In his first speech as prime minister to the Labour Party conference, Keir Starmer anticipated on Tuesday that he would have to make “unpopular decisions” in the coming months because of the state of public services and the stagnation of the country, but with the promise of improvement, which he described as “the light at the end of the tunnel” and the demonstration that “politics can be a force for good”. His “project”, as he described it, “will be difficult in the short term, but the right thing to do in the long term”. “It will be hard. “This is not rhetoric, this is reality,” he insisted.
“I know this country is exhausted by and with politics. “I know that the cost of living crisis is wiping the joy and spirit out of our lives and that people want help and respite, and they may have voted for Labour for that reason,” said Starmer, who assured that he would not base his programme on “easy answers” or “false hopes”. “I know that many of the decisions we will have to make will be unpopular. “If they were popular, it would be easy,” he said.
He also criticised politicians who take refuge “in the fragile and cowardly fantasy of populism, which is water that doesn’t move the mills, glitter on the shirt”. The audience laughed at this last metaphor because at the party conference last year, an activist came on stage to protest as Starmer was about to start his speech and threw glitter at him.
“You could call it populism. “A lot of people do it, but I prefer to call it the politics of easy answers because, at heart, that’s what it is, a deliberate refusal to take difficult decisions because the political cost is just too high,” said Starmer, who used as an example of “easy answer policies” and inefficiency the Conservative government’s attempt to send asylum seekers of all nationalities arriving by boat across the Channel to Rwanda.
Starmer gave some examples of unpopular decisions that people will have to accept. “If we want justice, some communities will have to live next to new prisons. If we want to continue to have a welfare state, we will have to legislate to stop welfare fraud and do everything we can to prevent unemployment. “If we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons, otherwise it will cost the taxpayer too much,” he said. “If we are serious about tackling illegal immigration, we cannot pretend that there is a magic process that can remove people who are here illegally without accepting that this process also gives some people asylum.”
While promising to increase public spending, Starmer also insisted on settling scores: “Just because we all want low taxes and good public services does not mean that the inevitable principle of adequate funding for policies can be ignored. “We have seen the damage this does before, but we will not let it happen again.”
Britain Broken
Starmer is not getting off to an easy start after 14 years of Conservative governments in a country marked by a breakdown in public services, economic stagnation and party divisions. The government has already approved legislation to nationalise the country’s ailing railways and create a new public company to invest in renewable energy, to be based in Aberdeen, Scotland, Starmer announced on Tuesday. But, as the prime minister also said, public opinion is “anxious”.
Less than three months after the election, his government is more widely accepted than Rishi Sunak’s, but the majority still says it is dissatisfied. Still, more than half of Britons say they will still give Starmer “the benefit of the doubt,” according to a poll published Tuesday by YouGov. The majority of citizens also believe Starmer represents a substantial change from Sunak.
Within weeks of taking office, Starmer has had to deal with far-right riots against migrants and foreigners and immediate emergencies, such as prison overcrowding that has forced the release of prisoners early. His government is also complaining about discovering an unexpected budget hole of some €26 billion inherited from the Conservatives.
Rachel Reeves, the economy secretary, insisted on Monday that the government would increase public spending. The chancellor will present the details of the budget on October 30, but one of the reforms she plans to implement is to change the budget rules so that more can be spent on capital investment, for example to help build new homes and infrastructure.
Reduced aid
But the Labour government has already approved a cut in the electricity bill support for the majority of pensioners. The subsidy that was previously available to everyone, more than 11 million people, will now be available only to those on the lowest incomes, one and a half million. This, the government says, will be offset by a 4% increase in pensions next year. Parliament approved the measure, with the Conservative Party and one Labour MP voting against.
Another initiative the government wants to approve that could be controversial is a law to pursue fraud and error among recipients of state aid. According to the government, the additional bill for malice or negligence for the state amounts to €12 billion a year. A new law will give investigators the power to ask for details of bank accounts and to pursue organized fraud gangs in particular.
Controversial gifts
In addition, Starmer and his ministers have been embroiled in controversy over the clothes, trips and football tickets they have accepted from party donors. These donations are legal and MPs must register them, but the current prime minister has accepted more of these gifts than any other Labour leader, worth up to £120,000.
Starmer now says he will no longer do this when it comes to the clothes of himself, his wife or his ministers because he does not want voters to think their leaders “live a different life” to him.
Most of the gifts Starmer accepted were football tickets, with more than 40 tickets to see Arsenal and a few concerts, such as the £3,500 Taylor Swift concert he attended with his wife.
Two-thirds of Britons consider it completely or totally “unacceptable” for the prime minister to receive gifts to watch football or concerts, according to a recently published YouGov poll.
demonstrations
Several people have demonstrated against the war in Gaza, although none have gone as far as last year, when an activist came on stage as Starmer was about to speak and threw glitter at him. The protester called for a “change of policy.” This year, just before Starmer’s speech, pro-Palestinian activists spray-painted the word “genocide” on the Labour Party’s welcome sign. And a young man interrupted the prime minister’s speech, but only to shouts from the audience.
The new government has suspended arms sales to Israel and reiterated that it will comply with international justice arrest orders even if they affect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In July, Starmer withdrew the Conservative government’s objection to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
In his speech, Starmer called for restraint in Lebanon, a ceasefire in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.
