Budget will boost living standards, revive NHS and ‘rebuild Britain’ – Starmer

The Budget will focus on boosting living standards, reviving the NHS and “rebuilding Britain”, Sir Keir Starmer said as he signalled investment in schools, housing and transport.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her first Budget on October 30 following gloomy warnings about the tough decisions and tax rises needed to deal with the economic legacy left by the Tories.

But Sir Keir indicated that the focus of the financial statement will be on “making people better off”.

The Prime Minister said his three priorities were “driving up living standards – making sure people feel better off, making sure our NHS is back on its feet and fit for the future, and that we’re rebuilding the country, particularly what we’re doing on housing”.

Difficult choices

He said difficult choices such as stripping winter fuel payments from millions of pensioners and grim warnings about the state of the NHS and prisons had been necessary.

He told BBC’s Newscast: “I am convinced that by running towards those problems and tackling them, we will make for a better future rather than painting over them.”

But he said that “the central focus of the Budget is going to be on living standards, making people better off”.

“It’s going to be on the health service and making sure we’re putting it back on its feet, making sure that we’re rebuilding Britain, we’re getting the growth that we need in, and we made really important manifesto commitments on things like waiting lists.”

Economic stability

Ahead of Monday’s international investment summit, Sir Keir said reassuring the markets about the Government’s commitment to economic stability was essential for generating growth.

“So in the Budget, we are taking difficult decisions. Winter fuel, for example, was a difficult decision, but we’re doing it to provide the economic stability that we need and the clarity of mission,” he said.

He told the BBC podcast that Heathrow Airport has had to “expand the VIP area” for the investors heading to the UK for Monday’s summit.

In interviews with the BBC and The Guardian, he signalled that the Budget would see significant levels of Government investment across the country.

‘Active government’

He told Newscast: “Yes, I believe in an active government. I think we should be up there with our sleeves rolled up, working with business.

“I don’t think it’s a question of just saying ‘here’s a sort of pot of money and if you count the amount of money in the pot, that will tell you how serious we are’.

“(It’s) What are you doing with your money, how you’re using it as a catalyst, and how is it going to unlock the private investment that we need? And that’s the way I see it.

“And that’s why we need to be really smart with investment. But we do need that investment.”

He told The Guardian: “While other countries have powered ahead, building big and taking advantage of new technology, Britain has been left to make do with their out-of-date ideas and out-of-date service.”

‘Common sense’

The Prime Minister said it was “common sense to invest and build”.

“If working people can’t afford a decent home, they can’t build good lives and careers,” he said.

“When people can’t get to work because public transport is poor, productivity suffers. If schools are crumbling over our children’s heads, how can we expect them to learn the skills they need?

“And NHS waiting lists are through the roof because there has been nowhere near enough investment in hospitals and the technology that could make treatment more efficient and more effective.”

The Prime Minister said he would not get “bogged down” by rows over his former chief of staff Sue Gray or the controversy over his acceptance of gifts from donors.

And he told The Guardian he wanted to be able to show voters “a bit of the sunny uplands” after the Labour administration has spent months painting a gloomy picture of the economic inheritance they received.

‘Choppy’

Saturday marks the 100th day of Sir Keir’s premiership and he acknowledged it had not gone smoothly.

“You get these days and weeks when things are choppy, there’s no getting around that,” he told the BBC. “That is in the nature of government.”

But he insisted he would not be knocked off course.

“You’re going to get side winds all the time. If you’re not going to get knocked off course, you’ve got to know where we’re headed,” he told The Guardian.

“The moment I allow myself to get too bogged down in the side winds is the point that other governments have gone wrong, in my view, because they’ve lost sight of what the real point of government is.”

But he added: “It’s been very much what I expected. It’s proved the thesis that government is tougher, but that government is better.

“Tougher because you’ve got to take tough decisions. Better, because you can take decisions and make a difference.”

He admitted the focus on the gifts of clothing, glasses, football and concert tickets he had received had been difficult, particularly as his family got dragged into the row.

His wife Victoria received clothing while the Prime Minister said the use of an apartment provided by Labour peer Lord Alli was to allow his son space to study for his GCSEs.

“I’m not going to pretend its pleasant, because of course it’s not pleasant, but it wasn’t a first-time experience, and I doubt it will be a last one either,” he told The Guardian.

But he said the furore around donations was “a million miles away” from the Covid-era partygate and PPE scandals which hit the Tories.