This is John Batcher, conversation with my colleague Joseph Sternberg, editor of the Wall Street Journal.

He's in London.

He writes political economics, commenting on the speech made by the new Prime Minister

Circussed Armour about painful decisions ahead, unpopular decisions,

meaning tax hikes.

Joe says tax hikes, yes, the English are used to shouldering unpopular things, painful things. However, and Joe has a

caveat that's critical for the Prime Minister what he must do to be successful

with these tax hikes.

Here's Joe Sternberg.

Most of the journal. More of this later tonight.

Now the challenge for Starmer is that he is really going to have to deliver

because people do not enjoy economic pain for no gain.

In fact, that's why the Conservative Party just lost that election in July because people felt like they had had all of the pain and none of the benefit.

So I think that if Stormer is going down this road politically, he can bring the public along with

him, but he's going to have to have somewhere to take them.