(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to counter the rise of the far right in the UK by delivering fundamental change to the economy, despite having to make unpopular choices along the way.
A week after Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a state election in eastern Germany, Starmer said he was worried about the rise of the far right across Europe.
“We can see what’s happening in Germany with the recent election, and we can see what’s happening in France and other countries, and I’m worried about the far right because it’s the snake oil of the easy answer,” Starmer said in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Sunday.
Far-right riots swept England just weeks after Starmer’s election this summer. The unrest erupted after false reports spread online about the identity of the suspect in a stabbing in Southport, near Liverpool, that left three young girls dead.
Starmer said he was “convinced that the solution” is for his Labour government to deliver the change they promised in their election manifesto earlier this year. He said he was “utterly focused” on improving living standards, to “make sure we have properly functioning services, particularly the NHS, and to deal with issues like immigration and crime and sewage.”
But he also acknowledged that will mean him taking unpopular decisions. On Tuesday, Starmer could face a rebellion from his own MPs as he seeks to pass a contentious bill in Parliament that will scrap the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners.
Starmer defended the move, saying it was needed to help fill a £22 billion ($29 billion) “black hole” in the nation’s finances. The savings made would be used to fund the National Health Service and public transport, which pensioners also rely on. He argued that the overall state pension increase during the course of the current parliament would outstrip any reduction in the fuel payments.
“We’re going to have to be unpopular. Tough decisions are tough decisions. Popular decisions aren’t tough. They’re easy,” he said.
Starmer is also set to make a second visit to the White House in the coming week, shortly after taking a controversial decision to suspend some Isreal arms licenses. The decision was made due to concerns that the use of British components in Gaza risks violating international humanitarian law.
Starmer shrugged off any potential criticism from the US, saying he’d discussed the decision with Washington both before and after the announcement.
Instead, he said he wanted to focus on the war in Ukraine, which he said “is becoming ever more pressing.”
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