Labour needs a decade to rebuild Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer says ahead of speech on Tuesday
26 August 2024, 09:59 | Updated: 26 August 2024, 16:09
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Labour will need a decade to rebuild the country due to the "rubble and ruin" left by the Conservatives.
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He said "hard work" will be needed to bring about lasting change.
According to The Times, on Tuesday, Sir Keir will make his first major address following the recent riots, and is expected to 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.”
Starmer will use the speech to blame decisions which are potentially unpopular, such as cuts to the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, on the "rubble and ruin" left by the Conservatives.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce tax rises to help make up the £22 billion "black hole" in public finances.
Labour insists it will not raise VAT, but it will be implemented on private school fees from January 1, 2025.
It also said that before the election it would not increase national insurance, but reforms to inheritance tax and capital gains tax, alongside business rates are possible as Reeves thinks about how to increase revenues in her first budget.
It's thought that ministers will face criticism for raising taxes, after giving the go-ahead to pay deals for multiple unions.
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The British Medical Association was given a 22 per cent deal for junior doctors over two years, with ministers offering a pay rise of almost 15 per cent over three years to the Aslef train drivers union.
In his speech on Tuesday, Starmer will caution that the country will not be transformed by the time of the next election, which will be held in summer 2029.
During the election campaign he said it would take a “decade of national renewal” and set his sights on achieving two terms in government.
A source close to the prime minister told The Times that it “wasn’t a slogan, it was a frank statement of intent”.
They said: “The scale of damage done by the Tories will take time to fix — and yes, that means thinking about two terms.
"But it isn’t complacency, it’s honesty. And yes, it’s candid for a politician. But it isn’t doom-mongering, it’s his pragmatism.
"He’s real about the challenge and will be honest with the public in rising to it.”
The source added: “Britain voted for change and sticking plasters won’t cut it.
"Keir’s career is defined by his reforming instinct and he will resist any institutional instinct to avoid the hard choices and big decisions.
"In five years’ time working people will feel the benefit of it. In a decade’s time, the country can be rebuilt.”
