Under-Fire Starmer to Tell Gloomy Britons Pain Will Be Worth It

(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Keir Starmer will try to reset the UK political narrative by promising “light at the end of this tunnel,” amid criticism that his Labour government’s gloomy economic messaging has made things worse.
The premier will say at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on Tuesday that taking “tough, long-term decisions now” will allow the government to be able to deliver on its key objectives — including higher growth, repairing the National Health Service and a transition to clean power — far more quickly, according to extracts of his keynote speech leaked by his office.
“The politics of national renewal are collective, they involve a shared struggle,” he will say. “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.”
Since taking power in early July, Starmer and his Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have repeatedly emphasized the dire state of the UK’s public finances, a line meant to blame the outgoing Conservatives for Labour’s fiscal inheritance and to lay the ground for what is expected to be a punitive budget on Oct. 30. Reeves has said she faces a £22 billion spending gap this year.
But the warnings, along with an unpopular benefits cut for pensioners and a row over political donations and gifts, severely dented Labour’s popularity.
Businesses are putting off investments as they await details of the budget, a survey by S&P Global found on Monday, exacerbating fears Labour’s messaging is undercutting its growth goals. The UK also suffered its biggest fall in consumer confidence in two-and-a-half years, according to research firm GfK.
According to a person familiar with the matter, Starmer had deliberately set out the scale of the government’s fiscal challenge, and now is the time to set out the next part of the story. Tuesday’s speech will be more about the positive future that Labour is trying to achieve, they said.
“We have to be a great reforming government,” Starmer will say in the speech, which will also include what Labour regards as early achievements such as ending most public-sector strikes, setting up the state-run GB Energy and beginning an overhaul of planning rules. “We’re only just getting started.”
On Monday, Reeves also tried to project a positive vision for the country, promising a budget that would show “real ambition” to deliver growth. “I can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now,” she said.
Labour’s conference is playing out against a backdrop of intense scrutiny over gifts and donations received by prominent Labour politicians. A survey by Ipsos published on Monday found six in 10 Britons were unhappy with the government.
Based on the extracts from his office, Starmer will acknowledge the political fallout while also delivering a tacit warning to his party and even to his own advisers, who are embroiled in their own backbiting about his leadership.
“I know this country is exhausted by and with politics,” he will say. “People want respite and relief, and may even have voted Labour for that reason.”
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