Keir Starmer has said Mirror readers can “judge us by whether, in five years’ time, you have more money in your pocket”.
The PM said it will be a landmark week for Britain ahead of the first Labour Budget in 15 years. He said: “This is the moment that will reject austerity, chaos and decline and choose a clear path of stability, investment and reform.
“It’s no secret that for fourteen years, the Tories didn’t just run a leaky ship – they sailed it carelessly into every storm, smashing it against the rocks, and leaving the British people to pay the price.”
Speaking ahead of Rachel Reeves becoming the first ever female Chancellor to deliver a Budget on Wednesday, the PM said: “There will still be choppy waters for us to steer through. But in tough times we need a government that steps up, not stands back.
“This Wednesday, we will show the difference a Labour government makes.”
Scroll down to see the PM’s message to Mirror readers in full
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Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street)
He said the Budget will “invest in growth, jobs and the NHS and rejects Tory chaos, division and decline”.
It comes ahead of a speech in the West Midlands today, where he’ll describe the task his Government faces as “unprecedented”. Mr Starmer vowed the Budget will “deliver on our promise that there will be no return to austerity that hampered growth and hollowed out our pubic services”.
Highlighting the legacy he’s been left with, the PM told The Mirror: “We were told there was no money to invest in infrastructure or our public services.
“Our hospitals, roads, schools, and housing crumbled. And then we watched as the Tories happily doled out £15 billion in corrupt Covid contracts and spent £45 billion on unfunded tax cuts.”
And questioning why the Tories hadn’t apologised he said: “They knew full well what they were doing. Take prisons. They knew the system was on the brink of collapse but still they refused to act. They knew our public services were broken.
“They knew there’s a black hole in the public finances. They knew they’d wasted government funding reserves three times over – on Rwanda, asylum hotels, propping up failing rail companies.”
In his speech on Monday he will say: “Everyone can wake up on Thursday and understand that a new future is being built, a better future.”
Comparing it to the situations Tony Blair and David Cameron inherited when they entered No10, he will say: “We have to be realistic about where we are as a country. This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees.
“And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong, but the public finances were weak. These are unprecedented circumstances.” He will say the economy is now “riddled with weakness”, while the state “needs urgent modernisation”.
The PM will go on: “It’s time we ran towards the tough decisions, because ignoring them set us on the path of decline.” And in a dig at the Tories and Reform UK he will state: “It’s time we ignored the populist chorus of easy answers… we’re never going back to that.”
And in a challenge to his opponents, he will say: “If people want to criticise the path we choose, that’s their prerogative. But let them then spell out a different direction.
“If they think the state has grown too big, let them tell working people which public services they would cut. If they don’t see our long-term investment in infrastructure as necessary, let them explain to working people how they would grow the economy for them.”
Keir Starmer’s message for Mirror readers ahead of the Budget
This will be a landmark week for Britain.
The first Labour budget in 14 years. The first budget in British history to be delivered by a female Chancellor of the Exchequer. And the first time in a decade and a half where the concerns and priorities of working people are put first.
This is the moment that will reject austerity, chaos and decline and choose a clear path of stability, investment and reform.
It’s no secret that for fourteen years, the Tories didn’t just run a leaky ship – they sailed it carelessly into every storm, smashing it against the rocks, and leaving the British people to pay the price.
We were told there was no money to invest in infrastructure or our public services. Our hospitals, roads, schools, and housing crumbled. And then we watched as the Tories happily doled out £15 billion in corrupt Covid contracts and spent £45 billion on unfunded tax cuts.
Where is the Tory apology?
They knew full well what they were doing. Take prisons. They knew the system was on the brink of collapse but still they refused to act. They knew our public services were broken. They knew there’s a black hole in the public finances. They knew they’d wasted government funding reserves three times over – on Rwanda, asylum hotels, propping up failing rail companies.
That’s why they ran away and called an early election.
It’s working people who are paying the price.
The Tories should be apologising for the damage they have done.
Labour are focused on clearing up the mess, fixing the foundations and building a better future.
Mirror readers have had enough of slow growth, stagnant living standards and crumbling public services.
So this Budget will deliver on our promise that there will be no return to austerity that hampered growth and hollowed out our pubic services.
And there will be no return to the chaos that sent mortgages soaring when the Tories let borrowing get out of control.
This budget chooses a different path: honest, responsible, long-term decisions in the interests of working people. It’s stability that means we can invest, and reform that will maximise that investment.
Stability, investment, reform. That’s how we fix the NHS, rebuild Britain and protect working people’s payslips. Change Mirror readers will feel.
You don’t have to judge us on our words today. Judge us by whether, in five years’ time, you have more money in your pocket. Judge us on whether the NHS is there when you need it. Judge us on whether Britain works for you again.
There will still be choppy waters for us to steer through. But in tough times we need a government that steps up, not stands back.
This Wednesday, we will show the difference a Labour government makes. A Budget that invests in growth, jobs and the NHS and rejects Tory chaos, division and decline. A Budget that will mean a brighter future for Mirror readers and their families.