Sir Keir Starmer warns Britain to ‘turn up our collar and face the storm’ as he hinted at years of tax rises during downbeat speech
Sir Keir Starmer warned Britain must ‘turn up our collar and face the storm’ today as he hinted at years of tax rises and ‘unpopular’ decisions.
The Prime Minister’s downbeat speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool called for ‘patience’ in the wake of his landslide general election victory.
And he admitted that his ‘long-term project’ to ‘rebuild’ Britain would take years of ‘shared struggle’.
Sir Keir hinted at tax rises to come – possibly as soon as next month’s Budget – suggesting that low taxes were incompatible with good public services until Britain’s finances are fixed and economic growth has improved.
He braced the country for a string of measures, including granting asylum to thousands of Channel migrants, building on the green belt and the construction of new prisons and hundreds of miles of electricity pylons.
Sir Keir Starmer warned Britain must ‘turn up our collar and face the storm’ today as he hinted at years of tax rises and ‘unpopular’ decisions
The Prime Minister’s downbeat speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool called for ‘patience’ in the wake of his landslide general election victory
And he insisted ministers were ready to intervene to ‘take back control’ in areas where markets are failing to deliver, including migration, climate change and employment rights.
Labour sources had suggested Sir Keir would use his speech to lift the gloom that has hung over the Government’s early pronouncements and which has been blamed for undermining consumer and business confidence.
But the PM, though he made a fleeting reference to a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, focused heavily on the ‘tough’ choices facing his new team of ministers – and he even claimed: ‘Britain is no longer sure of itself. Our story is uncertain, the hope beaten out of us.’
The PM said the radical changes would eventually produce ‘a Britain that belongs to you’.
But warning of tough times ahead, he added: ‘We will turn our collar up and face the storm. We will rise above the challenges that we’ve inherited.’
In the first conference speech by a Labour Prime Minister for 15 years, Sir Keir also:
- Acknowledged his controversial decision to scrap the winter fuel payment for ten million pensioners had dented public faith but insisted it must go ahead;
- Dodged any reference to the controversy over the thousands of pounds worth of freebies taken by him and his senior ministers;
- Unveiled a plan to prioritise housing for homeless veterans and domestic abuse victims.
Sir Keir hinted at tax rises to come – possibly as soon as next month’s Budget – suggesting that low taxes were incompatible with good public services
Sir Keir gave no direct details about the contents of next month’s Budget but he suggested taxes will have to rise to pay for a plan to ‘rebuild public services’.
He added: ‘Just because we all want low taxes and good public services that does not mean that the iron law of properly funding policies can be ignored. I will not let Tory economic recklessness hold back the working people.’
In a hint that the middle classes will bear the heaviest burden, he said the cost of filling an alleged £22billion ‘black hole’ left in the accounts by the Tories would be ‘shared fairly’ as pockets of ‘working people’ are ‘not deep at all’.
In another signal that Labour is willing to raise taxes rather than control public spending, he stated there would be ‘no return to Tory austerity’. The PM also insisted Labour will not abide opposition to its plans.
He added: ‘If we want justice to be served, some communities must live close to new prisons.
‘If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud. Do everything we can to tackle worklessness. If we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons overground. If we want home ownership to be a credible aspiration for our children, every community has a duty to contribute.
‘If we want to tackle illegal migration, we can’t pretend there is a magical process that allows you to return people here unlawfully without accepting that process will also grant asylum.’
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick claimed the PM was already ‘too distracted with sleaze, infighting and chaos in Downing Street’. He added: ‘This was the speech of a Prime Minister at the end of his five-year term, not three months in. Sir Keir is already a busted flush – a Mr Grey, with a dour plan for the UK.’
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Sir Keir Starmer to prepare the ground for tax rises with warning it will take TEN YEARS to rebuild Britain – after he is accused of being elected to office on ‘false promises’ that they would not increase burden on workers
Sir Keir Starmer will warn tomorrow that it will take a decade to rebuild Britain, as he is accused of preparing the ground for Rachel Reeves to unveil major tax rises in the Budget.
The Prime Minister will make a major speech in which he will reportedly say that repairing the damage caused by 14 years of the Tories will take more than one term in office.
Sir Keir will use his first major speech since winning power to warn that things in Britain ‘will get worse before they get better’.
Ramping up attacks on the inheritance left by the Tories, he will vow not to ‘shy away from making unpopular decisions’ to restore the country.
And in remarks that may raise eyebrows he is expected to use the clean up after recent race riots as a metaphor for the job facing his government.
In comments first reported by the Times he will say: ‘I feel real pride in the people who cleaned up the streets, rebuilt walls, repaired the damage.
‘I thought about the obvious parallels, because imagine the pride we will feel as a nation when after the hard work of clearing up the mess is done, we have a country that we have built together. Built to last.’
But it comes as the Government is accused of laying the ground work for the Chancellor to make sweeping tax increases in the autumn – something Labour denies.
Instead, they claimed the speech was about being honest with people that the changes promised by Labour will take time. But top Tories lined up to accuse Sir Keir of not being honest with the British public during the election campaign.
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly said: ‘Labour were elected on false promises. We knew they didn’t mean it when they said they wouldn’t raise taxes.
The Prime Minister will make a major speech in which he will reportedly say that repairing the damage caused by 14 years of the Tories will take more than one term in office.
But it comes as the Government is accused of laying the ground work for the Chancellor to make sweeping tax increases in the autumn – something Labour denies.
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly (pictured) said Labour were elected on false promises
‘Starmer and Reeves were trying to con people during the campaign and they are trying to con us now about the inheritance.’
Mr Cleverly, a Tory leadership candidate, added: ‘A growing economy and low inflation are being used to pay their union paymasters at the expense of pensioners and working people. This is a betrayal of the British people.’
Dame Priti Patel, also in the running to replace Rishi Sunak, said things would only get worse under Labour.
The former home secretary told the Mail: ‘This nasty Labour Government has taken the winter fuel payment from pensioners and is taxing families and businesses more. They can’t hide their deceitful practices from the British people.
‘The British people know what bad inheritance looks like. In 2010, the Conservatives inherited an economy where the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury said ‘there’s no money left’.
‘This Labour government has taken on a growing economy and falling unemployment thanks to the hard work of the previous Government.
Tory chairman Richard Fuller (pictured) said Keir Starmer is trying to mislead the public by fabricating a financial blackhole
Things are only going to get worse under Labour as they increase your taxes, bring us back into the EU’s orbit and hand people smugglers a blank cheque to increase illegal migration.’
It comes as Sir Keir and his top team face pressure over a cronyism ‘glasses for passes’ row involving a senior Labour donor.
The Tories are demanding a probe into how former Asos chairman and media mogul Lord Alli received a Downing Street security pass after the general election in July.
The pass – which Labour says was temporary and has since lapsed – was granted after the peer bankrolled Sir Keir, his top team and associates in the months before the vote returned the party to power for the first time in 14 years.
The highly unusual move meant the millionaire TV mogul, who was hired by Sir Keir as the party’s chief fundraiser, could attend political meetings in No 10 and is said to have helped organise a Downing Street garden party to thank others who bankrolled the campaign.
As well as a five-figure donation towards the leader’s ‘work attire’ – branded ‘unremarkable’ by one fashion expert – the 59-year-old also paid for his glasses and accommodation for a five-night trip to New York for deputy PM Angela Rayner.
He also donated £10,000 to Liam Conlon, the Labour MP for Beckenham and Penge whose mother is Sue Gray, Sir Keir’s chief of staff.
There were also five-figure sums for David Lammy, now the Foreign Secretary, and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Shadow paymaster general John Glen has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, to request clarification on who authorised Lord Alli’s pass, and when it was issued and rescinded.
Since taking power in July, Labour has been accused of caving into the union barons by agreeing huge wage deals – while cutting winter fuel payments for ten million pensioners.
Members of the public are set to be invited to the keynote speech – which will be held in the Downing Street rose garden.
The PM will say: ‘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. Frankly – things will get worse before we get better.’
He is expected to develop that line of attack, saying things are ‘worse than we ever imagined’.
Speaking on Sunday, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told broadcasters the speech would represent a change from the rhetoric of the previous government.
Speaking on Sunday, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told broadcasters the speech would represent a change from the rhetoric of the previous government.
He told LBC: ‘I think it’s a refreshing departure not to engage in some of the snake oil that has been sold to people in recent years and actually have a Prime Minister who says, look, we know it’s a tough situation. You know it’s tough. That’s why you voted for change.
‘Change will come, but we’ve got to work through some of these challenges first.’
Sir Keir’s speech on Tuesday will be his first major address since entering Number 10 in July, and he is expected to both reflect on the action his Government has already taken and pile yet more blame on the Conservatives for leaving a challenging inheritance.
As well as highlighting problems in the public sector and blaming ‘cracks in our society’ for making it harder to deal with the recent riots, Sir Keir will continue to criticise the Conservatives’ management of the public finances.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, began that theme in her statement before the summer recess in a statement accusing the Tories of leaving a £22 billion black hole in this year’s budget.
Sir Keir is expected to develop that line of attack further on Tuesday, saying things are ‘worse than we ever imagined’.
But he will also reiterate his promise that change is coming, and argue that his Government has already achieved ‘more in seven weeks than the last government did in seven years’.
The Conservatives have rejected Sir Keir’s characterisation of their time in office, saying Labour is ‘squandering money’ while ‘fabricating a financial black hole in an attempt to com the public into accepting tax rises’.
