Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Starmer: Failed Tory ideas have left Britain exposed
Labour leader draws battle lines ahead of Budget
KEIR Starmer will vow to rebuild Britain through “opportunity, prosperity and security” in a major pre-budget speech today.
The Labour leader, who in recent weeks has faced the first serious grumblings against his premiership, will outline how his party would revive the UK in the wake of Covid.
Speaking less than two weeks before Chancellor Rishi Sunak reveals the Government’s tax and spending plans, Mr Starmer will draw battle lines with the Tories about the country’s recovery from the crisis.
He is expected to blame a “failed Conservative ideology” for leaving the nation more exposed and less resilient when coronavirus reached our shores. Mr Starmer is under mounting pressure from restless backbenchers and party members loyal to his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn. They point to latest opinion polls showing the Tories in the lead.
Seeking to silence critics, he will say: “The terrible damage caused by the virus to health and prosperity has been all the worse because the foundations of our society had been weakened over a decade.
“We can go back to the same insecure and unequal economy that has been so cruelly exposed by the virus or we can seize this moment and go forward to a future that is going to look utterly unlike the past.
“That choice will define the Budget and it will define the next election.”
WORK has begun on a refurbishment of Custom House Square after “years of constant use have taken their toll”.
The Department of Communities has said the update aims to “future proof” the area and will see new paving and lighting installed.
The work is expected to be completed in April.
During the scheme, Belfast City Council has also taken the opportunity to install infrastructure for high-speed internet. Custom
House Square was opened in 2005 and since then has hosted public events and high-profile concerts by artists such as Kasabian, Stiff
Little Fingers, Kodaline and Lewis Capaldi.
A department spokesman added: “The activity on the Square has taken its toll.
“A new sub base will be laid and re-paved and the lighting in the Square will be upgraded.
“This should future proof the space for many years to come. Belfast City Council has also taken the opportunity to lay cables for its high-speed internet project.”