LIVERPOOL: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to protect public services and ruled out austerity measures as his Labour party's annual conference kicked off on Sunday, its first in 15 years as a governing party.
The four-day gathering in Liverpool, northwest England, comes three months after Labour secured a runaway general election victory over the Conservatives.
Under pressure on several fronts, the party will have to strike a balance between celebrating Labour's long-awaited victory, defending its record, and not letting up on reminders of "difficult decisions" to come.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner struck a more optimistic note in a key speech on Sunday, standing in front of a red background emblazoned with the slogan "change begins".
Peppered with light-hearted quips and applause, the speech recounted the government's first three months in power, with Rayner promising to "fix the foundations and put Britain back on the path to growth".
Ahead of the conference, Starmer told the Observer newspaper that his government had in 11 weeks done "far more than the last government did probably in the last 11 years". He cited ambitious homebuilding targets, the setting up of a publicly-owned green energy investment body and the recruitment of police officers and teachers.
However, an Opinium poll for the Observer ahead of the conference showed that Starmer's approval rating had suffered a huge drop since July.
Despite laying the groundwork for likely funding cuts and tax rises in the budget due at the end of October, Starmer told the Sunday Mirror he would not go "down the road of austerity".
He repeated his warning that he will do the "tough things first", but also told the Observer he would "make sure that our public services are functioning properly", and vowed to shield working people from tax rises.
The conference brings a much-needed morale boost after a week dominated by negative headlines for Starmer. He was reported to have received more than £100,000 ($132,000) in declared gifts and hospitality since December 2019 -- the most of any MP.
While the gifts were declared and did not breach parliamentary rules, the row broke as his government was pushing Britons to accept short-term "pain for long-term good" to help fill the £22-billion "black hole" in public finances that he says the Tories left behind. — AFP
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