Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned of ‘tough but fair decisions’ when Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her budget later this month.
Speaking to a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday (3 November), Starmer said that the Labour Party had made significant strides during its last year in power, but was still feeling the impact of Conservative Party rule and the Covid pandemic.
“We had the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year, but everyone knows the Budget takes place against a difficult economic backdrop.
“It’s becoming clearer that the long-term impact of Tory austerity, their botched Brexit deal and the pandemic on Britain’s productivity is worse than even we feared.Faced with that, we will make the tough but fair decisions to renew our country and build it for the long term,” he said.
Starmer added that a Conservative or Reform UK government would be a return to austerity, and that neither party was fit to lead the country out of its economic problems.
“The Tories produce fantasy figures, but everyone knows they would slash the NHS and our schools. They should never be trusted with the economy again,” he said.
“Rather than taking the hard and serious decisions needed to renew this country, Reform’s massive spending cuts will mean cuts to the NHS, which Farage wants to privatise.He wants to cut the minimum wage while bringing in giveaways to billionaires. It’s clear where his priorities lie.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her priorities for the economy in a pre-Budget speech from Downing Street on Tuesday morning. She is expected to say her 26 November Budget will focus on “fairness and opportunity” to bring down NHS waiting lists, the national debt, and the cost of living.
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