{"id":345611,"date":"2026-01-01T01:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/345611\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T01:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:37:10","slug":"keir-starmer-admits-frustration-at-slowness-of-economic-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/345611\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer admits frustration at slowness of economic change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is frustrated by the slow pace of change but insisted that people would begin to feel a \u201csense of hope\u201d next year as the economy turns around.<\/p>\n

The prime minister acknowledged in his new year message that \u201clife is still harder than it should be\u201d for many Britons who \u201clong for a bit more money in [their] pockets\u201d. <\/p>\n

But he insisted 2026 would be the year that the government\u2019s spending decisions, including on the NHS and in towns and cities, would be felt by the public.<\/p>\n

\"Prime<\/p>\n

Starmer with University College Hospital London staff, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, in November<\/p>\n

KIRSTY O\u2019CONNOR\/NO 10 DOWNING STREET<\/p>\n

Starmer<\/a> is facing a fight for his political future when parliament returns. Cabinet ministers are saying his premiership is unsustainable after a collapse in the polls and Labour is facing a damaging set of local elections, as well as votes in Wales and Scotland in May.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Who could replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader? His rivals rated<\/a><\/p>\n

His hopes of saving his premiership rest on convincing voters and his own MPs that they will be better off.<\/p>\n

Starmer said: \u201cIn 2026, the choices we\u2019ve made will mean more people will begin to feel positive change in your bills, your communities and your health service. But even more people will feel once again a sense of hope, a belief that things can and will get better, feel that the promise of renewal can become a reality, and my government will make it that reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore police on the streets by March. Energy bills down and the number of new health hubs up in April. More funding for local communities. And with that change, decline will be reversed. That opportunity for you and pride in your community can be restored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI share the frustration about the pace of change. The challenges we face were decades in the making, and renewal is not an overnight job, but putting our country back on a stable footing will become our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local elections could be damaging for the Conservatives too: Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK is expected to make significant gains and Kemi Badenoch<\/a>, the Tory leader, could face a challenge to her leadership.<\/p>\n

Badenoch said in her new year message that the public should not \u201close hope\u201d in politics. She said: \u201cBritain is not destined for decline. We are a great country full of talent, humour and strength. Things can change, but only if we have a plan for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let the politics of grievance tell you that we\u2019re destined to stay the same. Things can change, but you also need to vote for the change you want to see in 2026. \u201cI\u2019m not giving up on our country. And I hope you won\u2019t either!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nigel<\/p>\n

Farage said that he \u201ccan\u2019t remember the country ever being gloomier\u201d, adding that Reform was \u201cthe party of hope\u201d who could bring change. \u201cI know many feel hopeless, but we\u2019re the party offering hope,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re the ones offering change. And 2025 showed you, with the county elections where we comfortably won more seats than any other party, what we are capable of.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will then absolutely have a chance of fundamentally changing the whole system of government in Britain. We may well be the last chance this country has to restore some proper values: of family, community and country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farage criticised the education system, Labour and the Conservatives for granting citizenship to Alaa Abd el-Fattah<\/a>, the British-Egyptian campaigner, despite his \u201cabominable, hateful tweets\u201d, and said Britain was at the \u201cdawn of a cryptocurrency revolution\u201d. <\/p>\n

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said that standing up to President Trump and Elon Musk had been a proud achievement for his party. Davey pledged to change Britain \u201cfor the better\u201d in the local elections. <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe can win again in 2026 \u2014 in Scotland, Wales and across England. To stop Trump\u2019s America becoming Farage\u2019s Britain. And change our country for the better. So from all of us at the Liberal Democrats: I hope you have a happy and hopeful new year. Let\u2019s make it a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Keir Starmer has said he is frustrated by the slow pace of change but insisted that people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-345611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}