Starmer to resign by Christmas bet furious Brits as Farage soars in polls

GB News

On the year's anniversary of Keir Starmer becoming prime minister, and Nigel Farage's entry into parliament, we look back at a difficult year for Labour, which has ended with their Chancellor in tears.

Transcript

00:00July 2024. Keir Starmer sweeps to power with a crushing Labour majority.

00:08But now our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return

00:17of politics to public service. The Prime Minister had promised a return

00:22to grown-up politics after the chaos of the Brexit years and Covid.

00:27He promised to curb illegal immigration. The number of people crossing the channel now is shocking.

00:33It's record numbers as you rightly say and this was Rishi Sunak's pledge to the country 18 months

00:40ago to stop the boats and the numbers gone up. The way to bring this down, it has to be dealt with,

00:44this is a very serious issue, is what we would do which was to set up a border security command

00:50to smash the gangs that are running this vile trade. Fix the NHS.

00:55If I am elected in to serve as Prime Minister, my job is to bring those waiting lists down.

01:02The NHS may be in a critical condition but its vital signs are strong and we need to have the

01:09courage to deliver long-term reform. Major surgery, not sticking plasters.

01:15And grow the economy. Our focus is on growth. That's been the missing ingredient for the last 14 years.

01:22It's been slightly the missing ingredient in this campaign as well because we're not talking enough

01:28about how we grow the economy and create wealth. Making a pledge not to increase tax.

01:34We have been very clear that for working people we are not going to increase their taxes. So that

01:40means we are not increasing income tax, national insurance or VAT and that is because I think the

01:47burden on working people is too high. The tax burden under this government is at a 70-year high and that is

01:55why our plans are fully costed, fully funded. They do not involve tax rises over and above the ones that

02:02we've set out in relation to non-dom status, private equity, loopholes, VAT on private schools and of course

02:08a windfall tax on oil and gas companies. So they're the rises we will put in place but we have not

02:15announced today anything over and above what we've pre-announced. So none of the plans today in our

02:20manifested for growth for wealth creation require us to raise other taxes. The same day Nigel Farage

02:27on his eighth time of trying was finally elected to Westminster with his band of reform UK MPs

02:34vowing to be a thorn in the side of the new government. I therefore do hereby declare

02:39that Nigel Paul Farage is duly elected as the member of parliament for the Clacton constituency.

02:45What is interesting is there's no enthusiasm for Labour, there's no enthusiasm for Starmer

02:54whatsoever. In fact about half of the vote is simply an anti-conservative vote. This Labour government

03:01will be in trouble very, very quickly and we will now be targeting Labour votes. We're coming

03:09for Labour being no doubt about that. Where Labour was seen as weak on crime and on immigration

03:18reform was seen as strong. Starmer's honeymoon didn't last long and just weeks into his premiership

03:24he suspended seven MPs for rebelling against his decision to keep the two child benefit cap.

03:31The Prime Minister's first real test was when riots erupted after the killing of three little girls

03:37at a Southport dance party. A 17 year old male from Banks in Lancashire who is originally from

03:45Cardiff has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and is being taken to a police

03:52station where he will be interviewed by detectives. We believe that the adults who were injured

03:58were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked. Starmer was seen as too slow to

04:05react to the rioters and at the same time as being overly harsh on those who were concerned about the

04:11impact of immigration. I won't shy away from calling it what it is. Far-right thuggery. I want you to know

04:19that this violent mob do not represent our country and we will bring them to justice.

04:28Nigel Farage questioned whether the state was being honest with the people and whether Starmer's approach

04:34to the attack had hastened the public's anger. I posted a video in which I asked the question

04:40was this man known to the authorities? Why are you not telling us the truth? And for that I was vilified

04:51from senior newspaper publications, broadcasters, politicians just for asking for the truth.

04:58I was apparently somebody who was encouraging rioting. The opposite was the case.

05:09Weeks later the PM was engulfed in a row over freebies he'd accepted totaling more than £100,000

05:16which included clothes from Labour peer Lord Ali and £4,000 Taylor Swift concert tickets.

05:22Some in the media donned the PM Free Gear Keir, a play on the nickname Two-Tier Keir he had been given

05:29by some who felt the law was being applied differently to select groups in society on his watch.

05:36But the real trouble came when Labour announced they'd scrapped the winter fuel allowance for most

05:40pensioners. Those not in receipt of pension credit or certain other means-tested benefits will no longer

05:46receive the winter fuel payment from this year onwards. Let me be clear, this is not a decision.

05:54This caused outrage. The decisions I made on winter fuel payment yesterday are not decisions I wanted

06:00to make. They were not decisions that I expected to make. But when confronted with a £22 billion black

06:05hole I had to act. But the budget increased borrowing as well as £40 billion in taxes.

06:12Hiking national insurance which some thought broke their promise not to tax working people

06:17in order for a spending splurge. I can announce that I am providing

06:23a £22.6 billion increase in the day-to-day health budget

06:31and a £3.1 billion increase in the capital budget over this year and next.

06:37This is the largest real-term growth in day-to-day NHS spending outside of Covid since 2010.

06:49The public was split on whether or not they supported it.

06:53Given Labour's promises during the election, the media pushed Keir Starmer on whether he'd raise taxes

06:59again. Let me give this reassurance because we had to stabilise the economy and deal with

07:06a £22 billion black hole this time around. And that required us to make tough and difficult decisions

07:14in relation to both tax and spend. But when the Chancellor says we are not going to go through

07:21that sort of budget again, she's right about that. And that's why I can say and give reassurance

07:27in relation to tax that I know that individuals, families and businesses want the certainty of

07:32knowing that the tax regime is not going to change very much. But by January he was ducking the same

07:38question. Will he now rule out any new tax rises this year?

07:44Prime Minister! Mr Speaker, we took the right and difficult decisions of the budget.

07:50And by then reform had overtaken Labour in the polls as discontent with the government took hold.

07:56But Nigel Farage remained hot on his tail over his failure to smash the gangs and stop the boats

08:02of illegal migrants arriving in Britain. We've just gone through 10,000 people, nearly all young

08:07men that have crossed the English Channel. Smash the gangs is not working. Stop the boats before

08:12that didn't work either. And I think just at the weekend, Serco publishing all those towns where they

08:18want to take out five year leases on private rental property. And you begin to realise the scale of this.

08:23I mean, if this carries on at this rate, by the end, by the end of this Labour government,

08:29another quarter of a million people will have come into this country. Many of whom, frankly,

08:34don't fit our culture and will cost us a fortune. We are the only party. And by the way, I've been

08:39warning about this for five years. I was talking about this before anybody else. We're the only party

08:44that says unless you deport those that come illegally, they will continue to come. And we don't believe

08:49you can do that if you stay part of the ECHR. The next couple of months saw Keir Starmer draw

08:56Britain closer to the EU, sign a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius

09:01and sign trade deals with the US and India. While contentious, the Prime Minister seemed to be

09:06growing into the job until events meant the nation's finances were brought back into focus.

09:12This is a letter from His Majesty the King. It's an invitation for a second state visit.

09:20Escalating global tensions and Donald Trump's return to the White House meant Britain had to

09:25increase its spending on defence. And Rachel Reeve's fiscal rules meant market changes could

09:30quickly evaporate her headroom. The DWP was ordered to fine £5 billion of savings from welfare.

09:38The sharp rise in disability benefit claims since Covid meant personal independent payment was to be

09:44curtailed. But a rebellion forced the Prime Minister's hand, who eventually gutted his bill under pressure

09:50from backbench MPs. Scenes from Parliament rattled the markets. The Chancellor was seen in the Commons in tears.

09:59Keir Starmer then refused to back his Chancellor as she cried behind him. With rivals circling and the

10:06widespread perception the Prime Minister had lost control of his party, on the eve of his first

10:11year in office, the most popular political bet in Britain is now that the PM will not see out 2025.

10:20As reform rides high in the polls, Nigel Farage could be set to capitalise on such an outcome.

10:26Nicholas Dunning, GB News

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