The last government left “a mountain of mess” that was like “a Downing Street party”, according to Sir Keir Starmer.
Writing in The Guardian, the Labour prime minister attacked the Conservative government that preceded him and the state they left the economy.
Sir Keir said: “Like a Downing Street party, they’ve left a mountain of mess for this government to clean up.
“Arrogant, reckless and irresponsible to the very end, they’ll go down in history as the government that fiddled while the country burned. They partied and profited out of the pandemic.
“They scrambled to advance their own interests while millions of people were pushed into greater insecurity.
“And they rewarded the people who helped crash the economy with seats in the House of Lords.”
He added: “Under my watch, the chaos and self-service that became commonplace under the Conservatives will never happen again.
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“I have already started making those tough decisions necessary to clean up the mess and get us back on track. That won’t happen overnight.
“The long, hard, patient graft of making people’s lives better is much tougher than headline-grabbing gimmicks.
“It requires serious government – and that’s what you’ll always get from me.”
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Sir Keir used the article to list what his government has done in the first week – saying they have lifted the ban on onshore wind, met with NHS bosses to work towards creating more appointments, restarted teacher recruitment schemes, implemented “emergency measures” to fix the justice system and scrapped the Rwanda scheme.
The prime minister also recounted he met with the leaders of the nations in the UK, as well as the metro mayors around England.
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He reiterated his belief that “decisions are best made by people with skin in the game, which is why I will get power out of Westminster and put it in the hands of local leaders”.
“We’re empowering them to deliver for their local community on everything from transport to housing.”
The government has already been criticised by a local MP for granting approval of solar farms in various parts of the nations.
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Sir Keir finishes: “I know you won’t judge us by our words, but by what we do now we’re on the pitch. So we will fight every day until you believe again.
“After 14 years of damage, the sunlight of hope is growing brighter. It’s not just football that’s coming home.”
