Sir Keir Starmer promised to “bulldoze” his way through restrictions to build a new Britain, with new homes and businesses and an NHS “back on its feet”.
The Labour leader, who was confronted by a glitter-throwing protester before he could deliver his speech to the party’s conference, praised the spirit of the British people despite the “Tory project to kick the hope out of this country”.
Promising to reshape the country with 1.5 million homes including new towns, modernised infrastructure and support for green industries, Sir Keir said “the fire of change still burns in Britain” and it “lives on in Labour”.
With a general election next year and Labour enjoying double-digit poll leads, Sir Keir warned that the “dangerous” Tories would “scorch the earth just to get at us”.
And if he did win the keys to No 10, the scale of the challenge would be immense compared with his predecessors.
“If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm, that in 1964 it was to modernise an economy left behind by the pace of technology, in 1945 to build a new Britain out of the trauma of collective sacrifice, then in 2024 it will have to be all three.”
Sir Keir put reforming the “restrictive planning system” at the core of his plan to secure economic growth.
The system was “a blockage that stops this country building roads, grid connections, laboratories, trainlines, warehouses, windfarms, power stations” and “an obstacle to the aspirations of millions”.
The plan to “get Britain building again” would “fight the blockers who hold a veto over British aspiration”.
The 1.5 million homes promised by would involve new development corporations with powers to cut through red tape and the creation of the “next generation of Labour new towns”.
He insisted his plans would not mean “tearing up the green belt” but building could take place on areas where that protection was “clearly ridiculous”.
Sir Keir was forced to take off his suit jacket after the glitter-throwing incident, but insisted it showed why he had changed his party from one of protest to one ready for power.
The protester who stormed the stage was wearing a t-shirt which appears to tie him to a group called People Demand Democracy.
The man was removed from the conference building through a rear exit by two police officers before being placed in a police van.
