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Sir Keir Starmer will warn the British public that things will get worse before they get better in his first keynote speech since walking into Downing Street.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Tuesday, the prime minister will say the government has also taken on a \u201csocietal black hole\u201d.<\/p>\n
It will come after chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed the government inherited a \u00a322bn black hole in the public finances from the previous Conservative administration last month. <\/p>\n
\u201cThings are worse than we ever imagined\u201d, he will warn, adding: \u201cAnd that is why we have to take action and do things differently. Part of that is being honest with people \u2013 about the choices we face. And how tough this will be.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrankly \u2013 things will get worse before we get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The warnings come as the government prepares for its first Budget, to be unveiled on 30 October, which will force the Treasury to take tough decisions on spending and taxation.<\/p>\n
Promising to make \u201cunpopular decisions now if it\u2019s the right thing for the country\u201d, Sir Keir will also accuse the Conservatives of not being honest about the state they left the country in.<\/p>\n
He will say: \u201cThey haven\u2019t recognised what they\u2019ve cost the country and they haven\u2019t apologised for what they\u2019ve cost you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel Reeves is preparing for his first Budget on 30 October (PA)The prime minister is also expected to promise to \u201cfix the foundations of this country\u201d, warning \u201cchange will not happen overnight\u201d.<\/p>\n
He will say: \u201cWhen there is rot deep in the heart of a structure, you can\u2019t just cover it up. You can\u2019t tinker with it or rely on quick fixes. You have to overhaul the entire thing. Tackle it at the root. Even if it\u2019s harder work and takes more time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause otherwise what happens? The rot returns. In all the same places. And it spreads. Worse than before. You know that \u2013 and I know that. That\u2019s why this project has always been about fixing the foundations of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
He will also argue that \u201c14 years of populism and failure\u201d under the Conservatives made responding to this month\u2019s riots much harder than in 2011, when he led the Crown Prosecution Service, claiming that violent thugs exploited \u201cthe cracks in our society\u201d.<\/p>\n
Just weeks after receiving the keys to Downing Street, Sir Keir revealed emergency measures to free prisoners\u00a040 per cent of the way into their sentence, saying the previous government had allowed jails to almost completely run out of space.<\/p>\n
In 2011, rioting and looting led to more than \u00a3200m worth of damage and more than 3,000 arrests.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir will say: \u201cWhen I think back to that time, I see just how far we\u2019ve fallen. Because responding to those riots was hard, but dealing with the riots this summer was much harder.<\/p>\n
“Not having enough prison spaces is about as fundamental a failure as you can get. And those people throwing rocks, torching cars, making threats, they didn\u2019t just know the system was broken. They were betting on it. They were gaming it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey saw the cracks in our society after 14 years of populism and failure, and they exploited them. That\u2019s what we have inherited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding, Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller said: \u201cJust two months in and Keir Starmer has taken winter fuel payments off 10 million pensioners, showered billions of taxpayers\u2019 money on his union paymasters and is now engulfed in a cronyism scandal after parachuting donors and supporters in to top taxpayer funded jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe soft touch Labour Chancellor is squandering money whilst fabricating a financial black hole in an attempt to com tbt public into accepting tax rises, and literally leaving pensioners in the cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Prime Minister really should tell his Chancellor to reverse course or step in himself to reverse her decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGet our free View from Westminster email Sir Keir Starmer will warn the British public that things will get worse before they get better in his first keynote speech since walking into Downing Street. Speaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n