Keir Starmer urged to not abandon tens of millions who suffered in Tory rule

Keir Starmer has warned he will have to take painful ­decisions to fix the financial mess left by the Tories. But the PM was urged not to pile on more agony for ordinary people hit by 14 years of austerity – and to make the rich pay more tax.

Mr Starmer said in a speech today the public would have to “accept short-term pain for long-term good” as he grapples with a £22billion black hole.

But Unite chief Sharon Graham said: “If we taxed 1% on the wealthiest 1%, the black hole would be gone.” The PM faced calls to reverse the winter fuel payments cut for millions of pensioners. He defended the move and insisted it “was a choice we had to make” to repair public finances.

After inheriting a financial disaster left by 14 years of Tory incompetence, Keir Starmer always knew rebuilding Britain would be a tough job.

But the PM was yesterday urged not to prolong the agony for struggling households as he warned the Budget would bring “short-term pain for long-term good”.

In a speech yesterday, Mr Starmer said he would make “big asks” of Brits as he tries to plug the £22billion black hole the Tories left, while insisting he would also target those with the “broadest shoulders”.

But Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already announced the winter fuel payments of up to £300 for pensioners will be means tested, just as fuel bills face a winter rise.

Unions and Labour MPs begged Mr Starmer to axe that and instead focus on tax hikes for the wealthy and profit-hungry firms to shift the burden from -ordinary people.

Unite general secretary Sharon said: “Britain is in crisis, yes. But to say there is no money to rebuild industry and infrastructure, or to restore our public services, is simply not true.

“The top 50 families have more wealth than half our population. If we taxed 1% on the wealthiest 1%, the black hole would be gone.”

Pensioner campaign group Silver Voices head Dennis Reed added: “There will be horror stories about people who can’t afford to heat their homes over the winter.

“I think they ought to have been looking at more windfall taxes on the banks, the energy companies and the internet giants. They seem to be getting away with it.” One Labour MP said: “They need a U-turn on the winter fuel payments. There needs to be a wealth tax.”

Apsana Begum, who was one of seven MPs suspended by Labour for voting with the SNP to demand the Tory two-child benefit cap is axed, added: “A just choice now would be more taxes and less profits for the super-rich.

“That’s what millions of people desperately need.” Labour’s Nadia Whittome added: “We must redistribute wealth and power.”

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said Labour “could choose to make things better for everyone if they were bolder and braver”.

The means testing will hit around 10 million pensioners. End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis warned the axing of the benefit coupled with the lifting of the energy bills cap would leave some older people “facing the highest payments on record”. He added: “This has the potential to create a public health emergency that will create more pressure on the NHS which the Prime Minister says he wants to fix.”

But in his speech at No10’s rose garden, Mr Starmer defended the winter payments cut and insisted “it was a choice we had to make” to help repair the public finances.

The PM also warned things would get worse before they get better but insisted he would target those with deep pockets who could afford to pay for our -desperately-needed recovery.

He said: “There is a Budget coming in October and it’s going to be painful.

“Those with the broadest -shoulders should bear the heavier burden, and that’s why we’re cracking down on -non-doms.

“Those who made the mess should do their bit to clean it up, that’s why we’re -strengthening the powers of the water regulator and backing tough fines on the water firms that let sewage flood our rivers, lakes and seas.

“But just as when I responded to the riots, I’ll have to turn to the country and make big asks of you as well, to accept short-term pain for long-term good, the difficult trade off for the genuine solution.

“And I know that after all that you have been through, that is a really big ask and difficult to hear.

“That is not the position we should be in. It’s not the position I want to be in, but we have to end the politics of the easy answer, that solves nothing.

“Our hard work will be rewarded a dozen times over, because we’ll have an economy that works for everyone, an NHS not just back on its feet, but fit for the future, streets that everyone feels safe in.

“We’ll be no longer dependent on foreign dictators, because we’re producing our own clean energy and giving every child the chance to go as far as their talents will take them. Let’s fix it together.”