Keir Starmer to make housing pledge in leader’s speech

As the Labour Party conference gets underway, leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to pledge to “build a new Britain” with extra powers for housing and local mayors if the party wins the next election.

He will promise to accelerate building on unused urban land. 

He will also say Labour would build the “next generation of New Towns” near English cities. 

And he will say extra police will guarantee patrols in town centres.

Sir Starmer will say a Labour government will herald a “decade of national renewal” after 13 years of Tory power. “What is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt,” he will tell delegates.

Sir Keir’s speech in Liverpool could be his last before a general election, expected next year and could be his final opportunity to make a speech to a conference audience setting out his pitch to lead the country. 
Starmer will make it clear Labour is aiming for at least two terms in power, and will be talking about his decade of renewal, he will seek to show his confidence and evoke memories of post-Second World War PM Clement Attlee by emphasising the theme of rebuilding.