British Prime Minister Keir Starmer marks 100 days in office Saturday with little cause for celebration.
FILE – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to members of the media in Rome, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024.
“You couldn’t really have imagined a worse start,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “First impressions count, and it’s going to be difficult to turn those around.” Starmer has traveled to Washington, the United Nations and European capitals as he seeks to show that ” Britain is back ” after years of inward-looking wrangling over Brexit. But the United Kingdom, like its allies, has struggled to have much impact on spiraling conflicts in the Middle East and the grinding war in Ukraine.
Starmer has warned that things will be “tough in the short term” before they get better. He says public spending will be constrained by a 22-billion-pound “black hole” in the public finances left by the Conservatives. Government officials and advisers have traded blame for the faltering start, with the focus on Downing Street Chief of Staff Sue Gray, and her reported tensions with Labour campaign strategist Morgan McSweeney.
The government’s focus is now on Oct. 30, when Treasury chief Rachel Reeves will set out her first budget. The government is banking on a mix of public and private investment to spur economic growth, but needs to come up with billions for the task. Reeves has ruled out increasing income tax, sales tax or corporation tax, but also says there will be no “return to austerity” — a hard circle to square.
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