Keir Starmer admits he's found government 'tough'

       Sir Keir Starmer outside No10 (Image: Getty)

       Sir Keir Starmer has admitted it is "hard" being in Government amid a tumultous five months in power following the July election.

       This follows Labour's dcision to axe the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners, carry out an inheritance tax raid on farmers and impose VAT on private school fees.

       Her said: "It's hard. Governing is hard. We inheirted a lot of problems - an ecoomy that was broken, an NHS on its knees. We;ve had to pick that up and deal with it."

       The Prime Minister said he had made "tough but fair" choices while appearing on the This Morning sofa today.

       He added: "I always thought it would be difficult. I knew it would be difficult. It's one thing to be in opposition to say what we're going to do. It is always tougher in Government doing it but that's what I came into politics to do.

       "I couldn't standby and watch the NHS in the state that it was for a day longer. Of course it's tough, it would be tough for any government."

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       The Prime Minister went onto the show to discuss spiking and “the number of reported incidents is way below the number of cases”.

       He: “Many people don’t want to come forward, they feel embarrassed.”

       Sir Keir said that perpetrators of spiking “might go on to commit sexual offences” and that “very many people don’t want to come forward to say what has happened to them”.

       “That’s part of why we want to make it a specific offence, part of why we want to raise awareness about it and put the support mechanisms in place,” he added.

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       The Labour leader reiterated plans for spiking to become a specific offence, as he hopes a change will give people “the confidence to come forward”.

       The Prime Minister also laid out plans for venue staff to be trained in relation to spiking, with a pilot to begin within weeks before a wider rollout next year.