British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will next week warn Britons that the changes needed to solve the country's mounting problems will take time, adding that “things will get worse before they get better” in a speech that he described as a chance to stand on the same level with society, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Since being elected prime minister in July, Starmer has repeatedly accused the previous Conservative government of leaving Britain in a bad state, which he says has allowed “thugs” to cause the anti-immigrant pogroms earlier this month.
In his speech on Tuesday, a week before Britain's parliament returns to work after the summer break, Starmer will say that “change will not happen overnight” but that his government is determined to tackled problems ranging from overcrowded prisons to long waiting lists for health services.
„When there is rot deep in the heart of a structure, you can't just cover it up. You can't rely on quick solutions. You have to redo everything,” Starmer will say in his speech, part of which was released to the media by his office.
„We inherited not just an economic black hole, but a societal black hole, so we need to act and do things differently. Part of that is being honest with the people about the choices we face and how dire the situation will be. Frankly, things are going to get worse before they get better,”, excerpts from the speech read.
Starmer was forced to cancel his summer holiday to deal with anti-immigrant protests that began after the killing of three little girls outside Liverpool. The pogroms started after misinformation spread on the Internet that the crime was committed by a migrant Islamist.
Starmer said the Conservative government's failure to deal with the problems had widened divisions in society, making it harder to deal with the situation.
„And these people throwing stones, burning cars, making threats, they don't just know that the system is broken. They bet on it, they took advantage of it, they exploited the cracks in our society after 14 years of populism and failures. This is our legacy,”, Starmer will declare on Tuesday.
Addressing working Britons such as teachers, nurses, firefighters and small business owners, Starmer will say the government has taken “the first steps towards the change the people voted for”.
At the same time, he is expected to say that the poor state of the British treasury will force his government to make tough decisions.
Otherwise, “we will not be able to fix the foundations of the country as we need. I will not commit to making unpopular decisions if it is the right thing for the country in the long term,”, reads the provided excerpts of the speech of the British Prime Minister.