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Britain’s Labour Party has launched its manifesto. 

It said on Thursday that it would be “pro-business” and prioritise “wealth creation”. 

Among the party’s flagship pledges is the creation of a new publicly owned energy company, a ban on awarding new North Sea oil and gas licences, and reducing medical wait times.  

UK Correspondent Vincent McAviney told Mike Hosking that it’s quite different from the manifesto they ran on a few years ago under Jeremy Corbyn. 

He said that Starmer is very much saying that his party is the party for change, but he is for stability, and in his own words, there were no “rabbits out of the hat”. 

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It’s a big weekend in sports as the Super Rugby semifinals kick off tonight. 

The Blues and the Brumbies are facing off at Eden Park tonight, the Hurricanes and the Chiefs going head-to-head in Wellington’s Sky Stadium tomorrow afternoon. 

Sports Commentator Sam Ackerman told Mike Hosking that if he could only watch one of the matches, he’d take the Hurricanes v Chiefs. 

He said it’s got blockbuster written all over it. 

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There’s been push back against the Government's plan to scrap around the clock speed limits outside schools.  

The Coalition's reversing speed limit reductions implemented over the past four years under the previous Government.  

The draft report wants speed limits in place at the start and end of each school day as opposed to the current 24-7 system.   

Healthy Auckland Together spokesperson Dr Jamie Hosking told Mike Hosking that kids are outside schools much more than just the first and last 30-minutes of the day.  

He says five out of six deaths and serious injuries that happen around schools are outside those times, when the variable limits wouldn't be operating. 

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The Government's ditching plans to make gender pay gap reporting compulsory.  

The Labour Government pledged it would require companies with more than 250 workers to publish a pay gap report. 

But acting Minister for Women Louise Upston's instead developing a tool for businesses to calculate pay gaps voluntarily. 

Mind the Gap Co-Founder Dellwyn Stuart told Mike Hosking that while mandatory reporting would likely make more of a difference, it's great to see the Government taking action.  

She says most businesses don't set out to pay people unfairly, they just don't see what's happening in their payroll until they measure it, and then they want to fix it. 

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Yesterday saw another historic ruling in the United States, as Hunter Biden was found guilty in his federal gun trial. 

The conviction makes him the first child of a sitting President to be found guilty of a crime. 

He was convicted of three gun offences for lying about drug use while illegally buying and possessing a gun in 2018. 

US Correspondent Katherine Firkin told Mike Hosking that several legal experts have already suggested that there are several avenues of appeal that Biden could take. 

She said that the most likely route is that the defence will argue that under the Second Amendment, Biden has a constitutional right to own a firearm. 

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There's an expectation New Zealanders will continue to file out of the country in high numbers. 

The latest figures from Stats NZ show more than 130,000 people left the country in the year to April, the highest number on record. 

Among those were a record 81,200 NZ citizens. 

ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith told Mike Hosking that we are moving in the right direction, but there’s still a way to go yet. 

He said it’s reflective of what’s happening offshore as well, as Australia’s unemployment rate is lower than ours, as well as higher wages and lower living costs being on offer.  

He said it’s pretty clear from a New Zealander’s point of view that it’s probably better across the ditch. 

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