Things will get WORSE in Britain before they get better, Sir Keir Starmer will warn in first major speech as PM
SIR Keir Starmer will warn Brits things will only get worse before they get better in his first major speech since winning the election earlier this year.
Labour’s Prime Minister will tell the nation it is going to be tough in a brutally honest address delivered in Downing Street on Tuesday.
He will declare the country has a “societal black hole” in the wake of the riots.
And he’ll tear into the Conservative Party’s legacy — accusing them of making it much harder to deal with this summer’s disorder.
He will say: “We’ve 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.
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.”
He will caution the public that change will take time due to the deep rot left by successive Tory governments.
Sir Keir will say: “I said change would not happen overnight. When there is rot deep in the heart of a structure, you can’t just cover it up.
“You can’t tinker with it or rely on quick fixes.
“You have to overhaul the entire thing. Tackle it at the root. Even if it’s harder work and takes more time.
“Because otherwise what happens? The rot returns. In all the same places. And it spreads. Worse than before.
“That’s why this project has always been about fixing the foundations of this country.”
The speech will mark a week before MPs return to parliament — when Sir Keir will face questions on scrapping winter fuel payments for ten million pensioners and inflation-busting pay rises to train drivers.
Labour ministers have been laying bare Tory failures in a Whitehall exercise known as “bring out your dead” in the seven weeks since they won the general election.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves kicked off the attacks by accusing the Conservatives of leaving a £22billion black hole in this year’s budget.
She is now considering raising more cash from capital gains tax and inheritance tax and pushing ahead with cuts to some Whitehall departments.
Tories have accused her of making up the black hole and say Ms Reeves is using it as a smokescreen for tax increases in the Autumn Budget.
But Sir Keir will ramp up the theme by declaring that things are worse than we ever imagined.
£22bn black hole
Sir Keir will say: “Don’t let anyone say that this is performative, or playing politics.
“The 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.
“Even just last Wednesday, we found out that — thanks to the last government’s recklessness — we borrowed almost £5billion more than the OBR expected in the last three months alone.”
Sir Keir will also speak candidly about the crisis he is battling in the creaking prison system.
One of his first decisions was to agree to release thousands of prisoners at the start of September to deal with overcrowding.
He will say: “I didn’t want to release prisoners early.
“I was Chief Prosecutor for five years, and it goes against the grain of everything I’ve ever done.
“But if we hadn’t taken that difficult decision immediately, we wouldn’t have been able to respond to the riots as we did.”
Release prisoners early
Sir Keir will tell the country Tory failures made it much harder to respond to this summer’s rioters compared to 2011 when he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service.
He will say: “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. They saw the cracks in our society after 14 years of populism and failure — and exploited them.”
In an exclusive extract of the speech, seen by The Sun on Sunday, he will also tear into the “despicable” rioters.
More than 1,000 were arrested, with some jailed for six years.
Sir Keir will tell them: “I will not tolerate a breakdown in law and order under any circumstances.”
The PM will also refuse to engage with the anti-immigration protesters — accusing them of exploiting the families of the three little girls stabbed to death in Southport.
Sir Keir will also tell the public he won’t shy away from making unpopular decisions if it is the right thing for the country in the long term.
He will say: “This shouldn’t be a country where people have to fear walking down the street, or watch cars and buildings being set on fire.
“[Or] where people are paying thousands more on their mortgage or waiting months for hospital appointments they desperately need.”
Despite gloomy warnings, the PM will boast that Labour has achieved more in seven weeks than the last government did in seven years.
He’ll cite setting up a National Wealth Fund for infrastructure projects, changing planning policy to build more homes and ending strikes.
Unpopular decisions
He will add: “I promised that we would get a grip on the problems we face, and that we would be judged by our actions, not by our words.”
Sir Keir’s speech will set the scene as his Government prepares its first budget on October 30.
Grim tax rises and spending cuts are expected.
He is also facing a potential rebellion over his plans to scrap winter fuel payments for most pensioners — just as typical household heating costs will go up by £149.
But with the Tories still embroiled in a leadership contest until
November — and a working majority of 167 — Sir Keir is unlikely to face serious challenge on the policy.