UK's Starmer promises public services, rules out austerity

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised to protect public services and ruled out austerity measures as his Labour party's annual conference kicked off on Sunday, its first in 15 years as a governing party.

The four-day gathering in Liverpool, northwest England, comes almost three months after Labour secured a runaway general election victory over the Conservatives.

Under pressure on several fronts, the party will have to find a balance between celebrating Labour's long-awaited victory, defending its record, and not letting up on reminders of "difficult decisions" to come.

After months of gloom about Britain's economy, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner promised to "fix the foundations and put Britain back on the path to growth", while Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a rousing speech with chants of "Britain is back".

Ahead of the conference, Starmer told the Observer newspaper that his government had in 11 weeks done "far more than the last government did probably in the last 11 years".

He cited ambitious homebuilding targets, the setting up of a publicly owned green energy investment body and the recruitment of police officers and teachers.

Despite laying the groundwork for likely funding cuts and tax rises in the budget due at the end of October, Starmer told the Sunday Mirror he would not go "down the road of austerity".

He repeated his warning that he will do the "tough things first", but also told the Observer he would "make sure that our public services are functioning properly", and would shield working people from tax rises.

Rayner meanwhile in her speech announced a "historic" overhaul of workers' rights that will be put to parliament next month, including a ban on zero-hour contracts and a minimum wage raise.