Starmer is halfway through his first 100 days – here’s what’s left to do
Sir Keir Starmer has now been Prime Minister for 53 days, meaning he has surpassed Liz Truss’s short-lived term in office.
His first 50 days have already seen riots and unrest throughout Britain following the Southport stabbings, an escalation of tensions in the Middle East and questions over cronyism in the new Labour administration.
And, with the Commons set to return from its summer recess next week, new challenges face Starmer in the coming months including rows over winter fuel payments for pensioners and decisions over what to include in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first Budget.
The party is clear that it will not fix many of the country’s problems in its first 100 days, but before the the election did set out six “steps for change” that it intended to focus on immediately once the party won the general election.
Strengthening workers’ rights
The only pledge in Labour’s manifesto which the party explicitly stated would be achieved within the first 100 days in power was laying down legislation to strengthen workers’ rights.
The King’s Speech confirmed that a new Employment Rights Bill would be brought before the Commons, which would “introduce a new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights”.
The pledge has been subject to controversy. There were reports Labour was considering watering down its promises amid pressure from businesses but then backtracked following pressure from unions.
It remains unclear, however, what will be in the legislation and how the new restrictions will work in practice for businesses, but the changes are expected to include a “right to switch off” for workers, a ban on zero-hours contracts, and stronger employment rights from day one of a new job.
This legislation was not tabled in the Commons in the few weeks following the election but is expected to be put before MPs following the summer recess. Finalising the exact details of the legislation and appeasing both businesses and unions will be the next challenge Labour faces.
Fixing the economy
Labour had promised to deliver “economic stability” as one of its initial six pledges, but the road to delivering this economic stability, however, is set to be a long one.
In a speech on Tuesday, Starmer will warn that “things will get worse” in the UK before they get better and that there are no quick fixes to remedy what he will call the “rubble and ruin” left by the Conservatives.
The Chancellor has also accused the Conservatives of leaving a £22bn black hole in this year’s Budget, and Starmer is expected to say tomorrow that the “Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) did not know about this”.
To deliver economic stability, Labour had promised to bring in “tough spending rules” to keep the Government in check and prevent the confusion seen following Liz Truss’s controversial mini-Budget.
The legislation to underpin the new fiscal rules, titled the Budget Responsibility Bill, was tabled before the Commons broke up for the summer and is set to be passed before Reeves’ first Budget on 30 October.
But the job of delivering an improved economy is expected to take much longer, and the Chancellor is set to face “tough decisions” in her first fiscal statement.
Fixing the asylum system
One of the biggest issues of the general election was immigration which played a key part in the campaigns of both the Conservatives and Reform UK.
Labour, which was heavily critical of the previous government’s approach to the issue, has pledged to tackle illegal immigration by launching a Border Security Command staffed by “hundreds of new specialist investigators, officers, and prosecutors”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced just days after the election that the recruitment campaign for the new body, which had officially been set up, was now in progress.
“Criminal smuggling gangs are making millions out of small boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. We can’t carry on like this. We need to tackle the root of the problem, going after these dangerous criminals and bringing them to justice,” she said.
“Work is under way to bring in a Border Security Commander to lead this work – and we will begin recruitment on additional capacity in the National Crime Agency immediately.”
But the problem remains acute. New figures released by the Home Office this week showed that more than 19,000 migrants have entered the UK by small boat in 2024 so far.
Setting up GB Energy
Another piece of legislation tabled by Labour in the weeks after the election was the Great British Energy Bill, which established the Government’s promised publicly-owned energy company.
The party has claimed this new company will eventually save every household around £300 on their energy bills and create 650,000 new jobs through investment in green energy sources.
However, the party has not been clear on exactly how GB Energy will save consumers money, and this issue has become particularly relevant after Ofgem announced that the price cap will rise by £149 in October.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has blamed energy price hikes this autumn on what he said was the Conservatives’ failure to invest in renewables, but the opposition has insisted Labour should focus on cheaper non-renewable sources to cut energy bills.
The real test for Labour over the coming weeks is what progress they can make on setting up GB Energy, and how soon those promise of lower energy bills can come to pass.
Tackling antisocial behaviour
Labour also promised a “crackdown on antisocial behaviour” which it said would achieved through “ending wasteful contracts, tough new penalties for offenders, and a new network of youth hubs”.
Jailing those committing antisocial behaviour, however, could prove to be a struggle due to the extreme overcrowding of the UK’s prison system.
An emergency scheme to avoid overcrowding in prisons has been triggered in the North of England, as hundreds of rioters are charged with offences relating to the disorder seen in recent weeks.
Operation Early Dawn is a longstanding plan that will allow defendants to be held in police cells and only be summoned to a magistrates’ court if space in prison is available.
The maximum prison capacity in England and Wales is 89,200, but recent government data suggests that there are currently 87,900 in jail, raising concerns about prisons filling up.
Labour is expected to cut short prison sentences for women as some of the other measures to tackle overcrowding, but without major action to increase capacity, the Government may struggle to bring in the deterrents it wants for antisocial behaviour.