The prime minister has pledged to tackle a "deep rot" in the UK - but says it will take longer than he expected, as "things are worse than we ever imagined".
Sir Keir Starmer referenced the "£22bn black hole" in the nation's finances, that he said the Office for Budget Responsibility did not know about - as he took aim at the last government.
"I said change would not happen overnight," he said. "When there is a deep rot at the heart of a structure, you can't just cover it up... you have to overhaul the entire thing, tackle it at root. Even if it's hard work or takes more time."
Speaking about riots towards the end of July into the start of this month following the Southport stabbing attack which left three young girls dead - the prime minister hit out at a "minority of thugs that thought they could get away with causing chaos".
Politics latest: Reaction as Starmer gives major speech
During his speech, Sir Keir insisted, "we've done more in seven weeks than the last government did in seven years".
The prime minister was speaking from the rose garden at Downing Street - previously used by Boris Johnson's adviser Dominic Cummings after he broke COVID lockdown rules.
This appeared to be a deliberated choice, with Sir Keir writing in The Times overnight: "Who can forget Dominic Cummings's press conference in the early days of the pandemic, where he defended his decision to break lockdown rules with a trip to test his eyesight at Barnard Castle?
"Or those infamous photographs of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, and his staff drinking wine and eating cheese, taken on the very same day they told the rest of the country we could only meet one other person, as long as we remained outside and two metres apart?"
Sir Keir has repeatedly blamed the previous government and said it is influencing his decision-making.
This includes the means testing of the winter fuel payments for pensioners. Tax rises are also expected in the budget in October this year.
Ahead of the speech, Conservatives Party chairman Richard Fuller said it would be "nothing but a performative speech to distract the public from the promises Starmer made that he never had any intention of keeping".
The government's claims of a £22bn "black hole" left by the Tories have been questioned following substantial pay awards to unions - including to both junior doctors and train drivers.
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