Keir Starmer won't commit to more money for public services

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to say whether a Labour government would spend more money on public services.

The Labour leader told the BBC his party would always invest in public services but to do this it needed to grow the economy.

"That has to start with responsible economics and it has to be coupled with reform," he added.

However, Sir Keir insisted his promise to reform public services was bold.

He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg he did not just want to offer "sticking plaster" solutions.

"If our horizon and focus is only on the immediate problems, we will never fix the fundamentals," he said, adding that the NHS was "a classic example".

Sir Keir's message to his party was that he would not promise to spend lots of money ahead of the next general election, which is due next year.

That is a hard message for many in his party to hear, and likely, many members of the public too, who want answers to the problems they face right now.

As the election approaches, the pressure on Sir Keir to make expensive promises is only going to grow and the party is trying to manage expectations of how much they would actually be able to do if they win power.