What are Labour's key policies - and how do they plan to pay for them?

Labour leader Keir Starmer has laid out what he claims are "fully costed" key policies for the next election, pledging to cut NHS waiting times, recruit thousands more teachers and deliver economic stability.

"Stability is change," Starmer said from an event in Essex on Thursday as he laid out the first six steps Labour will take if the party wins the next election.

He said the public could expect to see his six pledges materialise with two terms of a Labour government. “I’m only prepared to do the hard jobs of serious change with a serious plan of five or 10 years of change in this country, with the first steps that are needed to bring it about,” he said.

Yahoo News explains Labour's six key pledges and how the party plans to fund them...

🏦 Deliver economic stability

Starmer has pledged that Labour will "deliver economic stability" if it takes office, pointing to previous economic chaos caused by former prime minister Liz Truss's mini-budget that "crashed the economy".

"This is the very foundation of economic growth - tough spending rules, yes, to keep inflation taxes and mortgages grow because if you lose control of the economy, it is working people who will pay the price. Liz Truss lost control of the economy and working people paid the price," Starmer said.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “Bringing back growth will require tough choices. It will take hard work. A decade of national renewal."

👩‍⚕️ Cut NHS waiting times

Starmer has pledged to cut NHS waiting times, by adding an extra 40,000 appointments every week.

"It is impossible to overstate the seriousness of this problem," he said. "Nearly 8 million appointments and operations needed - that means nearly everyone in this room, everybody watching or listening is probably on a waiting list or knows someone who is on a waiting list.

Starmer said he met a woman with an ingrowing eyelid who had been waiting 18 months for an operation and had just been told she would need to wait another 12. "That is the price that so many people are paying and that's why we have to deal with it," he added.

How will Labour pay for it? Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Labour wanted to see "healthcare for the many, paid for by the few, investing more in the NHS and reforming the way the service works.

He added that Labour would fund the 40,000 additional appointments each week, at evenings and weekends, by "cracking down on tax dodgers and non-dom loopholes".

🛂 Launch a new Border Security Command

Starmer has criticised the government's flagship Rwanda scheme, describing it as a "gimmick, that cost a fortune" that would result in less than 1% of people arriving in small boats from being deported.

He said that criminal gangs knew that few people would be deported under the Rwanda scheme and said the "vile gangs" must be stopped.

"We have to be serious about smashing those gangs and taking them down," he said. "That's where the border security command comes in - a new command with new resources and new powers including counter-terrorism powers."

How will Labour pay for it? Labour's plan includes hiring hundreds of additional specialist investigators, intelligence agents and cross-border police officers, who will support the Border Security Command unit and work across the UK and Europe. Labour has said it is intending to stop the use of hotels to house migrants, but has not yet given a fully costed plan for the new border security command.

🟢 Set up Great British Energy

Labour has also pledged to set up a new Great British Energy company that will "make money for the taxpayer" and keep energy bills down.

Starmer said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlighted how exposed the UK was to fluctuating oil prices and "bills went up" as a result.

How will Labour pay for it? Starmer promised to set up Great British Energy and "harness clean British power owned by the taxpayer making money for the taxpayer investing in the future and keeping bills down for good".

Labour said it would fund Great British Energy "in part by a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants making record profits".

😠 Crack down on antisocial behaviour

Starmer said he wanted people to live in communities where they feel safe, and rejected the idea that anti-social behaviour is a low-level problem.

"All my working life, when I was chief prosecutor and since I have been a politician, people say to me 'Keir, this is low level antisocial behaviour, it is not that important' - completely wrong. If you feel that you can't open your front door at night and go out, if you feel you can't walk down your own high street, be comfortable and safe in your own community - that is massive.

"It is not low level, it is really important."

How will Labour pay for it? Labour's shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the party planned to put thousands more police officers and PCSOs back on the streets.

“We will pay for it by calling time on the wasteful police contracts and bureaucracy," she said.

She added that Labour would create 100 new youth hubs and mentors to “stop young people being drawn into crime” and that stronger laws to tackle violence against women and girls would “halve serious violence within a decade”.

She previously said Labour would set up a national savings body to buy police equipment more efficiently and pay for 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers.

👨‍🎓 Recruit 6,500 new teachers

Starmer has pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers, highlighting understaffing across the education system in key subjects.

"I want every child, whatever their background, to think that success belongs to them," he added.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson added: “The future Labour wants to build... begins with qualified, supported, expert teachers in every classroom.

How will Labour pay for it? Labour plans to use the money raised by a tax on private schools to fund the 6,500 new teachers and put mental health counsellors in every secondary school if it gains power. In September, the i newspaper reported that Labour is planning to add 20% VAT to private school fees in a move that would raise £1.7bn.

Schools Week has also reported the planned VAT changes would raise £350 million to fund the pledge.

It is unclear whether the 6,500 number is an overall net increase.