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.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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