Another question now from Sky's Ali Fortescue.

She asks on issues such as NHS pay and strikes, what exactly will Starmer do to help people right now?

Starmer says every year we go into an NHS crisis, but each year it gets worse.

He says he has pledged to have a fully-funded plan to tackle NHS recruitment and recruit thousands more staff - the only way we can get out of this.

Now Starmer has finished his speech, the floor has been opened to journalists.

The BBC's Chris Mason asks the first question.

"You say Labour wouldn't get a big chequebook out - will you match the government's spending limits?"

Starmer responds: "Yes, we need to be absolutely clear that we can't spend our way out of the mess the country is in."

He says Labour has set out its policy and fiscal rules, including that it will get debt down as a share of the economy and only borrow to invest. He says everything that Labour proposes will be fully-costed.

As Starmer is coming to the end of his speech he says again that Labour will empower communities.

"We won’t accept decline. Won’t write our country off. Won’t leave Britain in a brace position, buffeted from crisis to crisis.

"Holding on. Trying to make it through. It’s no way to live and it’s no way to run a country."​

He concludes by saying that under Labour, politics won't "hide from the big challenges that face our children".

Starmer is speaking now about Brexit.

He says there was "a whole host of issues" on the ballot.

"But as I went around the country, campaigning for Remain, I couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made to me," he says.

People wanted public services they could rely on, high streets they could be proud of and opportunities for the next generation in their own city, Starmer adds.

He says many of those who voted 'yes' in the Scottish referendum in 2014 did so for similar reasons and it’s not an unreasonable demand.

"It’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," he says.

Part of Labour's plan, Starmer says, is to give communities a chance to control their economic destiny.

"A huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy," he says.

Starmer gives an example as to Labour's approach to working with the private sector, outlining how Britain could get to 100% clean power generation under a Labour government by using a new publicly-owned company called Great British Energy.

"Because if you take action early, if we did this now, then businesses and working people get cheaper bills forever.

"Our country gets energy independence from tyrants like Putin forever. And we can give every community a shot at the green jobs of the future," Sir Keir says.

"That’s just one example, one mission. But it shows our recipe for taking on sticking plaster politics. It’s new technology, unleashed by public investment and private enterprise."

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

Keir Starmer’s vow to end what he calls "sticking plaster politics" is an attempt to portray the Tories as having lurched from one crisis to the next, fighting fires.

Instead he’s promising Labour will have longer-term horizons - "government driven by a strategic purpose", as he puts it.

Starmer says none of this should be "taken as code for Labour getting its big government chequebook out".

He says investment is required, but we won't be able to "spend our way out of this mess".

"It's not as simple as that," he adds.

Now we're moving onto what Labour under Starmer would propose actually doing.

He says Labour would firstly modernise central government so it becomes, "dynamic, agile, strong and, above all, focused".

He says the Labour manifesto will be "driven by clear, measurable objectives" and "national missions".

Starmer is constantly returning to the main theme of his speech - that the entire political system and the way problems are tackled needs to change.

"No similar country puts so much decision-making in the hands of so few people.

"So it’s no wonder the problems of communities up and down this country don’t get the attention they deserve," he says.

Starmer moves onto the NHS, saying yesterday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave more commentary but no solutions in a keynote speech.

There is no ambition and no sense of what the country actually needs, he says.

Sir Keir repeats that 13 years of Tory government has led to what he calls "sticking plaster politics".

"It’s why every crisis hits Britain harder than our competitors. The only country in the G7 still poorer than it was before the pandemic.

"The worst decade for growth in two centuries. Seven million on waiting lists and rising. That hasn’t happened elsewhere."

Image source, PA Media

Starmer says he will not allow the NHS to be destroyed - and has a fully costed plan for what he describes as the biggest NHS training programme in its history.

"We’ll tackle the capacity crisis with more doctors, more nurses, more health visitors. And we’ll broker a fair pay agreement that will transform the pay and conditions for every carer in the country.

"Give care workers the respect and status they deserve and help them drive up standards in our care system. That’s a massive part of the NHS crisis," he says.

Starmer has now turned his attention to the Conservative Party, and what he calls Sunak's "sticking plaster politics".

"The energy price freeze is the perfect example of sticking plaster politics... an expensive, last-minute fix, papering over cracks in our energy security that have been on display for years," he says.

He continues to applause: "Don’t get me wrong, nobody criticises the government for the effects of the war in Ukraine. But the war didn’t scrap home insulation. The war didn’t ban onshore wind. The war didn’t stall British nuclear energy.

"The Tory government did that."

It's worth noting that in December the Conservatives pledged to relax restrictions on building onshore wind farms in England after a threatened rebellion from Conservative MPs.

Viewers will have noticed that there was an interruption to the sound on the feed a few minutes ago, apologies for the technical fault, the issue now seems to have been resolved.

The Labour leader says he's "utterly convinced" the Westminster system is part of the problem.

He says there are good people and many MPs want to tackle Britain's problems but as a system it doesn't work.

"I came to politics late in my career. I’ve run large organisations, institutions that had to serve our country, and I’ve changed them all - including the Labour Party.

"That’s why I came into politics eight years ago. A new way to serve. A new way to get things done. More opportunities to change our country for the better. But I have to say - I haven’t found much of that in Westminster," he says.

The Labour leader says he believes in the spirit of people in the UK.

He mentions the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the welcoming of refugees from Ukraine, pubs, nurses and the creative industries.

He talks about sport - including "the Lionesses who brought football home".

And he talks about universities, "manufacturing genius", green entrepreneurs and scientists.

"And it’s in our communities. In towns and cities like Burnley, Wolverhampton, Grimsby and Swindon where the people will tell you, in no uncertain terms, that they do have ambition for themselves and their community."

Starmer is now talking about how Labour needs to show people that there is "light at the end of the tunnel". He says he remains optimistic about the future.

"I believe in our country, I believe in our businesses, I believe in our people, I believe in our spirit."

Image source, PA Media

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

Almost straight away Keir Starmer reminds his audience of the work he has done to distance himself and his party from the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He talked about rebuilding trust when it comes to tackling antisemitism, on national security and Nato membership.

He wants to make it clear the Labour Party is different now.

Starmer is speaking now about growing up working class in the 1970s.

He says he knows what a cost of living crisis feels like.

"The anxiety and shame of not being able to pay bills that only months ago were affordable. Our phone was cut off like this. And that was it," he says, pointing out there were no mobile phones in those days.

But Britain will get through it, he tells the crowd, but he says the problem is "that’s exactly what the Tories are banking on".

"They’re going to turn round in 2024 and try to claim some kind of political credit for the sacrifices working people are making now, as if it’s not their mistakes people are paying for - again."

Starmer again mentions the problems the country is facing, he says we can't expect people to suck it up, unless there's the hope of something better.

He goes onto mention crime, the NHS and the cost of living crisis.

Sir Keir lists issues like: "Houses that get burgled countless times yet the police never come.

"Hospitals putting out messages begging patients to stay away from A&E.

"Children going to school hungry. And it’s not just the poorest struggling.

"Millions of families, pensioners, working people - people who’ve always kept their heads above water - are going without decent food or heating.

"Cutting back on their holidays, their meals out, Christmas presents - all the little things that make life more enjoyable."