UK PM warns of ‘deep rot’ at heart of country

With his own approval rating faltering, Keir Starmer is set to blame the Conservatives for Britain’s dire economic straits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will deliver a grim speech to the nation on Tuesday, warning people to brace for “unpopular decisions” ahead. Starmer is also expected to blame the previous Conservative government for the state of the country.

In his first keynote speech since taking office in July, Starmer will claim that his government “inherited not just an economic black hole, but a societal black hole” from the Conservatives, according to prepared remarks shared with the British media.

“We have to take action and do things differently,” the remarks continue. “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.”

Starmer’s predecessors presided over an historic decline in British living standards and a rise in energy costs and inflation, both of which soared after the UK cut itself off from Russian fossil fuels in 2022. According to Starmer’s remarks, Labour “discovered a £22 billion black hole in the public finances” once in power, which will take “unpopular decisions” – presumably tax hikes in October’s budget – to fix.

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Starmer will also pin much of the blame for a recent spate of right-wing riots on the Conservatives, arguing that “14 years of populism and failure” encouraged the unrest, and that the rioters “were betting on” not receiving any jail time due to prison overcrowding.

However, Starmer’s proposed solutions have fallen flat. His response to the riots – which saw more than 200 people sentenced, including for “harmful” online speech, and prisoners released early to clear space for the rioters – sparked accusations of “two-tier” policing, while only one in six Britons support tax increases to solve the country’s economic woes. 

According to a recent Ipsos poll, the prime minister’s net approval rating has fallen from plus seven to zero since the election, with 52% of Britons saying that the country is heading “in the wrong direction.”

“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,” Starmer is expected to say. “Because otherwise what happens? The rot returns in all the same places. And it spreads. Worse than before.”

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Ahead of the speech, Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller hammered the Labour leader for his government’s recent decision to cut a winter fuel allowance for pensioners, and for awarding his top donor an unrestricted pass to his office.

Starmer, Fuller said, 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.”