British PM warns of ‘painful’ budget ahead in keynote speech

London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday gave the first indication of some tough tax measures in store in the October budget in the first keynote address of his premiership since taking charge at 10 Downing Street last month.

In a planned speech at the Rose Garden before a gathering of apprentices, medics and other professionals, Starmer declared the state of the public finances was left in a much worse condition by the previous Conservative Party regime than the Labour government had expected.

He declared that his job was now to fix the foundations which would involve “short-term pain for long-term good” and admitted that “unpopular” decisions would have to be made. “There is a Budget coming in October and it is going to be painful. We have no other choice given the situation that we are in,” said Starmer.

“I promised that this government would serve people like you – apprentices, teachers, nurses, small business owners, firefighters, those serving our community and our country every day,” he said, with reference to the Downing Street gathering. The keynote, timed a week before Parliament resumes after its summer recess next week, was designed to assert that “it won’t be business as usual because we can’t go on like this any more”.

“Things will have to be done differently. We will do the hard work to root out 14 years of rot, reverse a decade of decline and fix the foundations. Between now and Christmas, we will carry on as we started: action not words. We will introduce legislation and take decisions to protect taxpayers’ money,” said Starmer.

Referencing the recent far-right riots across different parts of the UK, the former barrister and chief prosecutor said the violent clashes didn’t just “betray the sickness” left in the wake of the former government’s “cynical conflict of populism” but also revealed that the cure was to be found in the “coming together of a

country”.