Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday he would have to take unpopular decisions, raising the possibility of “painful” taxes on the wealthy and spending cuts to try to fix Britain’s myriad of problems he blamed on Conservative misrule.
In a speech in the rose garden of his Downing Street office, the scene of COVID parties under a former Conservative government, Starmer promised to end politics as usual, telling voters he was levelling with them that Britain’s problems would only get worse before getting better.
Elected in a landslide victory in July, Starmer has vowed to rebuild British society, saying this month’s anti-migrant riots reflected divisions that have taken hold, stoked by what he described as the Conservatives’ preference for populism.
He also blamed the last government for leaving him with a 22 billion pound ($29 billion) black hole, something he said was unexpected and which had forced him to take some difficult decisions such as limiting fuel payments to the elderly.
The opposition Conservative Party accuses Starmer’s Labour Party of portraying the fiscal situation as much worse than it is so it can hike taxes after campaigning before the election on an agenda not to raise certain taxes on working people.
Starmer said he planned to stick to that pledge, but there would be short term pain in what he said would be “unpopular decisions” for the long term good.
“There is a budget coming in October, and it’s going to be painful. We have no other choice … Those with the broader shoulders should bear the heavier burden,” he said in a speech to voters he met during the election campaign, referring to a fiscal statement due on Oct. 30.
“We have inherited not just an economic black hole but a societal black hole and that is why we have to take action and do things differently. Part of that is being honest with people about the choices we face and how tough this will be,” he said.
“Frankly, things will get worse before we get better,” he told the audience of apprentices, teachers, nurses, small business owners and firefighters.
The rose garden last made headlines after it was used by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff to hold parties during the COVID lockdowns, events that Starmer said had shattered the trust between the public and its politicians.
Conservative leadership contender, Kemi Badenoch, who is also the party’s policy chief for housing and communities, said the speech was based on a “dishonest analysis”.
“The truth is that Keir Starmer is managing voters’ expectations for a decade of decline,” she said in a statement.
(Reuters)