LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday strived to assure the public that the upcoming Budget would protect public services from severe austerity and safeguard public finances from a damaging course.

Starmer signaled initiatives in the Budget, including a 240-million-pound fund ($311.7 million) to help inactive workers re-enter the workforce, an extension of the 3-pound cap on bus fares until the end of 2025, and a pledge that "no more tax will appear on working people's payslips".

However, Starmer also warned of "tough measures" necessary to stabilize the economy, suggesting potential increases in areas such as capital gains tax and employer national insurance contributions.

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A poll by More in Common UK released Monday found that 70 percent of British believe the United Kingdom is worsening. Additionally, less than a third think British democracy is functioning well, and only a fifth feel that politicians are equipped to meet the nation's challenges.

Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will announce billions of pounds in funding for the National Health Service (NHS) in Wednesday's budget that will go towards buying new equipment for hospitals and increasing the number of operations.

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Starmer has said tax rises will be necessary to rebuild Britain's public services, pledging no return to austerity despite a difficult fiscal inheritance after Labour won a July election.

"I am putting an end to the neglect and underinvestment (the NHS) has seen for over a decade now," Reeves said on Monday.

"We will be known as the government that took the NHS from its worst crisis in its history, got it back on its feet again and made it fit for the bright future ahead of it."

The finance ministry said there would be 1.5 billion pounds ($1.95 billion) for new surgical hubs and scanners, and 70 million pounds for radiotherapy machines.

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It said there would be enough funding to deliver an extra 40,000 elective appointments a week, including 1.8 billion pounds invested by the government since July.

Reeves will announce the final figure on Wednesday.

The state-run NHS has endured some of its hardest winters recently as it struggled to cope with backlogs in elective procedures delayed by COVID and industrial action.

Starmer has promised to deliver a 10-year plan to fix the NHS in England, after an independent report said it was in critical condition.

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He has agreed pay deals with health workers, ending a series of strikes the previous Conservative government blamed for extending waiting lists.

The finance ministry said the extra funding would help the NHS meet a commitment that 92 percent of people wait less than 18 weeks to start treatment.

The British government runs the health service in England, and it is a devolved area of policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.