LIVERPOOL: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will tell Britons there is “light at the end of this tunnel”, during the keynote speech to his Labour party’s annual conference on Tuesday—their first in power in 15 years. Starmer, 62, has faced growing calls to offer a more positive outlook for the country since ousting the Conservatives from government in a landslide election win in July. He is set to say the UK must embark on a “shared struggle” and that he will resist “easy answers”. But he will also try to inject some optimism, according to excerpts released to reporters.

Under pressure over a plan to cut fuel benefits for millions of pensioners and for not scrapping a cap on child benefit, the Labor leader will insist “short-term pain of tough decisions” means “long-term gain”. Starmer returned the centre-left Labor party to power for the first time since 2010 following a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives on July 4.

But he soon faced flak for scrapping universal payments to help the elderly with winter heating bills, and the buildup to the conference was overshadowed by a row over gifts accepted by parliamentarians—Starmer included. The controversies have dampened the celebrations at Labor’s four-day gathering in Liverpool, in northwest England. Starmer was set to use his address at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) to try to retake control of the narrative by arguing it will take time and sacrifice to fix Britain.

“The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle,” he was due to say. “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.” Starmer was set to allude to recent criticism of him and his finance minister Rachel Reeves that they are affecting economic growth and investment in Britain by being pessimistic about the state of the country. Starmer has spent much of his first weeks in power blaming the Tories for leaving everything in a mess, from the public finances to prisons and the state-run National Health Service.

Budget

The Tories accuse him of scaremongering over the inheritance and of laying the groundwork for tax rises in the October 30 budget. Starmer has already warned the budget will be “painful”. “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 Labor for that reason,” he was expected to say. “Our project has not and never will change. I changed the Labor 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.” Taking “tough long-term decisions now” will mean the “light at the end of this tunnel” can be reached “much more quickly”, he was to add.

Labour is looking to move on from a row over expensive gifts, including clothes and concert tickets given to Starmer and other senior Labor figures. All of the gifts were within the rules but Starmer has been forced to fend off accusations of hypocrisy since the furor comes at a time when he is asking ordinary Britons to tighten their belts. He was set to highlight some of Labour’s first pieces of legislation such as a new national wealth fund, a publicly owned green energy company and the renationalization of Britain’s railways. “We’re only just getting started,” he was to say.- AFP