Rishi Sunak on Wednesday outlined five promises he wants the public to judge himself on in the next general election, including growing the UK economy and cutting NHS waitlists.
In his first major domestic policy speech as prime minister, Sunak said he wanted to bring “reassurance” to a country facing recessions, strikes and crises. in vital public services, especially the NHS.
Determining what he calls “everyone’s priority”, Sunak promises to halve it inflationary, economic growth, reducing the public debt burden, cutting NHS waiting lists and “stopping boats” carrying people illegally through the English Channel. Some of his self-imposed tests of the economy seem easy to pass.
bask also confirmed plans to require all young people in the UK to study some form of mathematics until the age of 18, although the goal will only be achieved if the Conservative Party wins the next election.
“We will rebuild trust in politics through action, or nothing,” he told an audience at the Olympic Park in east London. “So I ask you to judge us based on the effort we put in and the results we achieved.” The Conservatives are trailing Labor in opinion polls.
Some of the economic tests Sunak sets himself for this parliament are generally in line with what independent economists and the Bank of England expect to happen.
Economists estimate UK consumer price inflation has passed its peak last November, when it fell to 10.7%, and forecasters expect the rate to halve for the year. now.
The BoE, even with its most pessimistic forecast, still expects the economy to grow by the end of 2024. Sunak’s pledge to reduce public debt is not clear enough to determine whether it is easy to achieve.
His promise to cut the NHS’s record waiting list – more than 7 million patients in the UK were waiting for non-emergency hospital treatment last month – was politically significant, but he did not say how much reduction he hopes to achieve.
The pledge comes as senior health service officials warn of unprecedented strain on the NHS due to rising flu and Covid-19 cases, backlog waiting lists, public activity employment and employment status.
Sunak also insists he will pass new legislation to ensure that anyone who arrives in the UK illegally is detained and deported quickly, although his pledge to “stop the boats” can be difficult. achieve.
Nadine Dorries, a former Tory cabinet minister and close ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, has criticized Sunak’s program and mocked his plans to “teach math longer with teachers we don’t even know”. there is not yet”.
“Three years of a progressive Tory government have been washed away,” she said on Twitter.
Dorries also announced Sunak would abandon a promised “fire on EU legislation”.
Labor also criticized Sunak’s commitment to mathematics. Bridget Phillipson, shadow education secretary, said: “He could not have made this cliché, warmed-up commitment without more math teachers, but the government has missed its target of recruiting math teachers. new year after year, with current teachers leaving in droves.”
