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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Pippa Crerar and Heather Stewart

Starmer and Reeves promised honesty about public finances. Can they stay the course?

Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer.
The chancellor and the prime minister have both made gloom-laden speeches about the state of the public purse. Photograph: WPA/Guardian Design/Getty Images

During the first televised debate in the run-up to last summer’s general election, Keir Starmer used a phrase that received enthusiastic – and unanticipated – applause from the Salford audience.

“I don’t pretend there’s a magic wand that will fix everything overnight,” he told them. Labour strategists were surprised by the clapping, and encouraged him to deploy the line again in future.

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