What Labour’s progressive manifesto means for Brighton and Hove

Brighton and Hove will go to the polls on Thursday against the backdrop of a country in crisis and public services in decline.

Can you think of a single area of society or the economy that is in a better state today than 14 years ago?

Labour has produced a manifesto that is focused and fully costed but also bold and deeply progressive.

We sometimes hear complaints that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is not being ambitious enough – but I don’t remember any manifesto under Tony Blair that promised to bring railways into public ownership, create a new state-owned energy company and transform workers’ rights with a “New Deal for Working People”.

Indeed, if elected, this would be the most progressive and radical programme for government in the past 45 years.

In his introduction to the manifesto, Keir Starmer hailed “an opportunity to begin the work of national renewal. A rebuilding of our country so that it once again serves the interests of working people.”

This is exactly what your local Labour council is trying to do for the city – “rebuilding” and “renewal” – following years of underperformance and unfairness.

Labour’s general election manifesto provides genuine and bold solutions to the problems faced by residents in Brighton and Hove – and I want to explain why.

The housing crisis in this city is both deep and broad. Thousands of families have presented as homeless to the council in recent years. Renters pay eye-watering sums for smaller spaces and worse conditions – and face the threat of no-fault eviction. Families have moved out of the city because it has become so unaffordable.

The only solution to this crisis is to build more homes, including dramatically expanding affordable and council housebuilding.

That’s exactly what the Labour Party is promising to do – 1.5 million homes built over five years which would deliver at levels not seen since the 1960s.

In Brighton and Hove, your Labour council is already building council homes at a higher rate than elsewhere but we can only truly expand housebuilding with a government that will unlock that expansion with funding and planning changes.

We also know that the biggest cause of homelessness in our city is evictions from homes in the private sector. Which is why Labour will ban “section 21” no-fault evictions.

The NHS is in deep crisis nationally but the situation feels particularly acute in Brighton and Hove. I have found it increasingly difficult to get a GP appointment or even get hold of someone on the phone.

A visit to A&E last year with my partner felt more like a war zone. I know many other residents feel the same.

When Labour left office in 2010, NHS wait times were at all all-time low but, after 14 years of Tory government, they are now at record highs. That’s why the city needs a government whose top priority is to cut NHS waiting times.

Brighton and Hove has a proud tradition of being environmentally conscious – but the national government has failed to act fast enough and is now descending into the party of climate-denial.

On a local level, we were shocked to find that the last Green administration had no serious plan to transition the city to “net zero”. Which is why Labour’s plans on the environment are so welcome to a city like ours.

Nationally, Labour plans £24 billion of green investment over the lifetime of the next parliament, the creation of Great British Energy to accelerate the rollout of renewables, creating 650,000 high-quality jobs, and £1.1 billion a year to improve energy efficiency in homes – bringing bills down for residents.

The Green Party pitch is that they need an MP “to hold Labour to account”. What a paltry and uninspiring ambition.

Labour has a better offer – elect local MPs on a bold platform to transform the country and, in doing so, improve the city.

Those MPs will be directly accountable to you, the voters. I urge progressive voters in Brighton and Hove to support our three parliamentary candidates on Thursday 4 July.

Councillor Jacob Taylor is the deputy leader of Brighton and Hove City Council.