LIVERPOOL, England — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted on Tuesday that the tough decisions being made now will usher in a new era for Britain as he sought to shake off the fog of pessimism that has shrouded his new premiership.
“Change must mean national renewal,” he told a group of Labor delegates on Tuesday.
“The truth is, if we make the hard long-term decisions now, if we stick to the driving purpose behind everything we do… that light at the end of the tunnel, your Britain, we will get there.” “How soon,” he said at the end of Labour’s annual party conference, the first time in 15 years that the party has been in power.
Starmer lambasted the previous Conservative government for undermining public services and undermining trust in politics, insisting Labor was delivering a program of progress and hope.
He has sought to instill optimism after the government was accused of spreading doom over the state of the UK economy and provided few details on how it planned to improve the situation.
The decision to limit pensioners’ winter fuel payments and controversy over ministers spending donations on clothing and hospitality have also dampened enthusiasm for a new government less than three months old. A landslide victory in July.
Starmer defended the fuel cuts, saying: “If this road had been popular or easy we would have gone a long time ago.”
Progress by the Starmer government so far includes resolving the NHS doctors’ strike, new solar schemes and offshore wind farms, planning reforms, a halt to no-fault evictions, the establishment of a national wealth fund and legislation to renationalize the railways.
“We are just getting started,” he said, citing plans to reduce knife crime and introduce new industry strategies.
In his speech, Starmer reiterated his five priorities for ensuring what he calls the nation’s recovery: boosting economic growth, reforming the NHS, strengthening Britain’s borders, improving education and moving to clean energy.
He also declared he had succeeded in transforming the Labor Party from its former left-wing leadership under Jeremy Corbyn to the center of politics.
He said: “I transformed the Labor Party and put it back to work for working people and that’s exactly what we will do for Britain.”
Finance Minister Rachel Reeves also tried to seal a deal positive tone She said in her keynote speech on Monday that her “optimism for the UK is stronger than ever”, although she warned that the road ahead was “steeper and tougher than we expected”.
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer’s upcoming autumn budget on October 30 is expected to include tax increases and spending cuts, after she warned of a £22 billion ($29 billion) “black hole” in public finances. However, Levis said this was part of the “real ambition” and there would be no return to austerity.
Labour’s optimistic message was echoed by government ministers at the Labor Party’s three-day annual conference in Liverpool, England.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said commitments to improve the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) will take time to materialize.
“The honeymoon period will come later because the scale of the challenge is enormous. We need to rebuild the economy, rebuild public services and rebuild trust in politics,” he told Monday’s meeting.
Finance Minister Tulip Siddique also said the country would ultimately benefit from the “difficult decisions” being made.
“We are trying to repair the foundations of the economy because if we have some pain in the medium term, we will benefit in the long term,” she told a fringe event on Monday.
This comes as public enthusiasm for the government shows signs of waning. Half of Britons, including a quarter of Labor voters (26%), are disappointed with the government’s achievements so far, Ipsos poll shows Friday.
CNBC has reached out to the Conservative Party for comment.
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