Starmer: There is light at the end of the tunnel but ‘this will be tough’

Sir Keir Starmer will say short-term pain is the necessary price for his vision of national renewal.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during an event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer will tell Britons there is “light at the end of this tunnel” but they must first join a “shared struggle” through tough short-term pressures.

In his first Labour Party conference speech as Prime Minister, Sir Keir will say he wants to “build a new Britain” with faster economic growth, shorter hospital waiting lists and safer streets.

But he will warn there are no easy answers and he could not offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.

This will be tough in the short term, but in the long term - it’s the right thing to do for our country

Sir Keir Starmer

Other measures promised by Sir Keir in his speech will include:

– A crackdown on benefit fraudsters aimed at saving £1.6 billion over five years.

– A commitment to reduce net migration by training Britons to fill vacancies in the jobs market rather than allowing employers to rely on overseas labour.

– A promise to introduce a Hillsborough Law requiring a duty of candour for public officials.

Sir Keir will attempt to set out his positive vision of “national renewal” but the speech comes against a backdrop of anger within the Labour movement about the decision to means-test winter fuel payments, stripping them from millions of pensioners.

That decision, along with infighting behind the scenes in No 10 and rows over donations to Sir Keir and other senior Labour figures, has contributed to a party conference with a more subdued mood than might have been expected after July’s election landslide.

Sir Keir will use his speech to acknowledge that many voters were motivated by despair at the Tories and warn his party that it needs to deliver “decisive” government without putting a heavy tax burden on workers, which will mean reforming public services.

He will say: “I know this country is exhausted by and with politics. I know that the cost-of-living crisis drew a veil over the joy and wonder in our lives and that people want respite and relief, and may even have voted Labour for that reason.

“Our project has not and never will change. I changed the Labour Party to restore it to the service of working people. And that is exactly what we will do for Britain.

“But I will not do it with easy answers. I will not do it with false hope.”

In a sign that he will be prepared to push ahead with reforms to the economy and public services despite the prospect of resistance, Sir Keir will say: “I have to warn you, working people do want more decisive government.

“They do want us to rebuild our public services and they do want that to lead to more control in their lives.

“But their pockets are not deep – not at all. So we have to be a great reforming government.”

The opening weeks of Labour’s government have been characterised by a gloomy outlook on the public finances, with the claimed £22 billion “black hole” left by the Tories blamed for the decision to squeeze winter fuel payments.

But Sir Keir will attempt to set out his end goal of creating “a Britain built to last, built with respect and built with pride”.

He will say: “The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle.

“A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short term, but in the long term – it’s the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that.”

Sir Keir will say the short-term pain will bring about the longer-term benefits more quickly.

He will say: “The truth is that if we take tough long-term decisions now, if we stick to the driving purpose behind everything we do: higher economic growth – so living standards rise in every community; our NHS facing the future – waiting lists at your hospital down; safer streets in your community; stronger borders; more opportunities for your children; clean British energy powering your home; making our country more secure… then that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain that belongs to you, we get there much more quickly.”

Sir Keir will tell activists in Liverpool that “it will be hard” because “it’s not just that financial black hole, the £22 billion of unfunded spending commitments, concealed from our country by the Tories, it’s not just the societal black hole – our decimated public services leaving communities held together by little more than good will – it’s also the political black hole”.

“Just because we all want low taxes and good public services does not mean that the iron law of properly funding policies can be ignored.

“We have seen the damage that does, and I will not let that happen again. I will not let Tory economic recklessness hold back the working people of this country.”

The Prime Minister will commit to “reduce both net migration and our economic dependency on it”, arguing: “I have never thought we should be relaxed about some sectors importing labour when there are millions of young people, ambitious and highly talented, who are desperate to work and contribute.”

The Prime Minister will also promise a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill to modernise the Department for Work and Pensions, allowing it to recover money lost to fraud while protecting vulnerable claimants from mounting debts.

And he will honour a commitment to the people of Liverpool by promising that a Hillsborough Law will be introduced before the next anniversary of the April 1989 football stadium disaster which claimed the lives of 97 fans.

The law will introduce a legal duty of candour on public bodies, with the potential for criminal sanctions for officials or organisations which mislead or obstruct investigations.

Sir Keir will say: “A law for Liverpool. A law for the 97. A law that people should never have needed to fight so hard to get.”