Starmer accuses Whitehall of being comfortable with failure

Keir Starmer accused Whitehall of becoming comfortable with failure as he challenged civil servants to hit a series of policy targets and deliver on 150 "major infrastructure projects".

- Guardian staff

Ushering in the "next phase" for the five-month-old Labour government, the prime minister urged "a profound cultural shift away from a declinist mentality" and a relentless focus on getting things done.

Successful delivery was the way to counter the rise of populist politics in the UK, which "feeds off real concerns", he said in what was billed as a landmark speech.

"Too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline."

Have forgotten, to paraphrase JFK, that you choose change, not because it's easy but because it's hard," he said.

"I totally get that when trust in politics is so low, we must be careful about the promises we make. But across Whitehall and Westminster that's been internalised as 'don't say anything', 'don't try anything too ambitious', 'set targets that will happen anyway'." Starmer set out six "milestones" designed to "give the British people the power to hold our feet to the fire".

They were:

● Higher real household disposable income and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by the end of this parliament, as part of a long-term aim to make the UK the fastest-growing G7 economy.