Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:01:52Over foggy Albion, the shadows of uncertainty once again thickened. On Downing
00:01:56Street, another reshuffle took place. He took office.
00:02:03the third prime minister in British history and the seventh in the last 10 years. For some, this news fills them with hope, while for others
00:02:06it elicits only a weary smirk. So frequent
00:02:10has this procedure become in London. The frequency of changes in power, once
00:02:13unthinkable for British political tradition,
00:02:16is gradually turning into a new norm, with a touch of weariness
00:02:20and skepticism in society. Andy Burnham is not
00:02:23an accidental figure. Born in Liverpool, a Cambridge graduate, he began his
00:02:27path in politics in the early 2000s. He held
00:02:30ministerial posts in the governments of Blair and Brown, but
00:02:33his true fame came from his work as mayor of Greater
00:02:37Manchester, where he spent 9 years. During
00:02:40his leadership, he earned the immodest nickname "King of the North". He
00:02:43focused on regional development and social issues, managing
00:02:47to solidify his reputation as a capable manager.
00:02:50The fifty-six-year-old Labour Party member returned to Parliament a month ago
00:02:53and is already taking the seat of prime minister. His first address to
00:02:57the country, the new leader began with big words. He promised the most
00:03:01significant changes in the last 40 years, to "rewire"
00:03:04Britain, to create a completely new political and economic
00:03:08model, to end street homelessness and bring vital
00:03:11sectors under state control, to finally give
00:03:14people a break in the cost-of-living crisis.
00:03:17I am acutely aware that I am the sixth
00:03:20person in the last 10 years to walk down this street,
00:03:24the seventh prime minister since 2016.
00:03:28This is a moment for reflection and...
00:04:00Changes have occurred in Great Britain. Does this mean that
00:04:04Britain's attitude towards Ukraine has also changed? I can
00:04:07assure you that no. Our duty is to be with you and support you,
00:04:11so I am very glad that I have the opportunity to tell you this so
00:04:14quickly, because we would not want to create any impression
00:04:18that there could be any changes, because there
00:04:21are none. London will continue to sponsor the war in Ukraine, despite
00:04:25the resolution of internal problems, which, by the way, have accumulated not a
00:04:28little during the leadership of short-sighted politicians. Burnham's predecessor left
00:04:32a heavy legacy. At the same time, it is worth acknowledging that the start of his career in a high
00:04:36position was very promising. Starmer's
00:04:39victory in the elections was called historic. The Labour Party under his
00:04:42leadership literally destroyed the Conservative Party, which
00:04:46ruled the country for 14 years.
00:05:01I have just returned from Buckingham Palace, where I accepted
00:05:04His Majesty the King's invitation to form the next government
00:05:08of this great country. Great Britain decisively
00:05:11voted for change, for national renewal, for
00:05:15the return of politics to public service.
00:05:18Yesterday you voted for the Labour Party, and
00:05:22we will be responsible for the trust
00:05:25you have placed in us. Indeed, in 2024,
00:05:28British society saw a ray of hope. People hoped to finally
00:05:32say goodbye to political chaos, find social
00:05:35stability, and see the long-awaited economic recovery.
00:05:39However, less than 2 years later, the political reality
00:05:42was the opposite of bold expectations. From the long
00:05:45and promising election program, nothing much was
00:05:48accomplished. The situation with the economy, if it was already in
00:05:51decline, then Starmer's incompetent approach dragged it further into the pit
00:05:55of debt. The volume of government borrowing reached
00:05:58its maximum since the pandemic. The country's economy faced a double
00:06:02blow: critical pressure on the budget and a sharp slowdown in
00:06:05growth. In just the first 2 months of this fiscal year,
00:06:08the government took out loans for 54 billion euros,
00:06:12which was a record for the last 6 years.
00:06:15Great Britain is on the verge of a very major economic
00:06:18crisis. The cost of borrowing
00:06:22on British government debt is the highest in Europe. That is,
00:06:26right now there is a lot of talk about a crisis that could erupt in Europe,
00:06:29and they talk about various countries that could suffer from it, so
00:06:32the first candidate for bankruptcy is
00:06:34Great Britain.
00:06:37Starmer's government failed to cope with the cost of living crisis,
00:06:40the decline in public service standards, including the healthcare
00:06:43system. British authorities failed to deliver the promised
00:06:47economic growth, failed to solve the problems of high inflation and exorbitant
00:06:50mortgage rates. The situation with
00:06:53unemployment worsened. I must admit, we faced
00:06:57catastrophic economic consequences
00:06:59of the mini-budget. And I don't think we will be able
00:07:02to disavow this. I don't think we have been taken more seriously in
00:07:06the international arena. I don't feel that our economy has become more
00:07:10stable. Unemployment is at
00:07:13a record high, especially among young people. Spending on
00:07:16social benefits is too enormous. Starmer
00:07:19constantly changed his mind and wavered. Of course, blaming
00:07:23the Labour Party for complete inaction is not worth it. Attempts to implement some
00:07:26innovations were made, although in the end they turned out to be, to say the least,
00:07:29ineffective, in some sense shooting themselves in the
00:07:33foot. For example, to save budget funds, the government
00:07:36cut support for pensioners, limiting social payments for
00:07:40heating in winter. If previously 11 million
00:07:43elderly Britons received benefits, after Starmer's decision, only
00:07:471.5 million remained. On the one hand, they saved 1.5 billion
00:07:50pounds, but on the other hand, these funds had their own special value.
00:07:54The trust of millions of elderly people who voted for Labour and believed
00:07:58in supporting retired workers. However, the economic
00:08:01experiments did not end there. Farmers also "thank" Starmer.
00:08:05He introduced a tax on transferring farms by inheritance. As a result, farmers,
00:08:08who were already in a difficult financial situation, took to the
00:08:12streets demanding justice.
00:08:24We are protesting against the government's inheritance tax. We have
00:08:27a small farm, it barely generates any income. But if
00:08:31my mother dies, to keep the farm, I will have to find
00:08:35600,000 pounds. I will not be able to do that.
00:08:38What undermined the already shaky seat of the British leader was a scandal.
00:08:43Starmer appointed him as the UK Ambassador to the US, and as
00:08:47the public later learned, the diplomat had long-standing ties with Jeffrey
00:08:51Epstein, an American financier convicted of sex trafficking
00:08:55minors. As it turned out during the investigation, Mandelson had been leaking
00:08:58secret government data to him for years and received
00:09:02monetary transfers for it. Despite the subsequent resignation
00:09:05of the accused, it was too late, the Prime Minister's reputation was
00:09:09tarnished.
00:09:18in local authorities, as well as in the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. The loss seemed to
00:09:21expose the fragility of Starmer's own triumph in
00:09:232024. It became clear that the huge mandate of trust was
00:09:27built more on weariness of the Conservatives than on genuine
00:09:31sympathy for Labour. After the crushing defeat, even
00:09:34his own party members decided that they would not go along with Starmer. The cabinet
00:09:38emptied before our eyes, ministers one after another left their posts,
00:09:42and...
00:10:25who fights to be seen or heard, you are
00:10:28the reason I got into
00:10:30politics. Where is that point of no return after which
00:10:34Downing Street ceased to be a citadel of stability and turned into a thoroughfare?
00:10:38It seems it all started with Brexit. David Cameron, the youngest
00:10:41Prime Minister in Great Britain since 1812. 6
00:10:45years in power, stable ratings, a firm hand. Everything changed in
00:10:492015. He himself called a referendum on Britain's exit from
00:10:52the European Union, hoping to once and for all close the painful dispute
00:10:56within his party and put eurosceptics in their place. However,
00:10:59his overconfidence proved unjustifiably risky.
00:11:02The majority, 52%, voted to leave
00:11:05the EU. The next morning, Cameron resigned. Although, it seems,
00:11:09having lost power, he was not very upset. On the contrary, he breathed a sigh of relief and
00:11:13left the post of Prime Minister whistling.
00:11:16I will participate in Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons for the last time.
00:11:20After that, as I expect, I will go to the Palace
00:11:24and tender my resignation.