GIVE ME TIME

PM plea as ex-Scots leader calls for winter fuel U-turn

- PAUL HUTCHEON

KEIR Starmer will say the Tories "salted the earth of Britain's future to serve themselves" as he warns critics that changing the country will take time.

In a speech to union leaders today, the Prime Minister will warn that it will be hard to fix the Tories' mess, which he said was worse than he'd ever imagined.

His comments come amid intense pressure on the Government to ditch its planned cut to the winter fuel allowance for pensioners.

Starmer was due to say: "I have to level with you, as I did on the steps of Downing Street just over two months ago, this will take a while.

"It will be hard. But just as we had to do the hard graft of change in our party, now we have to roll up our sleeves and change our country.

"Even in our worst fears we didn't think it would be this bad." The Labour leader will tell unions his Government will be "pro-business and pro-worker".

He will say: "I make no apologies to those still stuck in the 1980s who believe that unions and business can only stand at odds, leaving working people stuck in the middle.