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according to the french newspaper le figaro on august 28, british prime minister keir starmer warned on the 27th that the british people are going to have "hard times".

the report said that the future is bumpy. starmer, who has been in office for less than two months, almost has a churchillian flavor in his description of policies. he did not say "blood, sweat and tears", but warned the british that the future will be difficult because britain has been "ruined" by the conservatives. in the garden of downing street, he warned that "the situation may get worse before it can improve." this may be the direction of the uk in the next few years.

starmer returned to a theme from july, namely that his government inherited a heavy debt. he criticized the "economic black hole" left by the conservatives. chancellor of the exchequer rachel reeves said the uk had a fiscal deficit of up to 22 billion pounds. starmer said: "the situation is worse than we thought." he also said that the office for budget responsibility (equivalent to the uk's audit court) "did not know".

starmer warned that the labour government's first budget, expected at the end of october, could be "painful". this indirectly admitted that taxes may rise and government spending may be cut. "those with the strongest shoulders" may be asked to pay more, that is, the wealthy. starmer said: "given the situation we are in now, we have no choice." last month, reeves said that taxes should rise. labour has emphasized during the election campaign that it wants to restructure the economy and tighten public spending.

the report said that the british government did not specify which taxes would be raised. the labour party ruled out the possibility of increasing income tax, national insurance and value-added tax, which are the main sources of government revenue. the labour party also promised to maintain corporate tax at 25% so that it can continue to remain among the countries with the lowest corporate tax in the group of seven.

▲on august 27, british prime minister keir starmer left after holding a press conference in the garden of 10 downing street in london. (associated press)

starmer's speech was "difficult" for the trade unions to accept. sharon graham, general secretary of the largest trade union, unite, accused starmer of "being pessimistic about britain" and said "it's time to see the labour party bring about change." she called for a super-rich tax on the super-rich and a tax increase on profits.

the conservatives accused starmer of opening the door to a "tax raid", arguing that such tax increases were paying for labour's costly choices and wage increases promised to unions. starmer defended his acceptance of the advice of an independent body to increase public sector wages. he claimed: "the country would lose a lot by allowing the national strike to continue."

the british government has been trying for weeks to blame the conservatives for tax hikes and other unpopular policies, but it has acknowledged the difficult situation facing the public finances, while many commentators say labour has gone too far and is seeking to make people forget unrealistic campaign promises.

source: reference news