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Keir Starmer speech: Key highlights as PM admits Budget will be ‘painful’

Daniel Green
Photo: Number 10/Flickr

Keir Starmer warned that the Budget in October will be “painful” and asked the public to shoulder “short-term pain for long-term good”.

In a speech from the Downing Street Rose Garden, Starmer told an audience of voters he met along the campaign trail that, while his government may not get everything right, everything it does will be with them in mind.

READ MORE: Five things Keir Starmer’s speech tells us about Labour’s plans and its fears

He also strongly condemned the riots that hit several cities earlier this month and vow to fix the foundations of the country to ensure working people are better off.

Here were some of the key highlights in real time as Starmer delivered his speech:

12.30pm: Read transcipt in full

You can read Keir Starmer’s speech in full on our website here.

11.20am: Unite demands ‘change that Labour promised’, not ‘austerity mark 2’

Unite’s Sharon Graham has called for Labour to deliver on the change it promised at the general election and rejected the Prime Minister’s “bleak vision”.

Reacting to Keir Starmer’s speech, Graham said: “We don’t need more excuses about fiscal responsibility or talk of wealth creation.

“We should not pit pensioners against workers, that is not a choice that should be on the table.

“We now need Labour to have the courage to make the right choices.”

11.15am: Starmer speech ‘clear, honest and frank’, says Northampton MP

11.00am: Conservative attack on Starmer speech

The Conservatives have posted their reaction to Starmer’s speech, criticising the Prime Minister’s choice to cut the winter fuel payment while spending “billions” on “inflation-busting union pay deals”.

10.50am: ‘Winter fuel payment axe not about rot, but about basic fairness’

The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has raised concerns about the plans to means test the winter fuel allowance, warning that some older people will face the highest energy bills on record in the coming months.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s speech, the organisation’s coordinator Simon Francis said: “The Winter Fuel Payment axe is not about rot in the system, it is about basic fairness for older people facing soaring energy bills.

“This has the potential to create a public health emergency which will actually create more pressure on the under-pressure NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix.

“Ending energy debt, extending the Household Support Fund, expanding Warm Home Discounts and evolving standing charges are all now needed urgently to help mitigate the impact of high bills and the axe to the Winter Fuel Payment.

“But as well as support this winter, the public need to see a clear timetable for when the very real benefits of cheaper renewable energy and the Warm Homes Plan will kick in.

“If the Prime Minister needs to find some ‘broad shoulders’ to pay for this support, let’s not forget that every month we hear about more massive profits for firms in the wider energy industry.”

10.40am: ‘Decade of national renewal begins by fixing the foundations’

Labour MP for Peckham Miatta Fanhbulleh has shared her thoughts on the Prime Minister’s speech on social media and said: “We will be a government of public service, committed to the hopes and aspirations of working people.”

10.30am: Releasing prisoners ‘not a decision I wanted to make’

Starmer said that the decision to release some prisoners to create capacity within the prison system was “not a decision I wanted to make”.

He said: “I spent five years prosecuting people and putting them in prison – the idea of releasing people who should be in prison because the prisons are too full goes against everything I’ve worked for for years.”

However, he criticised the Conservative government for not building enough prisons, which left him with no other option, especially in the wake of the riots across the country.

10.23am: ‘We have to fix NHS, our homes and schools’

When asked whether he was honest during the election campaign, Starmer said that he had not expected the nation’s finances to be in the state they were in when Labour entered office.

He said that he did not want to take steps, such as means testing the winter fuel allowance, but “we have to fix the NHS, we have to fix our homes, our schools – and pensioners rely on them in the same way as everybody else does”.

Starmer also said that the government is making sure the support is available for pensioners that need it the most through pension credit.

10.20am: ‘Short-term pain for long-term good’


The Prime Minister has warned that the Budget in October “is going to be painful” and said that “those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden”.

He pledged to crack down on non-doms but also said he will “turn to the country and make big asks of you as well, to accept short-term pain for long-term good”.

“I know that after all that you have been through, that is a really big ask and really difficult to hear. It’s not the position I want to be in, but we have to end the politics of the easy answer that solves nothing,” he said.

10.17am: ‘We can’t go on like this anymore’

Starmer has said that politics will not go back to business as usual and promised “action not words” to “root out 14 years of rot”.

He said that his government will take significant steps between now and Christmas, including accelerating the planning process to build new homes, harnessing the potential of AI for growth and bringing rail companies on public ownership.

10.16am: ‘Downing Street now back in your service’

Keir Starmer has referenced the lockdown parties in the Rose Garden and told the crowd of voters: “This garden and this building are now back in your service.”

10.14am: Labour inherited economic and societal black hole

The Prime Minister has said that his new government has inherited both an economic and societal black hole from the Conservatives and admitted “things will get worse before they get better”.

He also made reference to the controversial decision to means test the winter fuel allowance and said: “I did not want to means test the winter fuel payment, but it was a choice that we had to make, a choice to protect the most vulnerable pensioners while doing what is necessary to repair the public finances.”

He said: “I won’t shy away from making unpopular decisions now, if it is the right thing for the country in the long term. That’s what a government of service means.”

10.10am: Riots expose ‘cracks in foundations’

Starmer has started talking about the summer’s riots, which he says “revealed a deeply unhealthy society… weakened by a decade of division and decline, infected a spiral of populism which fed off cycles of failure of the last government”.

He also said that the government had to check “every day” whether the country had enough prison places and in the right areas to deal with rioters.

10.07am: OBR did not know about £22bn black hole

Starmer said that the OBR did not know about the £22bn black hole left by the last government and said that, because of “the last government’s recklessness”, the country borrowed almost £5bn more than expected over the last three months.

10.05am: ‘We will be judged by actions and not words’

The Prime Minister has started his speech and stressed how he promised to get a grip of the problems the country faces and said the government would be “judged by our actions, not by our words”.

He also said the government had done more in the last seven weeks than the Tories did over the last seven years.

10.00am: PM about to give speech

We are waiting for Keir Starmer to take to the podium in the Downing Street Rose Garden, where he will give his first keynote speech since taking office last month.

9.50am: ‘Things will get worse before they get better’

Starmer will admit that the state of the country is “worse than we ever imagined” and explain the Conservatives left a £22bn black hole in the public finances upon leaving office.

In his speech in the next few minutes, he will say that his government will be honest with people about the choices that lie ahead.

“Frankly – things will get worse before we get better. I didn’t want to release prisoners early. I was Chief Prosecutor for five years, it goes against the grain of everything I’ve ever done,” the Prime Minister will say.

“But to be blunt, if we hadn’t taken that difficult decision immediately, we wouldn’t have been able to respond to the riots as we did.

“And if we don’t take tough action across the board, we won’t be able to fix the foundations of the country like we need.”

9.40am: ‘Labour has done more in seven weeks than Tories did in seven years’

Keir Starmer will say that Labour has done more in the last seven weeks since taking office than the last government did over the last seven years, highlighting progress on planning reform and setting up GB Energy and a national wealth fund.

He will say: “When I stood on the steps of Downing Street two months ago, I promised this government would serve people like you: apprentices, teachers, nurses, small business owners, firefighters – those serving your community and your country every day. 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.

“That’s why, in our first few weeks, we set up a National Wealth Fund because we want every person and every community to benefit.

“It’s why we’ve unlocked planning decisions to build 1.5 million new homes. It’s why we’ve set up Great British Energy to create good jobs and cut people’s bills. And it’s why we’ve ended the strikes that have crippled our country for years.

“We’ve done more in 7 weeks than the last government did in 7 years. And these are just the first steps towards the change people voted for. The change I’m determined to deliver.”

9.30am: ‘Change can’t happen overnight’

Starmer will say in his speech in the next few minutes that the “rot” left by the previous Conservative government will require a complete overhaul to fix and that “quick fixes” are not sufficient.

He 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. You know that – and I know that. That’s why this project has always been about fixing the foundations of this country.”

READ MORE: Starmer speech to warn of unpopular choices after ’14 years of populism and failure’ that left ‘societal black hole’

9.20am: Post from PM ahead of speech

9.00am: PM to address riots in speech

Keir Starmer will reference the far-right riots that erupted many cities earlier this month and will say they betrayed not just the sickness but the cure.

He will say: “The riots didn’t just betray the sickness, they revealed the cure, found not in the cynical conflict of populism but in the coming together of a country the morning after and cleared up their community.

“Because that is who we are, that is what we stand for. People who cared for their neighbour. Communities who stood fast against hatred and division. Emergency services who did their duty – even when they were in danger. And a government that put the people of this country first.”

8.30am: Starmer to pledge to ‘fix the foundations’

In his speech later this morning, Prime Minister Starmer will pledge to drive up living standards and make sure working people are better off.

He is expected to say: “We will do the hard work needed to root out 14 years of rot and reverse a decade of decline. We’ll fix the foundations, protecting taxpayers’ money and people’s living standards. We’ll reform our planning system to build the new homes we need. We’ll level up workers’ rights so people have security, dignity and respect. We’ll strengthen our border security. We’ll crack down on crime. We’ll transform public transport. And we’ll give our children the opportunities they need to succeed.”

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