Sir Keir Starmer reveals new ‘milestones’ but bringing down migration fails to make list
Sir Keir Starmer has promised change as he outlined his government’s “milestones” – but bringing migration down failed to make the list.
The prime minister revealed the government’s six milestones he said would be reached by the end of this parliament.
He said they would “drive forward” his party’s missions and allow the public to “hold our feet to the fire”.
Politics latest: Starmer says milestones are ‘really risky’ for Labour
Billed as a “Plan for Change”, which he insisted was not a reset, migration was not on the list of milestones despite Labour previously saying borders and the economy were their two top priorities.
Quizzed on why it was not, Sir Keir told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that migration needs to come down – something he has said before.
Sir Keir said: “It is our duty to do it [bring migration down]. And we will do it.”
He refused to set a target or timeline.
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Where is immigration in PM’s milestones?
The milestones Sir Keir announced are:
• Raising living standards in every part of the UK – aim to deliver highest sustained growth in the G7
• Rebuilding Britain – build 1.5m homes in England and fast track planning decisions on at least 150 major infrastructure projects
• Ending hospital backlogs – 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 months
• Putting police back on the beat – with 13,000 additional officers and a named police officer for every neighbourhood
• Giving children the best start in life – getting 75% of five-year-olds in England ready to learn when they start school
• Securing home grown energy – putting the UK on track to at least 95% clean power by 2030.
Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said the official definition of net zero was 95% clean energy. Pic: PA
Sir Keir admitted Labour’s target to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029 may be “a little too ambitious” but denied he was going to change it.
He said the government faces an “almighty challenge” to hit these milestones by the end of this parliament as he denied the goals are not ambitious, saying they are “really risky” for Labour.
The PM was also questioned by journalists over the government’s net zero target because the Plan for Change document said the milestone of securing home grown energy would put the UK “on track to have at least 95% clean power by 2030”.
He insisted it was not a revision of Labour’s original target to get to 100% net zero by 2030.
Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said after the speech the Climate Change Committee’s original definition of “clean power…is 95% low-carbon, zero-carbon energy and that’s the definition we’re using”.
Sir Keir also used his speech to accuse Whitehall of becoming “comfortable with failure” and promised “a profound cultural shift away from a declinist mentality”, as well as honesty about the “trade-offs” required to achieve his aims.
Conservative Alex Burghart said the speech showed Labour had lost their way. File Pic: PA
Senior Conservative Alex Burghart said he thought the speech was “probably the first reset of many” and accused Labour of having “clearly lost their way”.
“It is very difficult to believe anything that this government says,” he said.
“And this is a government that broke its promise to pensioners, broke its promises to businesses, to working people, to farmers. You know, the list goes on.
“So, it’s all very well them coming up with a bunch of pledges today but they’ve got a track record of not doing what they say they are going to do. So why should we listen to them now?”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Read more:
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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