Sir Keir Starmer will vow on Tuesday to “reverse a decade of decline” and to “fix the foundations” of the UK economy.
Delivering a much-trailed speech in the gardens of Downing Street ahead of parliament’s return next week, the prime minister will acknowledge the state of the public finances but pledge to “do the hard work needed to root out 14 years of rot” as he continues to place the blame on the former Conservative government.
And he will insist his administration will not continue with “business as usual” now Labour are in power, instead saying there will be “no more politics of performance, papering over the cracks, or division and distraction”.
But Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller said it would be “nothing but a performative speech to distract the public from the promises Starmer made that he never had any intention of keeping”.
Since taking office almost eight weeks ago, the government has been reiterating its claim it has been left with a £22bn “black hole” in the Treasury by the Tories, with even reserve funds of £9bn having been spent “more than three times over”.
And while growth has been better than expected in recent months, public borrowing is at a record high and inflation crept up again in August.
The government has already announced it will seek to claw back some of the deficit via a controversial decision to end winter fuel payments to all pensioners who do not receive pension credit, as well as delaying social care reforms and demanding all departments find savings worth an estimated £3bn.
However, ministers have also signed…
