Prime Minister Keir Starmer is mounting a New Year push on driving down the cost of living clobbering families as he seeks to turn the page on the political turbulence of 2025
Keir Starmer pledged people would feel better off this year but said it’s not “job done” to fix the cost of living crisis.
On a visit to a community centre in Reading, Mr Starmer said many people have had a tough time in recent years but they would begin to see the benefits of policies like free childcare, rail fare freezes and cuts to energy bills this year.
The PM is mounting a New Year push on driving down the cost of living as he seeks to turn the page on the political turbulence of 2025. With key elections looming in England, Wales and Scotland loom in May, he warned that Nigel Farage spells trouble for the economy.
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He told the Mirror : “We’re turning a corner, and I know that for so many people, they will only really believe that if they feel that they are personally – them and their family – better off.
“And this is the year when we’re able to deliver it. I’m not going to pretend this is a silver bullet.
“I’m not complacent about it. I’m not going to say it’s job done. Of course, it isn’t. People have had a really tough time. But each of these measures will help people, on a month by month basis, with juggling and paying their bills.”
Global turmoil – including the US military action in Venezuela – has been dominating the headlines, he acknowledged. But he added: “At the end of the day, for so many millions of people, what matters more than anything is the cost of living?”
Mr Starmer also took aim at Mr Farage over his wild Brexit promises – and said Reform had nothing to offer on the economy.
He said: “It was Nigel Farage that stood up in the Brexit referendum and said, ‘If we leave the EU, you’ll have £350million a week in the NHS. It didn’t turn out to be the case.
“It was Nigel Farage that said, ‘If we leave the EU, immigration will go down’. “It then went up four-fold. It quadrupled under Boris Johnson. It was Nigel Farage said ‘if we leave the EU that will cut red tape and make it easier to do business’.
“The opposite happened. So I really don’t think it’s very sensible to listen to a word that Nigel Farage says.”