The Party Manifestoes 2024: Labour

Politics   As you can see the cover of the Labour manifesto dispenses with the title of the document, most people on the receiving end will know this is Labour's manifesto, and instead offers us Keir Starmer in black and white next to the word "change", the first time a party leader has appeared on the front cover since Tony Blair's repeat showing in 2001.  

Starmer appears throughout the manifesto with his photo on almost every page mostly grinning at people in a way which disconcertingly makes him look like Stephen Colbert (they're same age too) or with his serious face when necessary.  Most of these are with members of the shadow cabinet to show much of a team they all are.  

Along with pictures and quotes from members of the public ("Charlie, cafe owner and former Conservative voter" etc), the general tone is "the Tories fucking suck don't they?"  There's even the famous shot of him talking to Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the D-Day commemoration something the current Prime Minister didn't manage just to really drive in the sword.  They're even committed to privatising the railways, thank god.  Anyway.

The BBC

No direct mention of the licence fee.  Instead, there's this rather vague paragraph:

And this indirect mention of the World Service in relation to soft power: 

Which is kind of disappointment - the impression is supposed to be that the BBC will have greater protection under Labour but it would have been nice to see something solid on that here.

Global Emissions

I couldn't see a direct target for net zero.  There's a pledge to have zero-carbon electricity by 2030 which is roughly similar:

No specific mentions of putting solar panels on rooftops but they talk about a "Warm Homes Plan" which "will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels, batteries and low carbon heating to cut bills" which must mean the same thing.

They've also pledged to keep the north sea oil fields open for business although they won't issue licences for new field exploration or coal mines and they''ll "ban fracking for good".

Libraries

Are not mentioned.

Film

Barely mentioned:

This is a bit woolly.  The features of the "creative industries sector plan" do not appear in the document.

Gender Equality

Bit of a mixed bag.

No mention of self-ID, trans people will still need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a hopefully sympathetic doctor.  The modernising of the "gender recognition law" also feels fraught with danger given the statements of some Labour MPs.

Democracy

Whilst committing to giving 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections they don't commit to abolishing voter ID rules:

There isn't any mention of electoral reform which means they're probably still committed to first past the post.  Boo.

No sundries.

It doesn't matter who I vote for.  It's a safe Labour seat in this election.