Starmer to say ‘no easy answers’ for UK

LONDON (Sept 24): UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will say Britons must embark on a “shared struggle” to “build a new Britain”, during the keynote speech to his Labour party’s annual conference Tuesday — their first in power in 15 years.

Starmer, 62, is set to say he will resist “easy answers” as he faces growing calls to offer a more positive outlook for the country since winning election in July.

Under pressure over cutting fuel benefits for millions of pensioners, the Labour leader will insist “short-term pain of tough decisions” means “long-term gain”, according to excerpts released to reporters.

Starmer returned centre-left Labour to power for the first time since 2010 following a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives on July 4.

But he soon faced flak for scrapping universal payments to help the elderly with winter heating bills, while the buildup to the conference was overshadowed by a row over gifts to parliamentarians involving Labour’s top team.

Starmer was set to use his address at the four-day gathering in Liverpool, in northwest England, to try to retake control of the narrative by arguing that it will take time and sacrifice to fix Britain.

“The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle,” he was due to say.

“A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short term, but in the long term it’s the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that.”

Starmer was set to allude to recent criticism of him and his finance minister Rachel Reeves that they are impacting economic growth and investment in Britain by being pessimistic about the state of the country.

Starmer has spent much of his first weeks in power blaming the Tories for leaving everything from the public finances to prisons to the state-run National Health Service in a mess.

– Budget –

The Tories accuse him of scaremongering over the inheritance and of laying the groundwork for tax rises in the October 30 budget, an event that Starmer has already warned will be “painful”.

“I know that the cost-of-living crisis drew a veil over the joy and wonder in our lives and that people want respite and relief, and may even have voted Labour for that reason,” he was expected to say.

“Our project has not and never will change. I changed the Labour Party to restore it to the service of working people.

“And that is exactly what we will do for Britain. But I will not do it with easy answers. I will not do it with false hope.”

Labour is looking to move on from a row over expensive gifts, including clothes and concert tickets given to Starmer and other senior Labour figures.

All of the gifts were within the rules but Starmer has been forced to fend off accusations of hypocrisy since the furore comes at a time when he is asking ordinary Britons to tighten their belts.

He was set to highlight some of Labour’s first pieces of legislation such as a new national wealth fund, a publicly owned green energy company and the renationalisation of Britain’s railways.

“We’re only just getting started,” he was due to say. – AFP