'I don't want my children breathing dirty air', says Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that people in the UK will feel better off "as soon as possible" after inviting Newsround into 10 Downing Street.

Answering questions from a group of primary school pupils, which he called "the Newsround cabinet", the prime minister spoke about the need to work with other world leaders to tackle climate change, including the next US president Donald Trump.

Keir Starmer said that "clean air is a really important issue", and that he didn't want his children to breathe polluted air.

On the cost of living crisis, the prime minister claimed clean energy could help bring down household bills, saying that "we didn't switch to renewable energies quickly enough".

The pupils met the prime minister in a famous room where a special group of the most important people in the government - called the cabinet - discuss the biggest issues facing the UK.

Sir Keir showed Ricky and a group of school pupils around 10 Downing Street, where he lives and works

Lots of children wanted to know what the prime minister's plans were for tackling climate change - including Beatrice.

She asked Keir Starmer what the government was doing about air pollution in cities, noticing that the air was much cleaner when she went on camping trips to the countryside.

Comparing dirty air to dirty water, the prime minister answered: "I'd be appalled if I gave you some water and said 'It's a bit dirty, it's a bit polluted, but can you drink it?' We should be the same in our mind about air."

As well as talking about the move to electric buses, which he said "aren't polluting in the same way that old buses did", Sir Keir wants the UK to work with other countries to address climate change globally.

The prime minister said that "I’m conscious that we’re really talking about your future with other world leaders"

Someone he'll be working closely with is Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the next US president in January.

Emma asked "How do you plan to develop your relationships with other world leaders, for example Donald Trump, to help resolve ongoing conflicts?"

Keir Starmer said that the UK's relationship with America is special, and that his relationship with Donald Trump "is in a good place, but there's always room to make sure that it works well."

Sir Keir said: "It'll be four years that he'll be president, and we're not going to have an election for nearly five years, so that's a lot of time that both he and I are leading our countries and are going to be working together."

When asked by Chloe what he would do if he could change the world in just one way, Keir Starmer said that he would make it a place "for every child to go as far as their talent will take them"

Keir Starmer has led the UK since July this year, when his Labour Party won the 2024 general election.

Over the five months that he's been prime minister, his approval ratings - where members of the public are asked if he's doing a good job - have fallen.

"When you're taking tough decisions, there are always going to be people who are unhappy," Sir Keir said.

"At the next general election in five years' time, the question will be 'have we done what we said we'd do' - which is change lives for the better - and I'm very happy to be tested against that."

When questioned about his decisions, the prime minister said: "I think we’re right to spend money on the NHS, on schools, and on building houses"

Another big issue facing the UK is the cost of living crisis, which is a term people use to describe the effects of the rising cost of food and energy.

Ben has noticed that things cost a lot more now, and he asked the prime minister: "What are you going to do about the rise in prices?"

Keir Starmer said that energy bills, which is something that families pay to heat their homes and use electricity, had risen "because we haven’t gone to renewable energy quickly enough - that's clean energy that we can produce quickly in this country."

"We've set up something called GB Energy to get renewable energy to power our homes".

He also said that “we’ll get a better deal with the European Union to help us with prices". The European Union (EU) is a club of countries that Britain left in 2020.