“Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water”

Facts

In Sir Keir Starmer’s 2020 Labour leadership manifesto he pledged “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water”

Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system. pic.twitter.com/bWmQBqnA5t

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) February 12, 2020

Starmer has backtracked on this, though Labour still says the railways will likely be renationalised as current contracts expire.

In July 2022 he made clear he would take a “pragmatic” approach. ““The financial situation has changed, the debt situation has changed,” he said.

Verdict

Another broken pledge. But given that he has provided a plausible rationale this cannot be definitively categorised as dishonest. 

We emailed Sir Keir Starmer’s office and Labour offering them the chance to respond. We received no response.