LONDON 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given his full backing to last week’s budget, describing the fiscal package delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as a “moment of personal pride.”

Speaking at an event in central London on Monday, he said the budget reflected his long-held ambition to reduce poverty, highlighting measures such as lifting the two-child benefit cap.

He said the plans contained “necessary” but “fair” choices, acknowledging that “tax rises do make life harder for people,” but arguing that cutting public services or increasing borrowing further had already been “tested to destruction.”

Starmer said recent projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which downgraded productivity in recent years, showed that “austerity scarred the long-term productive capability of this country.”

'Brexit trade deal has harmed the economy'

He insisted the budget was designed not only to ease the cost of living but also to provide “security” for people. On growth, he said: “When it comes to economic growth, better living standards, we’re confident we can beat the forecasts. We’ve already beaten them this year. We are in control of our future. We’ve already struck trade deals. They’re attracting billions of pounds of investment."

"We’re removing barriers to business right across the economy in planning, industrial policy, pension reform, artificial intelligence, capital investment and right at the heart of the budget we have a package of measures to keep the green light for the world’s best entrepreneurs,” he explained.

Starmer said these reforms underpinned his claim that the budget was “good for growth,” and he set out what he described as the next steps in the UK’s economic renewal.

Starmer also stressed the need for welfare reform and addressed Britain’s post-Brexit economic relationship with Europe, saying it was necessary to acknowledge that “the Brexit trade deal has harmed the economy” and calling for closer ties with the EU

Turning to regulation, he referenced last week’s report from the nuclear regulatory taskforce, which criticized “pointless gold plating, unnecessary red tape, well-intentioned but fundamentally misguided environmental regulations.”

The report said Britain was the most expensive place in the world to build nuclear power plants. Starmer said he wanted the government to cut this type of regulation.