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Good morning. Rishi Sunak made five short-term commitments in his first major speech since becoming prime minister. What unites the promises is that they are all commitments made by the government Candlestick to be able to say that it has met in the last quarter of 2024 – the very distant date of the next election. Some thoughts on the terrain Sunak is trying to counter that contest, and his speech more broadly, below.
Inside Politics edited by Georgina Quach. Follow Stephen on Twitter @stephenkb and please send rumors, thoughts and feedback to [email protected].
It started to look like November 2024
by Rishi Sunak The five-point commitment is designed to be relatively certain: whatever happens he will be able to declare frankly to the country that he has met them. That makes them pretty politically safe moves but I think also limits their effectiveness.
Like any politician making a list of commitments, Sunak will want to be compared to Tony Blair in 1997. But the prime minister’s promises are like Ed Miliband’s vague promises in 2015, especially because both Sunak and Miliband want students to study math until 2015. Now let’s take a look at each of Sunak’s scores:
We will halve inflation this year to lower the cost of living and give people financial security.
The “we” here is really working really hard, because ultimately this is a job for the Bank of England, not Rishi Sunak or his government. I do not have anything particularly revealing to say about the policy implications of this commitment, such as: it is clear that if inflation falls when both Banks and most forecasters expectthat should be good for the Conservative Party’s political outlook in the fall of 2024.
Its short-term politics are that “inflation” is government action when it comes to the various pay disputes ministers are embroiled in, whether in the rail sector, the NHS or the battles about to happen in education or elsewhere.
I think around these disputes there is a risk of a shortage of timber: all of us at Westminster, including this email, have started using the word “win” a lot when talking about strikes that have occurred. in many sections of the public watchdog. But the government doesn’t really need a political “victory” over striking workers, it needs to fill the gaps in public services.
Fulfill Sunak’s wish that all students in the UK will “learn some form of math” until the end of compulsory education at the age of 18, as you would expect from someone volunteer for their time to fundraise for financial literacy, I think it’s a great aspiration.
But as Bethan Staton reports, recruiting math teachers is consistently below target for most of the year and track recruitment for most other subjects. there is no way at all with Sunak’s laudable aim to teach math to 18-year-olds without directly conflicting with the government’s position on teacher salaries and conditions.
We will grow the economy, create opportunities and better-paying jobs across the country.
I mean, you would hope, wouldn’t you? Again, this is a “commitment” to which basically all projections suggest the government will respond. Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have a great story to tell here; actions taken in Hunt’s Financial Factsin using welfare policy to protect households from some of the damage caused by the recession, all of which contribute to helping them get out of the recession faster.
I think Sunak is making less money than he should be. There is a danger in talking vaguely about plans to spur growth and innovation when the crisis is over. The obvious fact is that his term as prime minister is likely to end quite soon, and even if it does not, the government will have a smaller majority after the next election and there is no prospect that a government led by Sunak Leaders will be able to do anything grand or far-reaching to drive growth or innovation.
Sunak has chosen not to use Labor’s vote to pass the reform of the plan and that means he will not pass anything particularly controversial during his term as prime minister unless something is up. something really, really unexpected happened that not only kept him in place, but kept him in place with a bigger more than what he has now.
We will make sure that our national debt is falling so we can secure the future of public services.
The deadline in this pledge is intentionally vague so that no matter what, Sunak will be able to declare at the next election that he has kept his promise.
Of course, adding to your list of commitments a goal so vague that it is impossible not to keep it is a very old political trick. My concern, if I were a Conservative strategist, would be a lot of confusion in Sunak’s message. On the one hand, he speaks as if he is an advocate of austerity and necessary spending restrictions. On the other hand, his speeches and interventions always have at least one big and expensive commitment in them. Even if those commitments are deliberately kept vague (such as the desire for all students to be taught math, at some point in the future, by some teachers we have not yet hired, at a certain point in time). date that the government has not shared with us) I don’t think voters Listen they are vague.
I think it exists in the minds of voters as a pretty tough commitment that, yes, there will be tough times but public services will get better and better. This of course links to the next commit:
The NHS waitlist will be reduced and people will get the care they need faster.
Again, a commitment the government can say has been met, essentially regardless of the event. The political risk, as for the inflation target, is certain, it will probably be “meeted” in 2024. But I do not believe it will. feel like it was met.
The same is true for the fifth commit:
We are going to pass new legislation to stop small boats, ensuring that if you come to this country illegally, you will be detained and quickly deported.
Governments love to “pass new legislation” because it’s a promise you can always say you’ve kept. Whether or not you will actually enforce those new laws is another question entirely.
I know I have a record on this subject, but the big problem the Conservatives have here is that they keep saying horrible-sounding things like zero illegal immigration targets. The only countries with no illegal immigration are the ones people want to flee to.
Politically speaking, these pledges are a great rhetorical tool because Rishi Sunak is basically guaranteed to be able to say he’s met three out of five of them. But in terms of moving the political landscape to areas where the Conservatives can expose Labor’s weaknesses and win the next election, they are still far from where they can hope. .
Now try this
I saw Flower brooches at the cinema. Honestly, I don’t get the point: I think if you’re going to deconstruct and/or fictionalize the life of Queen Elisabeth of Austria there are much more interesting ways to do it and it’s simply too much. long. Danny Leigh had a much better time than i didbut my suggestion is to stay home and watch Menu (currently available to stream).
Today’s top stories
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Warm spell reduces energy bill forecasts | UK household energy bills are set to lower than previously expected in 2023fell below the Government’s price guarantee in the second half of the year.
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Sunak’s two-part plan | Rishi Sunak saw him prime minister in two parts: the first has to do with revitalizing the country’s ravaged economy and public service, somehow defying the odds and keeping the Conservatives competitive in the election scheduled for next year. year 2024.
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Energy-saving lighters | Great Britain needed a “war effort” to Enhanced energy efficiency and rapid insulation millions of homes across the country to cut household bills and carbon emissions, a cross-party group of MPs said.
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£133m lawsuit over PPE | PPE Medpro tried to sell UK medical equipment for The safety report is believed to have been issued by a company that refused to provide was the author of the document, the government alleges in a £133m lawsuit against the medical supplies group that caused the scandal.
