British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that he is scrapping his predecessorB次元官网网址檚 controversial policy to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda as he vowed to deliver on votersB次元官网网址� mandate for change, though he warned it will not happen quickly.
B次元官网网址淭he Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started,B次元官网网址� Starmer said in his first news conference since the Labour Party swept Conservatives from power after 14 years. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite.B次元官网网址�
Starmer told reporters in a wood-paneled room at 10 Downing St. that he was B次元官网网址渞estless for change,B次元官网网址� but would not commit to how soon Britons would feel improvements in their standards of living or public services.
The 30-minute question-and-answer session followed his first Cabinet meeting as his new government takes on the massive challenge of fixing a heap of domestic woes and winning over a public weary from years of austerity, political chaos and a battered economy.
B次元官网网址淲e have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work,B次元官网网址� Starmer told them.
StarmerB次元官网网址檚 Cabinet features a record number of women B次元官网网址� 11 of 25 ministers. Nearly all members went to public schools, another record that is a sharp break from Conservative ministers who have historically come with private school pedigrees.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 proud of the fact that we have people around the Cabinet table who didnB次元官网网址檛 have the easiest of starts in life,B次元官网网址� Starmer said.
Among a raft of problems they must tackle are boosting a sluggish economy, fixing an ailing health care system, and restoring trust in government.
B次元官网网址淛ust because Labour won a big landslide doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean all the problems that the Conservative government has faced has gone away,B次元官网网址� said Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary University of London.
Starmer in his first remarks as prime minister Friday singled out several of the big items, such as fixing the revered but hobbled National Health Service and securing the U.K.B次元官网网址檚 borders, a reference to a larger global problem of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty as well as drought, heat waves and floods attributed to climate change.
Conservatives struggled to stem the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel, failing to live up to ex-Prime MinisterB次元官网网址檚 Rishi SunakB次元官网网址檚 pledge to B次元官网网址渟top the boats.B次元官网网址�
The controversial Rwanda plan was billed as a solution that would deter migrants from risking their lives on a journey that could end up with them being deported to East Africa. So far, it has cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars and never taken flight.
Starmer denounced it as a B次元官网网址済immick,B次元官网网址� though itB次元官网网址檚 unclear what he will do differently as a record number of people have come ashore in the first six months of the year.
B次元官网网址淟abour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the channel,B次元官网网址� Bale said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 going to ditch the Rwanda scheme, but itB次元官网网址檚 going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem.B次元官网网址�
Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, criticized StarmerB次元官网网址檚 plan to end the Rwanda pact.
B次元官网网址淵ears of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,B次元官网网址� she said Saturday. B次元官网网址淭here are big problems on the horizon which will be, IB次元官网网址檓 afraid, caused by Keir Starmer.B次元官网网址�
Starmer will have a busy schedule following the six-week campaign. He heads out Sunday to visit each of the four nations of the U.K. B次元官网网址� England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He plans to meet with metropolitan mayors, regardless of party, saying heB次元官网网址檚 not a B次元官网网址渢ribal politician.B次元官网网址�
He will then travel to Washington for a NATO meeting Tuesday and will host the European Political Community summit July 18, the day after the state opening of Parliament and the KingB次元官网网址檚 Speech, which sets out the new governmentB次元官网网址檚 agenda.
Starmer has had phone calls with several world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen and UkraineB次元官网网址檚 Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He sent Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Saturday to Germany, Poland and Sweden.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would open new negotiations next week with NHS doctors at the start of their career who have staged a series of multi-day strikes. The pay dispute has exacerbated the long wait for appointments that have become a hallmark of the NHSB次元官网网址檚 problems.
In starker language than heB次元官网网址檚 used before, Starmer echoed StreetingB次元官网网址檚 description of the NHS as B次元官网网址渂roken.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淓verybody who uses it and works in it knows that it is broken,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not going to operate under the pretense or language that doesnB次元官网网址檛 express the problem as it is because otherwise we wonB次元官网网址檛 be able to fix the problem as quickly as we need to.B次元官网网址�
Jill Lawless And Brian Melley, The Associated Press
