Sir Keir Starmer has admitted to floundering in his first 100 days as Prime Minister, confessing that running the country has been “much tougher than anything I’ve done before”.
The Labour leader’s first few months in office have been overshadowed by the clothes from donors scandal, claims of a rift between No10 staff, and Rachel Reeves’ decision to scrap universal Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners.
Labour has seen its popularity plunge since coming to power on July 5, with an opinion poll published yesterday showing that almost three in five people disapprove of the Government.
In an interview to mark the Government’s first 100 days, Starmer said that his administration had been hit by “choppy moments” which had knocked the way he was operating.
“There are always going to be choppy days, choppy moments,” he told the BBC.
“I’ve been through this before, you get these days and weeks when things are choppy.
“There’s no getting around that, that is in the nature of government, you’re under there’s huge scrutiny.”
He said the Government had been hit by “bumps and side winds, which, you know, I’d prefer we hadn’t bumped into and been pushed by”.
Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC that his government had been hit by ‘bumps and side winds, which, you know, I’d prefer we hadn’t bumped into and been pushed by’
PA
The Prime Minister went on to acknowledged he was referring to “stuff on donations, staffing issues, that sort of thing”.
Last weekend Starmer parted ways with his chief of staff, Sue Gray, after claims of a rift within Downing Street at the way she was operating.
The former civil servant turned political adviser had been accused of undermining officials, creating frictions with other Starmer aides and of being responsible for failing to get a grip of the donations scandal which has caused weeks of negative headlines for the Government.
The decision to reorganise his top team so early into his tenure has been viewed by many in Westminster as an acceptance by Starmer that his premiership has got off to a rocky start and is already in need of a reset.
Sue Gray resigned last weekend due to the “intense commentary” around her position
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Rachel Reeves has been accused of undermining confidence in the economy
Reuters
At the same time, Labour has been accused of causing panic and uncertainty for Britons after warning of tough decisions to come in the Budget.
For weeks there has been speculation in the media over tax rises and spending cuts, with the Government accused risking undermining confidence in the British economy.
Amid the negative headlines, in a video message posted on social media this morning, the Prime Minister sort to share the positives of his first 100 days.
He also appeared to ask the public for patience, claiming he had inherited “failure” from the Tories.
“Fourteen years is a long time to cause damage. One hundred days isn’t much time to fix it,” he stated.
“I will take the tough decisions to fix the foundations of out country to to deliver the long term change we need.”
