Six "thorns" ahead that new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to overcome

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to “rebuild” the country when he takes power, and here are six key issues he faces as he takes on his new role.

New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks after his first cabinet meeting in his new position, in London, July 6. (Source: Getty)

In his first speech as UK Prime Minister, Mr. Keir Starmer declared: "The work of change will begin immediately. Make no doubt, we will rebuild Britain."

After winning a landslide election victory on July 4, Mr. Starmer, leader of the British Labour Party, promised to "rebuild" the country amid widespread anger in the country over poor public services and a stagnant economy.

The big issues facing the new UK government include: boosting economic growth, reforming the social security system and finding new funding for local government.

Here are six themes that have emerged as challenges facing new Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Immigration

Mr Starmer has confirmed he will immediately scrap his predecessor Rishi Sunak’s flagship immigration policy of deporting asylum seekers to the African nation of Rwanda, a strategy recently enshrined in law after facing a series of court challenges. The plan has cost British taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds without a single person being deported.

Speaking at his first press conference since entering 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Starmer said: “The Rwanda plan was dead and buried before it started and was never a deterrent to would-be migrants because it would have deported less than 1% of those who arrived in the Channel in small boats.”

However, the issue became more urgent when many British people voted for Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform Party (the Party won third place in the popular vote in the election held on July 4).

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged Mr Starmer to seize the opportunity to stem the wave of right-wing populism seen in other countries (such as France).

Labour has pledged to restrict small boats from crossing the Channel through a new border security order, which is expected to be introduced in the coming days when Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appoints a new head of the force.

The Border Security Bill will feature in Mr Starmer’s first speech to King Charles III on 17 July when the new Prime Minister sets out his legislative programme for the coming year. It will give the government new counter-terrorism powers to tackle organised crime and human trafficking.

NHS strike

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has delivered a tough message to England's ailing health service, declaring that all officials should consider the NHS to be broken.

In the immediate aftermath of Labour’s victory, Mr Streeting spoke to the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents thousands of NHS doctors, and expressed his desire to restart talks in an attempt to end a long-running pay dispute with doctors. The BMA has led a series of strikes over demands for a 35% pay rise to keep up with inflation.

Mr Starmer has said his government is not ready to meet the BMA’s terms, but pledged “to have mature politics where we actually tackle the problems and get the NHS working again”.

The new British Prime Minister also said his team had spoken to two NHS trusts to discuss how Labour could deliver on its election pledge.

The Labour leadership knows that restoring the NHS is another front the government will be on from day one. It ranks alongside or close to the economy in polls as voters’ top concern.

Mr Starmer could also call on Tony Blair's team for help, with the Telegraph reporting that he could use former Health Secretary Alan Milburn to help ease the NHS crisis.

Prison crisis

Prisons in England and Wales are nearing record levels of overcrowding with the latest official figures showing 87,453 out of 88,864 places are occupied.

The crisis was identified by Chief Secretary Sue Gray before the election as one of the biggest immediate issues Labor would have to tackle once it took power.

Labor has pledged to maintain the previous government's early release scheme to ease overcrowding and plans to overhaul planning laws to help speed up the construction of new prisons.

The new Prime Minister has also promised to review sentencing. Starmer recently met with James Timpson, the newly appointed Prisons Minister. Timpson is a businessman who runs a chain of shoe repair shops that recruit and support ex-offenders.

Mr Timpson has previously criticised the effectiveness of prisons. Mr Starmer has partly backed that up, saying it was a big problem that many people released were being re-incarcerated relatively quickly.

While the details of Labour's sentencing review are yet to be worked out, Mr Timpson could face a similar predicament to that of Conservative prison ministers who wanted to cut the prison population but were hampered by the need to be tough on law and order.

Cracking down on anti-social behaviour is one of Labour’s “six steps for change”, linked to a commitment to “tough new penalties for offenders”. It will not be an easy road for Mr Starmer to navigate.

Planning reform

Reforming the planning system will be at the heart of his speech to King Charles III after Mr Starmer pledged to rebuild Britain “brick by brick”.

Labour has pledged to speed up major infrastructure projects by redefining what is of national importance and rewriting national policy statements, with the aim of making it impossible for local authorities to block development.

Speaking after his victory, Mr Starmer pledged to build 1.5 million new homes in the next Commons term.

Liberalising planning is one of the toughest challenges facing successive Ministers for Housing, Community and Development, who are often met with fierce opposition from MPs worried about local responses to new development as the House of Commons changes.

However, Labour will be empowered by its large majority in the House of Commons and the fact that it was elected on a platform of building Britain.

Coordinate relations with countries and regions

Immediately after taking office, the new British Prime Minister began a tour of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to seek to rebuild relations with the First Ministers of these places.

Discussing the trip at a press conference on 6 July, Mr Starmer said he wanted to meet not only Premiers to discuss the challenges that needed to be addressed, but also to establish a different and more effective way of working across the UK.

In Scotland, he faces the task of establishing a constructive relationship with the opposition Scottish National Party government, especially amid ongoing tensions between the two parties over fossil fuel taxes and transgender rights.

In Wales, Mr Starmer may be happy that all his Welsh Conservative MPs were removed after the election, but he remains under intense pressure to address the NHS’s difficulties there.

In Northern Ireland, Mr Starmer stressed Labour's intention to repeal controversial Conservative legislation granting immunity to militants involved in the decades-long sectarian violence in Northern Ireland (1968-1998).

In addition, the “Irish Sea Border” (the trade barrier between Britain and Northern Ireland created by the 2019 Brexit deal) is likely to be on the agenda as Labour has pledged to reduce border barriers for businesses.

Mr Starmer is due to meet mayors across the UK to push forward his plans for greater regional devolution, but he will face questions about local government finances with up to 200 local authorities currently on the brink of collapse.

Reforming relations with the EU after Brexit

After years of tension and disagreement between Britain and its European neighbours over the terms and legacy of Brexit, Mr Starmer has expressed his intention to open a new chapter in relations with the European Union (EU).

The new British prime minister told his German counterpart Olaf Scholz in a phone call after taking office that he wanted further economic cooperation. Speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron by phone, Mr Starmer mentioned “shared priorities, including migration and the economy”.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy made his first overseas visit to Berlin just 24 hours after taking office, declaring that “it is time to reset our relationship with our European friends and allies”.

Mr Lammy’s comments were echoed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who told Mr Starmer she looked forward to meeting in person to discuss ways to “enhance cooperation and reset the relationship” between the UK and the EU.

High on the agenda is Labour's stated ambition to negotiate a new deal with the EU to ease trade and reduce border friction for businesses.

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