The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that he does not think England is a racist country following the far-right riots last month.
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Starmer said: ‘I don’t think we’re a racist country, I think we’re a country of decent people,’ he said, adding that the people who came out afterwards to clear up and rebuild were ‘the real face of Britain’.
Mr Starmer added: ‘Incredible people came out with their trowels, with their brooms, they cleaned up, they rebuilt. They’re the real face of Britain, and that’s the Britain that I think is essential to reuniting and bringing this country back together.’
However, the Prime Minister said he is worried about the rise of the far-right, both in this country and across other parts of Europe.
‘I am worried about the rise of the far right. I mean, we can see what’s happening in Germany with the recent elections, see what’s happening in France and other countries,’ Starmer said.
‘And I’m worried about the far right, because it’s the sort of snake oil of the easy answer. I’m convinced that the answer to it is delivery in government.
‘So the best argument against the far right, best argument against the easy answer is to deliver, to bring about the change that we promised we’d bring about.’
He also used the interview to defend the government’s stance on changes to the winter fuel payment.
The PM said he was frustrated by how ‘slowly’ the process of making buildings safe has been in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
He said the work will be accelerated – but did not give a completion date when challenged on the question.
Starmer confirmed that the winter fuel payments going forward will be ‘targeted’ and those ‘most in need’ and on pension credit will continue to get the payment.
The PM responded to a report by surgeon and independent peer Lord Darzi on the state of the NHS in England – due to be published on Thursday.
He said in relation to this that ‘the NHS is broken but not beaten’ and identified several reasons for this, including spending cuts and the pandemic.
‘His diagnosis, my conclusion is, the only way out of this now is reform,’ Starmer added.
Starmer dismissed criticism that he removed a picture of ex Tory PM Margaret Thatcher from his No 10 study.
He said it wasn’t personal, he just prefers landscapes.
In the most important news for everybody, Starmer revealed the name of the new Downing Street pet.
He is called Prince and is a Siberian kitten.
He said that his government is going to have to make ‘unpopular’ decisions to deliver reform following 14 years of Tory leadership.
But the government faces a potential rebellion in parliament next week as a vote on the decision to axe the payment for all but the poorest pensioners will be made.
The news comes after the health secretary vowed that he is willing to do whatever it takes to bring NHS waiting lists down and said there is spare capacity in the private sector the NHS should use that to get waiting lists down.
Speaking on Sky News, Wes Streeting said NHS waiting lists need to be ‘millions lower’ by the next general election in 2029.
He said he wants to end the ‘two-tier system’ where those who can afford it go private ‘and those who can’t are being left behind’.
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