Keir Starmer has called his critics “wrong every time” as he pledged to “not walk away” amid looming challenges to his leadership.
Speaking ahead of the G7 summit in France, the Prime Minister issued a defiant defence of his premiership.
Sir Keir batted away claims that he was facing pressure to step away from Downing Street.
“We got a landslide victory in 2024 for a five-year mandate for this Labour government,” he insisted.
“So very many times on my political journey, people have said to me, ‘It’s not possible’.
“They said it’s not possible to turn the Labour Party around. It’s not possible to win an election. It’s not possible if you win an election, invest in your public services and stabilise the economy.
“I said at the time, we will both invest in our public services, and we will grow our economy.
“So very many times on my political journey, people have said to me, ‘It’s not possible’.
“They said it’s not possible to turn the Labour Party around. It’s not possible to win an election. It’s not possible if you win an election, invest in your public services and stabilise the economy.
“I said at the time, we will both invest in our public services, and we will grow our economy.
“Wrong every time,” the Prime Minister said.
“That’s why I intend not to walk away from this, but to carry on with what I was elected to do.”
Sir Keir stressed that he would “serve this country and bring about the change that people desperately need in their lives”.
He then launched into a laundry list of achievements, including: “NHS waiting lists have come down, the biggest drop in 17 years just the other week.
“And at the same time, our economy is stable, and we’ve got the highest growth in the G7 at the moment.”
The Prime Minister was challenged on Labour’s defence spending following the dramatic resignations of former Defence Secretary John Healey and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns last week.
“The position on investment in defence is firstly that we increased last year’s defence spending from 2.3 to 2.6 per cent,” Sir Keir began.
“That’s the biggest increase since the 1980s, and that means £270billion will be spent this Parliament on defence.
“On top of that defence investment plan, which obviously gives us the capability for the future, we will put even more money into it,” he promised.
“In relation to that, I’ve been really clear that that requires difficult decisions. I have decided to reallocate funds from other departments.
“Obviously, the new Defence Secretary is reading in, and we’re talking to him about how and what we will spend that money on in terms of the capability.
“And he’s got his own thoughts now about what the priorities should be. And so I think that’s the discussion we’re in the middle of at the moment,” the Prime Minister added.
