Labour strategists think voters are now paying attention

"Keir Starmer could tattoo the policies to his chest - people are not paying attention."

That was what a senior Labour strategist told me a few months ago - in response to the critique that the party is light on policy.

They argued that remaining schtum on policy, at that stage, was a sign of good discipline.

The decision to hold today's event shows that they clearly believe the public is starting to wake up to the looming election.

Had Rishi Sunak gone for a summer date today's event would have marked the start of Labour's campaign, I'm told.

These pledges are designed to provide more of a "retail" sell on the missions set out by Starmer last year - and are directly linked to what his party's research suggests are voters' priorities.

That research is gathered in a series of different ways - as campaign chief Morgan McSweeney gathers together ideas from several other elections.

As well as focus groups and polling, there is a new app being deployed on the doorstep to pick up information from some two million conversations since the start of the year.

And the party is also using so-called "social organising" - an online version of community organising - in which party activists spend time inside Facebook groups to try to perfect the messaging.

If one part of the jigsaw doesn't quite fit with another - say the doorstep message jarring with the focus groups - they ask themselves if they are carrying out those focus groups correctly.

It was through those means that the party landed on today's six pledges, that have emerged from Starmer's broader missions and are meant to set in place early promises.

Sources say number one for voters is cost-of-living, and a stable economy is seen as the critical way to challenge the Tories in the wake of the chaos that followed Liz Truss's mini-budget.

Linked to that is the fourth pledge - to set up Great British Energy - a promise that is clearly about tackling the climate crisis but will be wholly sold as a way to keep down energy bills.,

The second pledge matches voters' second priority - on the NHS - and then the third on small boats.

Anti-social behaviour comes next - although it is a message that could be focused on certain elements of crime in different parts of the country. And finally in education - the most narrow and specific pledge - to recruit 6,500 teachers.

Why isn't housing in there? Sources say it doesn't come up as one of the top six priorities nationally, but it will lead the list for some communities - and they insist is absolutely key for Labour.

They say that a major promise around house building is likely to be a centrepiece of the party's manifesto.

So why start now and not when the election is called? They want time to try to sell these issues to voters.

The Tories would point out that there is nothing new - and that their five pledges are in many ways sharper and more memorable.

But this is designed to give Labour a template to work with - to focus on voters' priorities. They will still need to have a more retail-focused policy in a manifesto that is likely to come later down the line.

The election is almost certain to be after the summer, but the parties are very much in campaign mode.

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