The prime minister has told the BBC his new government is “going to have to be unpopular” as he defended his “tough” decision to cut winter fuel payments.
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in his first major interview in Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer said he was determined to deliver change but this meant having to “do the difficult things now”.
Challenged on his plan to remove winter fuel payments from most pensioners while also awarding above inflation pay rises to some public sector workers, he said he was “fixing the foundations” and those in need would still get assistance.
He said: “When we talk about tough decisions, I’m talking about… the things the last government ran away from.”
In the wide-ranging interview in No 10’s Cabinet Room, Sir Keir also:
- expressed concern about the rise of the far right after the recent riots, but denied the UK was a racist country
- said he was frustrated by the pace of building safety works in the week of the final Grenfell report, promising work would be accelerated but not giving a specific date for completion
- rejected a suggestion his decision to end some arms sales to Israel had made the UK unpopular with the US
- said his removal of a portrait of former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher from his study wasn’t personal – he just doesn’t like people “staring down” at him
- argued reform was “the only way out of” problems faced by the NHS.
On his plan for winter fuel payments, Sir Keir wouldn’t say if he would suspend Labour MPs who vote against it this week, saying his government was “going to have to be unpopular”.
The payments of between £200 and £300 a year were paid to more than 10 million pensioners a year, but were axed for all but the poorest by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in July.
Among the public sector pay settlements reached in recent weeks were a 22% pay rise over two years for junior doctors and 4.5% for train drivers in 2024/25.
No 10 faces a potential rebellion in Parliament this week when there will be a vote on the decision to scrap the payments.
Sir Keir said the cut was necessary because of the state of the country’s finances, accusing previous governments of avoiding confronting issues like the cost of winter fuel payments.
“I’m convinced that because they’ve run away from difficult decisions, we haven’t got the change we need for the country,” he said.
He said he was “absolutely convinced we will only deliver that change, I’m absolutely determined we will, if we do the difficult things now. I know they’re unpopular, I know they’re difficult, of course they’re tough choices.”
“Popular decisions aren’t tough, they are easy,” he added.
Sir Keir’s personal ratings have fallen since he took office, with the decision to axe winter fuel payments, repeated warnings about the state of the economy, and pressure on government spending ahead of the budget at the end of October.
Sir Keir also spoke about the NHS in England, saying it had been been “broken” by successive Conservative-led governments – and the state it is now in is “unforgiveable”.
He said a review of the health service by Lord Darzi, to be published on Thursday finds changes to the NHS were “hopelessly misconceived” and too many children “are being let down”.
“It’s the last government that broke the NHS,” Sir Keir said. “Our job now through Lord Darzi is to properly understand how that came about and bring about the reforms.”
In response to Sir Keir’s comments, shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said after 14 years in opposition, “Labour’s instinct is to politicise children’s health, rather than provide solutions and reform our NHS”.
With additional reporting by Jemma Crew
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