Sir Keir Starmer: Prime minister says things ‘will get worse before it gets better’
Sir Keir Starmer will warn life in the UK is “going to get worse” before it improves in his first major speech as prime minister.
Sir Keir will mark a week before Parliament returns after a shortened summer recess by continuing his attacks on the previous government, saying things are “worse than we ever imagined”.
In his remarks on Tuesday, the prime minister will say he and his ministers “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.
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‘Hunt lied over state of public finances’
“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.”
Sir Keir will say the financial situation is “worse than we ever imagined”, as he repeats Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves’s claims that Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives left a £22bn black hole in this year’s budget.
He will say: “In the first few weeks, we discovered a £22bn black hole in the public finances. And don’t let anyone say that this is performative, or playing politics.
“The OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility) did not know about this. They wrote a letter saying so. They didn’t know – because the last government hid it.”
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The Tories, in power since 2010, had presided over “14 years of populism and failure”, Sir Keir will say, which allowed those taking part in the recent riots to “exploit the cracks in our society”.
One of Labour’s first acts in government was to reduce the proportion of the sentences offenders must spend in prison before being released on parole.
Ministers said it was necessary because the previous government had allowed jails to almost completely run out of space.
Earlier this week, the government triggered Operation Early Dawn – meaning defendants could be held in police cells for longer until prison space becomes available.
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In his speech, Sir Keir will say: “Not having enough prison spaces is about as fundamental a failure as you can get. And those people throwing rocks, torching cars, making threats – they didn’t just know the system was broken. They were betting on it. They were gaming it.”
Arguing that change will not happen “overnight”, the prime minister is also expected to say Labour has achieved “more in seven weeks than the last government did in seven years”, including setting up a National Wealth Fund, changing planning policy to build more homes and ending public sector strikes.
Conservative Party chairman, Richard Fuller MP, said: “Just two months in and Keir Starmer has taken winter fuel payments off 10 million pensioners, showered billions of taxpayers’ money on his union paymasters and is now engulfed in a cronyism scandal after parachuting donors and supporters in to top taxpayer-funded jobs.
“The soft touch Labour chancellor is squandering money whilst fabricating a financial black hole in an attempt to con the public into accepting tax rises, and literally leaving pensioners in the cold.
“The prime minister really should tell his chancellor to reverse course or step in himself to reverse her decision.”
Sir Keir’s speech comes ahead of a potentially tough period for the government as it prepares its first budget, due on 30 October.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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