Prime Minister Keir Starmer will warn Britons next week that the changes needed to fix Britain's many problems will take time.
Starmer said “things will get worse before we get better” in a speech he described as a chance to speak openly to the nation.
Since being elected prime minister in July’s general election, Starmer has repeatedly blamed the previous Conservative government for leaving Britain in a sorry state, allowing “thugs” to instigate anti-migrant riots this month, he said.
In a speech scheduled for Tuesday (August 27), a week before Britain's parliament returns to work after the summer break, Starmer will say that “change will not happen overnight” but his government is determined to tackle a range of problems from overcrowded prisons to long waiting lists for healthcare.
“I said change won’t happen overnight. When there is rot deep within the fabric, you can’t just paper it over. You can’t tinker with it or rely on quick fixes. You have to overhaul the whole thing,” Starmer said, in a draft of the speech shared by his office.
“We’ve inherited not just an economic black hole but a social black hole and that’s why we have to take action and do things differently. Part of that is being honest with people about the choices we face and how difficult it is, things are going to get worse before we get better.”
Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, cancelled his summer holiday to address the unrest targeting Muslims and migrants. The unrest began after the killing of three young girls in northern England was blamed on a Muslim migrant based on online misinformation.
Starmer said the Conservative government's failure to tackle the problem had widened rifts in society, making it harder to deal with rioters than when he was Britain's chief prosecutor from 2008 to 2013.
“And the people who are throwing rocks, burning cars, making threats, they don't just know that the system is broken. They gambled, they played, they saw the cracks in our society after 14 years of populism and failure and they exploited them. That's what we inherited,” he said.
Appealing to working people across Britain such as teachers, nurses, small business owners and firefighters, Starmer will say his government has taken “the first step towards the change the people voted for” on July 4.
But he will say the dire state of Britain's public finances means his government has to make tough decisions. The country will post a $29 billion (£24.5 billion) spending overrun this year, his finance minister said.
“If we don’t take bold action across the board, we’re not going to be able to fix the foundations of the country the way we need to,” he said. “I will not hesitate to make decisions that are unpopular now if they are the right thing for the country in the long term. That’s what servant government is all about.” (ft)
