UK's Starmer sees 'light at end of tunnel' after short-term pain

 
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will tell Britons there is "light at the end of this tunnel", during the keynote speech to his Labour party's annual conference on Tuesday -- their first in power in 15 years. Starmer, 62, has faced growing calls to offer a more positive outlook for the country since ousting the Conservatives from government in a landslide election win in July, AFP reports.

He is set to say the UK must embark on a "shared struggle" and that he will resist "easy answers". But he will also try to inject some optimism, according to excerpts released to reporters. Under pressure over a plan to cut fuel benefits for millions of pensioners and for not scrapping a cap on child benefit, the Labour leader will insist "short-term pain of tough decisions" means "long-term gain".

Starmer returned the centre-left Labour party to power for the first time since 2010 following a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives on July 4.

But he soon faced flak for scrapping universal payments to help the elderly with winter heating bills, and the buildup to the conference was overshadowed by a row over gifts accepted by parliamentarians -- Starmer included.

The controversies have dampened the celebrations at Labour's four-day gathering in Liverpool, in northwest England.
Starmer was set to use his address at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) to try to retake control of the narrative by arguing it will take time and sacrifice to fix Britain.
"The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle," he was due to say.

"A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short term but in the long term it's the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that."

Starmer was set to allude to recent criticism of him and his finance minister Rachel Reeves that they are affecting economic growth and investment in Britain by being pessimistic about the state of the country.