Starmer Honeymoon Ends as Tax Warnings, Riots Expose Challenge
- Government faces push-back from Labour MPs over Budget plans
- Far-right unrest underscores political risk to Starmer project
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Keir Starmer’s Labour Party likely hoped their first UK election win in almost two decades would yield a political honeymoon at least through the summer. But in less than a month, the challenges of governing a brittle nation have rapidly dispelled any lingering sense of euphoria.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered the first reality check on Monday, warning that tax rises would be needed in the Budget in October to plug a £22 billion ($28 billion) hole she said she’d found in the public finances. Some in Labour saw that as risking claims of a betrayal, after the campaign promise not to inflict surprise tax rises on people reeling from a cost-of-living crisis.