UK PM Starmer likely to emphasize fiscal reality in pre-budget speech

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to deliver a pre-budget speech today, highlighting what he describes as the dire fiscal state of the country while assuring that “better days are ahead.”

In briefings given in advance of the speech, the prime minister is expected to say: "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," News.Az reports, citing The Guardian.

"And that’s before we even get to the long-term challenges ignored for 14 years: an economy riddled with weakness on productivity and investment, a state that needs urgent modernisation to face down the challenge of a volatile world."

Starmer will say the budget will embrace the “harsh light of fiscal reality”, and will have to “ignore the populist chorus of easy answers”.

In the 2024 Labour manifesto the party said:

The Conservatives have raised the tax burden to a 70-year high. We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible. Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income Tax, or VAT.

News.Az