Sir Keir Starmer's speech: The Labour leader on 'false hope', taxes and politics 'exhaustion'

Sir Keir Starmer is set to promise there is “light at the end of this tunnel”, but will warn the public it will take “short-term pain” to feel the benefits.

In his first Labour Party conference speech as Prime Minister, Sir Keir will say he wants to “build a new Britain”. Defying the murmurings in his party about a need to be more positive, the Labour leader will insist he cannot offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer with the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. PIC: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Sir Keir will attempt to set out his positive vision of “national renewal”, but the speech comes against a backdrop of anger within the Labour movement about the decision to means-test winter fuel payments, stripping them from millions of pensioners.

The Prime Minister will say: “I know this country is exhausted by and with politics. 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 Labour for that reason.

“Our project has not and never will change. I changed the Labour 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.”

It follows infighting behind the scenes in Downing Street over the party’s strategy, and rows over donations to Sir Keir and other senior Labour figures, which have threatened to overshadow the party conference.

Sir Keir will also use his speech to acknowledge that many voters were motivated by despair at the Tories, and warn his party that it must deliver “decisive” government without putting a heavy tax burden on workers.

In a sign that he will be prepared to push ahead with reforms to the economy and public services despite the prospect of resistance, Sir Keir will say: “I have to warn you, working people do want more decisive government.

“They do want us to rebuild our public services and they do want that to lead to more control in their lives. But their pockets are not deep – not at all. So we have to be a great reforming government.”

The opening weeks of Labour’s government have been characterised by a gloomy outlook on the public finances, with the claimed £22 billion “black hole” left by the Tories blamed for the decision to squeeze winter fuel payments.

But Sir Keir will attempt to set out his end goal of creating “a Britain built to last, built with respect and built with pride”.

He will say: “The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle. 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.”

Sir Keir will say the short-term pain will bring about the longer-term benefits more quickly.

Sir Keir Starmer was covered in glitter at last year’s party conference

He will say: “The truth is that if we take tough long-term decisions now, if we stick to the driving purpose behind everything we do: higher economic growth – so living standards rise in every community; our NHS facing the future – waiting lists at your hospital down; safer streets in your community; stronger borders; more opportunities for your children; clean British energy powering your home; making our country more secure … then that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain that belongs to you, we get there much more quickly.”

Sir Keir will tell activists in Liverpool “it will be hard” because “it’s not just that financial black hole, the £22bn of unfunded spending commitments, concealed from our country by the Tories, it’s not just the societal black hole – our decimated public services leaving communities held together by little more than good will – it’s also the political black hole”.

“Just because we all want low taxes and good public services does not mean that the iron law of properly funding policies can be ignored,” he will say. “We have seen the damage that does, and I will not let that happen again. I will not let Tory economic recklessness hold back the working people of this country.”

His speech will be delivered after two men were ejected on Monday from the conference, having disrupted Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s speech with a protest about pollution and arms exports to Israel.

The activists from protest group Climate Resistance were led from the conference centre in handcuffs and placed in a police van before being driven away.

Shortly after Ms Reeves began her speech, the pair unfurled a banner reading “still backing polluters, still arming Israel – we voted for change”. They shouted slogans before they were escorted from the hall by security.

In response, Ms Reeves said: “This is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest.”

Making her address, Ms Reeves insisted the “Tory legacy” which the Labour Government had inherited would mean “tough decisions”. But she said: “I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain.”

She also promised there would be “no return to austerity”, with the Chancellor stating: “Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services and for investment and growth too.”

She said she would deliver a “budget to rebuild Britain”, saying it would be “a Budget with real ambition, a Budget to fix the foundations, a Budget to deliver the change that we promised”.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar separately told delegates Labour’s revival was “only half written”.

Claiming that Scotland had been “stuck” with two “incompetent” governments, the Scottish Labour leader said his party would “finish the job” and oust the SNP from power in Holyrood at the next election.

He said: “The story of Labour’s revival is only half-written. For lots of you, there was only one incompetent government to get rid of.

“But in Scotland we were stuck with two. So, at the general election, we got rid of one incompetent government. And, in 2026, we finish the job and get rid of the other one.”