'Things are going to get better' says Keir Starmer as he tries to 'clear out the rot'
Keir Starmer wants to 'inject hope'
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Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the things "will get better" after he set out a grim prospectus for the UK in a speech in the Downing Street garden this week.
The Prime Minister was accused by reporters of "hitting us with quite a lot of bad news recently".
"It's quite hard to stay hopeful" on the sidelines of a summit with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, they added.
Starmer replied: "Let me inject some hope, because the whole point of this exercise is to make sure we can bring about the change that we need.
Keir Starmer wants to 'inject hope'GETTY"If you don't clear out the rot and don't do it properly, you've got nothing to build on, and therefore this is a vital step.
"Actually, of course, a tough message, I accept that, having to say that things are going to get worse before they get better is not what any Prime Minister wants to say, but they will get better, and it is to ensure that they do get better."
He added: "And whether they're good analogies or not, you'll all judge in due course.
"But you know, if you're redecorating your house and you want it to look much nicer, it's usually better if you strip it down, get rid of the damp and the cracks first, rather than painting it in five minutes, thinking it looks much better, and by Christmas, the cracks and the damp come back.
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'It's quite hard to stay hopeful' reporters claimed
GETTY"So this is actually a project of hope, but it's got to start with the hard yards of doing the difficult stuff, of clearing out the rot first."