Image source, Reuters

• The government's first Budget in October is "going to be painful", the prime minister said, adding he has no other choice and those with the broadest shouldest "should bear the heavier burden"
• Starmer said his government has inherited a £22bn black hole in the nation's finances, as well as a "societal black hole"
• The recent riots across parts of the UK exposed the state of the country, he said, blaming the Conservatives for weakening the nation and vowing to fix the foundations
• Starmer said removing winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners in England and Wales was difficult - and there will be more difficult decisions "to come"
• The prime minister spoke from the Downing Street rose garden, and made clear that was to demonstrate the difference with his immediate predecessors. He said it was once used for parties during lockdown, but now is again being used for public service

The prime minister was asked by ITV News about what he's chosen to spend money on - such as pay rises for doctors - with a report from Age UK, external referenced that nearly 2 million pensioners could face difficult decisions in the winter.

He's asked what he would say to pensioners "who are not well off" and "feel you are choosing to balance the books on their backs".

Starmer responds saying the winter fuel allowance is "not a particularly well designed scheme, frankly".

He says it is important for "support" to be there for the pensioners who need it the most.

Starmer adds national strikes were costing the country "a fortune" - and they had to be resolved.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The bit that really struck me was Keir Starmer saying the Budget in October is going to be painful, that there are difficult decisions to come.

There was a pretty clear indication that there is going to be tax rises for higher earners when he said those with the broadest shoulders should bear more of that pain than others.

So it seems pretty clear to me that the PM is rolling the pitch for the next few months to be full of decisions by the government that will be pretty unpopular.

Short-term pain for long-term gain, was the way the prime minister put it.

Image source, PA Media

A journalist from The Times asks if spending cuts are being looked at. Starmer says he won't "pre-empt the chancellor" in relation to the October Budget.

"I frankly don't want to take the tough decisions we're going to have to take," he says.

Starmer adds that too much has been "knocked down the road" by the previous government.

The prime minister has finished speaking - stay with us as we continue to wrap up what's been said.

Can you guarantee early-released prisoners won't commit crime, Starmer is asked by Channel 4 News.

He responds saying the last government pretended that you could have "longer and longer sentences", while not building more prison spaces.

"Here we are without the prison places we need," Starmer says.

One of the main ways the government had to deal with the disorder during recent riots was making sure offenders were facing the "full force of the law".

Opening up prison space will take time, he adds, saying: "I can't build a prison by Saturday".

Starmer is taking questions from the media.

The first question to Starmer comes from the BBC's Vicki Young. She says some will think he wasn't honest during the election campaign about changes to things such as the winter fuel allowance.

Young asks if he can tell people what tax rises he is considering for the upcoming Budget.

Starmer says they were being honest in the campaign, and set out what they would do.

He says he didn't want to make changes to the winter fuel allowance, but says he didn't expect a £22bn black hole, saying the inheritance from the Tories is "dire".

Image source, EPA

Starmer says it "won't be business as usual" when Parliament returns on Monday - describing "14 years of rot".

Between now and December, Starmer says Labour will introduce legislation to protect taxpayers, build homes and economic growth, harness the potential of AI for public good, bring the railway into public ownership and ensure the biggest "levelling up of workers right in a generation".

He also says Great British Energy will be "owned by taxpayers, making money for taxpayers" - creating clean energy and jobs.

Is there a £22bn hole in the public finances?published at 10:25 British Summer Time 27 August

10:25 BST 27 August

The prime minister has returned to his theme of there being a “£22bn black hole in the public finances”.

The figure comes from a document published by Labour , externalat the end of July in which it laid out the unexpected spending that would be needed this year, which it said the previous Conservative government had not been open about.

We know there is some truth to that – the Office for Budget Responsibility, which is meant to keep an eye on government finances, said that it had not been made aware of the extent of those extra costs, external.

The head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank wrote in the Times that it wouldn’t have been clear to Labour that the government’s reserve for the year had already been spent by the start of July and that money had not been set aside for a number of the previous government’s new initiatives.

But he also said that it was obvious before the election that tax rises would be needed, external to maintain public services.

Image source, PA Media

Starmer says the Budget in October "is going to be painful".

He says they have no other choice given the "situation that we're in" - and those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heavier burden.

October's Budget will be the first major moment when the new Labour government will set out its plans for how it will get and spend money.

Starmer says his government will not always be "perfect" but that people will be "at the heart" of what the government does.

He says he wanted to invite people to Downing Street today to show that the people who make up the backbone of the country belong there.

"A garden and a building that were once used for lockdown parties," he says, adding they are "now back in your service."

Starmer says he's been forced to make difficult choices already, including making the winter fuel payment means-tested, rather than universal.

"And there will be more of these decisions to come", he says.

For context: Around 10 million pensioners in England and Wales will lose their winter fuel payments under new plans announced by the chancellor. From this autumn, those not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will no longer get the annual payments, worth between £100 and £300.

Image source, PA Media

"We have not just inherited an economic black hole, but a societal black hole," Starmer says.

He says that he needs to be "honest about the choices we face" - "things will get worse before they get better."

The prime minister continues to talk about recent riots across parts of the UK.

Starmer says "literally every day" of that disorder, the government had to check the "precise" number of prison spaces and where those places were - to make sure "we could arrest, charge and prosecute" people quickly.

Not having enough prison places is about as "fundamental a failure" as you can get, he says.

Starmer also highlighted that some of the recent riots saw racists slogans and gestures, swastika tattoos and more.

He says people did these things under what he called the "pretence" of legitimate protest.

But these people now know that crime has consequences, the prime minister says.

The riots didn't happen in a vacuum, they "exposed the state of our country" and revealed a "deeply unhealthy society", Starmer says.

He says it revealed cracks in the foundations "weakened by a decade of division and decline" and "infected by a spiral of populism".

He accuses the Tories of offering the "snake oil of populism".

Starmer goes on to claim that his government has done more in seven weeks than the previous Conservative government did in seven years.

He adds that change will not happen "overnight" and issues need to be tackled at the "root".

Keir Starmer starts his speech with a reference to the weather, saying it's a day of sunshine - with no wind or rain (a reference to Rishi Sunak's rain-soaked election announcement in May?)

The prime minister says he promised to "get a grip" on the problems faced, and to be "judged by actions, not words".

He says his focus will be on growth and wealth creation.

The prime minister has just started his speech. Stay with us as we bring you the key lines.

You can follow live by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

In a few minutes, we'll be hearing from the prime minister ahead of Parliament's return on Monday.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest lines from the Downing Street rose garden, which has now filled up with journalists and other guests.

A reminder, you can follow the speech by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

Reacting to details of the prime minister's speech, Conservative Party chairman Richard Fuller describes it as "performative".

"This is nothing but a performative speech to distract the public from the promises Starmer made that he never had any intention of keeping", Fuller says.

"In fewer than 100 days, the Labour Party has dumped its ambition of public service and become engulfed in sleaze, handed out bumper payouts to its union paymasters with 'no strings' attached and laid the groundwork to harm pensioners and tax working people," he adds.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Parliament doesn’t return until next week.

So a speech today is a chance for the prime minister to set out his narrative in advance.

Expect Keir Starmer to hammer home a message we’ve heard before - that things will be different under this government.

To underline that, he’s cancelled a contract to provide a helicopter, which could be used by No 10 - thought to be worth £40m.

Expect the PM to also set out a message that things will be tough in the short term.

That’s the easy bit though.

Actually, taking those decisions will mean unpopular spending and policy choices.

The government is already feeling pressure over the decision to scrap winter fuel payments for pensioners not on benefits (that’s the vast majority).

The treasury is looking at extending a hardship fund in England to mitigate the impact.

But pressure shows no sign of dying down .