He says he is "utterly convinced" the Westminster system is not working and blames it for "hoarding power"
He vows to end "sticking plaster politics" on multiple challenges facing the NHS
The next general election isn't due until January 2025 - but Starmer says he will use 2023 to argue for a "new way of governing"
This comes a day after UK PM Rishi Sunak outlined five promises he says he wants the public to judge his premiership on
We're wrapping up our coverage of Sir Keir Starmer's speech for today, thanks for joining us.
Our live page was edited by Andrew Humphrey and Kevin Ponniah, and written by Aoife Walsh, Jasmine Andersson, Heather Sharp and Victoria Lindrea.
You can read more on the story here.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Keir Starmer - a man who voted Remain and campaigned for a second Brexit referendum - is cloaking himself in the language of Brexit.
His promise of what he calls a ‘Take Back Control Bill’, a planned new law pushing powers away from Westminster, is nothing if not unsubtle.
Labour needs to win back dozens and dozens of seats that voted Leave and Keir Starmer might as well be screaming "I get it" from every rooftop he can clamber on.
But it does mean critics will ask what he really believes: It might be savvy politics to court Brexit voters, but who is the real Keir Starmer?
Image source, ReutersForeign Secretary James Cleverly has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer's claim that the challenges Britain faces have been caused by "sticking plaster politics".
"What I saw, I think what the whole country saw from that speech, was a bit of vacuum," he said.
"He spoke a lot and didn't really say anything."
Cleverly said the government has had to deal with major crises over the past decade, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a global pandemic.
He said the government provided support during the pandemic that kept people employed, rolled out a successful vaccine programme and has made a strong commitment to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
"That's what we've been doing. What I have yet to see is any Labour plans for the future," he added.
Keir Starmer has been setting out his case for how Labour would deliver a "decade of national renewal" if elected. Here's a recap of his plans:
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his party would repeal the government's proposed anti-strike legislation if he was elected as prime minister.
Starmer said the government was "all over the show", giving multiple and varied briefings on what legislation it would bring forward and when.
"I think there's a reason for that - and that's because I don't think this legislation is going to work," he told reporters.
"I do not think that legislation is the way we bring an end to industrial dispute."
Starmer’s '"Take Back Control" bill generally contains things the Labour leader has spoken about previously.
In his Leeds speech in December, for example, he pledged to devolve “new powers over skills, transport, planning and culture - all helping to drive growth by developing hundreds of clusters of economic activity”.
And a report on the UK's future led by Gordon Brown and commissioned by Starmer includes a recommendation that “the common desire for more local control should be reflected in a legal requirement to require decisions to be taken as close as meaningfully and practicably possible to the people affected by them, so putting power and opportunity closer to each citizen.”
However, this is the first time Starmer has spoken about putting them in a bill using the Vote Leave campaign's slogan in the Brexit referendum and making it a centrepiece of Labour policy.
It looks to be the only proper pledge from today’s speech.
Image source, ReutersWe haven't seen any reaction to Sir Keir Starmer's speech from the Conservative Party just yet, but prior to his address, the Tories accused him of "yet another desperate relaunch attempt".
Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi said last night that Starmer should "stop giving cliche-laden speeches and, instead, finally unveil a plan for people's priorities".
"Every week he changes his position depending on what he thinks is popular - from supporting free movement to supporting the unions, he'll say anything if the politics suits him," Zahawi said.
"He's got nothing to say on how to cut crime, get immigration down, and reduce borrowing - that's what the nation wants to see.
"Once again, Labour are failing to set out a positive, detailed, long-term plan to secure the future prosperity of Britain. They should stop playing politics and back our plan for a better future that delivers for all."
Image source, PA MediaOne of the most notable things to come out of Starmer's speech was the 'Take Back Control' bill, which borrows the slogan that became synonymous with the Brexit Leave campaign.
So, what did Starmer say exactly?
Quote MessageIt’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what Take Back Control meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.
Quote MessageSo we will embrace the Take Back Control message. But we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change. We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.
Quote MessageAnd we’ll give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this. All this will be in a new “Take Back Control” bill - a centrepiece of our first King’s Speech. A bill that will deliver on the demand for a new Britain. A new approach to politics and democracy. A new approach to growth and our economy.
Keir Starmer has finished taking questions and this Labour event is now over.
Stick with us for reaction and analysis to what the Labour leader had to say as he set out his party's pitch to the country for this year.
The Daily Mail asks why Starmer didn't mention the arrival of migrants in small boats. Is it because Labour doesn't have a plan?
Starmer responds: "We do have a plan. We need to tackle the criminal gangs involved in the trafficking of people across borders. That's the first priority. Second is to get on top of delays in processing asylum applications."
Starmer says that the country is in a mess after 13 years of low growth and public services being pushed to their knees.
He criticised the prime minister for behaving as if the Conservatives have not been in power for 13 years, but said that would not wash with the British public.
Referring to Rishi Sunak's speech on Wednesday, he said: "The prime minister yesterday, it was almost as if he had suddenly arrived from the moon, and was looking around saying 'everything's busted, nothing's working'."
Labour needs to be ready for the government to fall at any time, Starmer says in response to another question.
He says his job was to change the party after the last election and he has done that - the party is now ready for the next election.
When that will be is up in the air but he thinks it should happen straight away.
Next, Starmer is asked by a journalist from the Sun whether - given he appears to be using his New Year message to champion Brexit voters - he regrets in the past having advocated for a second Brexit referendum.
"Should vote leave voters now believe you?", he is asked.
Starmer says that even in the turbulent years from 2016 to 2019 he was "making the argument that there was always something very important sitting behind the Leave vote".
He says the Leave campaign's slogan - take back control - was "really powerful", it "got into people".
"The more they asked themselves 'do I have enough control?' the more they answered themselves 'no'," he says.
"If you can't make ends meet in your family, you don't have control, if you don't have a secure job, you don't have control, if you feel you can't go out after dark because of anti-social behaviour, you don't have control - I've always accepted that argument," he says.
He says that we're now "many years on" from the referendum and it's time to embrace the argument.
"We intend to turn that slogan into a solution," he says, and again mentions Labour's proposed Take Back Control bill to spread power out of Westminster, which he says will "deliver it in action".
Image source, PA MediaSir Keir refuses to make a pledge to abolish university tuition fees, despite saying that they are not working well and burden young people.
He says that economic conditions mean Labour will have to cost everything as it goes into the next election.
Every commitment the party makes will be fully funded, he pledges.
Next up is a question from The Guardian's Kiran Stacey.
He asks whether, if a 19% pay rise for nurses is too much, would Starmer at least say 2% is too little if that is the offer the government ends up putting forward.
Starmer says let's wait and see what the goverment proposes, but he expects them to compromise and talk to nurses.
They need to get in the room with nurses, he says.
Starmer is asked by Lucy Fisher from Times Radio whether Labour would repeal the govenrment's proposed anti-strike legislation and whether he supports any minimum service levels during strike action.
He says the government is "all over the show" with different briefings on what legislation it will bring forward.
"I don't think this legislation is going to work," he says, and adds that he thinks the government has had an assessment that says it's likely to "make a bad situation worse".
If the legislation comprises further restrictions, he says Labour will repeal it.
"The reason for that is that I do not think legislation is the way you bring an end to industrial disputes. You need to get in the room and compromise," he says.
"You can't legislate your way out of 30 years of failure."
The next question comes from ITV's Harry Horton.
He asks if Starmer would offer more than a 5% pay increase to striking nurses, and what he would do differently in dealing with the unions.
Starmer says it's "very important to understand how much people are struggling to make ends meet", underlining that this is the first national strike taken by nurses.
Unlike the government, he says, Labour would "get in the room" and "reach a compromise".
He adds that the government "has no strategy whatsoever" and could have reached an agreement with the nursing profession before the strikes happened.
Chris Mason
Political editor
In advance of Keir Starmer’s speech, reporters were told he would say a Labour government led by him wouldn’t be "getting its big chequebook out again".
That word ‘again’ was striking - implying that perhaps previous Labour governments had spent too much.
But, curiously, that word "again" didn’t pass Sir Keir’s lips in the speech itself.
When I asked him if his promise meant he would match Conservative spending limits, he didn’t answer either way.
Labour want to be seen to be economically competent in the eyes of people who voted Tory last time but might be persuadable to vote Labour next time.
And expect Sir Keir to bang on again and again that he is very different from Jeremy Corbyn - the man he sat alongside in the shadow cabinet three years ago.
The next question is whether there is more scope for the private sector to deliver public services.
Sir Keir says that delivering it all through the state does not work, but neither does leaving it entirely to private companies.
Instead he wants a partnership model, where the state works with private businesses, he says.
Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent
Keir Starmer’s promise of a "Take Back Control Bill" to spread power out of Westminster pinches the slogan of the Vote Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum.
He says he’ll turn it from a "catchphrase into change" by giving more decision-making powers to communities, saying this idea was "part of the Brexit moment".
Answering a question after the speech, he acknowledged it was a very powerful phrase that really got into people – he said it was time for Labour to embrace it.
It’s a way for Keir Starmer to lean into the Brexit vote, after years of it being a somewhat tricky topic for the party.