By Elizabeth Piper, Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill
LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a personal appeal to Britons on Tuesday to support his sometimes difficult plans to rebuild the nation, promising he could deliver a brighter future with higher living standards, safer streets and better services.
Addressing his first Labour Party annual conference as prime minister, the sometimes stiff Labour leader tried to lighten the mood with anecdotes from his life and offered a more optimistic view of the future, a step change to his government’s gloomy tone since taking power in July.
Starmer, 62, acknowledged Britons might doubt his government after ministers cut winter fuel payments to some pensioners, but he said he would not baulk at taking “unpopular” decisions if they were necessary to spur economic growth.
“So I know, after everything you’ve been through, how hard it is to hear a politician ask for more,” he told his party’s conference in the northern English city in Liverpool.
“But deep-down, I think you also know that our country does need a long-term plan and that we can’t turn back.”
“And the truth is that if we take tough long-term decisions now … then that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain that belongs to you, we get there much more quickly.”
CHANGE IN TONE
It was a change in tone from the government’s narrative since Labour won a landslide election against the once-dominant Conservatives in July, when the new government’s ministers repeatedly said their inheritance meant they had little room for manoeuvre to fix Britain’s many problems.
Starmer again listed what he described as the Conservatives’ legacy, failing to increase the number of prison places, failing to build new homes or controlling immigration and for leaving a 22 billion black hole in the public finances – an allegation the now opposition party denies.
“Do not forget what they did and do not let them attempt to shift the blame because the state of our country is on them,” he said.
A day after his finance minister Rachel Reeves also expressed optimism in the future, signalling she may revise her fiscal rules to allow for greater public investment, it was clear that the Labour government was keen to change the mood.
“Change has begun,” Starmer repeated, announcing a crackdown on benefit fraud and offering housing to all military veterans.
Dogged by criticism over the winter fuel payments cuts and by a dispute over the use of donations, Starmer wanted to reset a conference which has not been the celebration supporters and members had expected after Labour returned to power.
After moving the Labour Party towards the centre of British politics following a move to the left under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer swiftly dealt with a heckler who demanded to know what he was doing to help children in Gaza.
“We’ve changed the party,” he told the heckler, whose protest was drowned out by applause and cheering by the crowd. “While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party, that’s why we’ve got a Labour government.”
Calling on all Britons to be patient with his government in front of a Union Jack flag, he again said there would be short-term pain for long-term gain.
“But I will not do it with easy answers. I will not do it with false hope,” he said. “Make no mistake, the work of change has begun … And we’re only just getting started.”
(Reporting by Elizabeth PiperEditing by Mark Potter, Alexandra Hudson)
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