Theresa Villiers is a former Environment Secretary, and is MP for Chipping Barnet.
In the midst of a very difficult winter – with inflation caused by Vladimir Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine, strikes, and the NHS fighting to cope with the backlog caused by Covid – people want a Government that gets things done. They want a Prime Minister relentlessly focused on tackling the problems they face today and in the future.
Yesterday, Rishi Sunak pledged to do just that. Halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting our national debt, bringing down NHS waiting lists and passing new legislation to tackle illegal migration – the Prime Minister has put the public’s top priorities first and foremost.
When I backed Rishi to be Prime Minister, I knew he was someone who would say it how it is. I knew that he would not try to sugar-coat the challenges we face as a country. As he said in his speech today, change is hard. It takes time.
He has a vision for a better future, but we will not get there overnight. The foundations of that future lie on these five immediate priorities.
First, inflation is the enemy which makes everyone poorer. Rishi has pledged to halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living to give people more financial security.
Second, he has promised to get the economy growing again, create better paid jobs, and ensure that opportunity is spread right across the country.
Third, to secure the future of public services and save the taxpayer from paying the costs of higher debt, he will make sure that we get to a point when national debt is falling as a proportion or our national income.
Fourth, he has pledged to tackle the NHS waiting lists that rocketed during the pandemic, so that people get the care that they need.
Fifth, he has pledged new laws to stop small boats. We are a generous, outward-looking nation, but it is only right that those that come here illegally are detained and removed.
The Prime Minister has done something that we must do more of: he talked our country up. He set out a plan to change our country and build a brighter future for people across our whole United Kingdom.
Much has been achieved since Conservatives returned to Government twelve years ago: repairing the public finances after the 2008 global crash; unemployment down to levels not seen since the 1970s; landmark reform of the welfare system; higher standards in schools; millions more apprenticeships for young people; real progress on cutting carbon emissions; backing our armed forces and boosting our defence capabilities; and getting Brexit done.
But, as Rishi said, there is still much more that we need to do. From a more innovative economy to safer streets and a society that truly values the family, we can make life better for people.
Take education: by giving young people stronger numeracy skills, they will be able to get higher paid jobs and they will have greater opportunities to succeed in a constantly changing world.
Better education and skills will also help us innovate. Innovation boosts the economy, makes people better off, reduces the cost of goods and services, and helps solve the biggest challenges of our time from energy security, to net zero, to cracking down on crime, to feeding a growing world population. It is through innovation that our economy will grow, inflation will be eased, and living standards will rise.
That investment in our schools will increase despite the severe pressure on the public finances caused by global economic turbulence shows the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to ensuring that education is an engine of social mobility in our country. When he was Chancellor, he listened to my appeal for more funding for maintained nursery schools. These schools do incredible work for vulnerable children in the crucial early years, and now they are finally going to get those additional funds.
When it comes to safer streets, this Conservative Government will have delivered an additional 20,000 police officers by
spring 2023. I have always fought for more police officers on the beat in my constituency, catching criminals and focusing on local priorities – such as cracking down on burglaries. So I very much welcome the fact that here in London, the Metropolitan Police now have more uniformed officers than at any point in their history and that their latest funding settlement is £170 million higher than last year.
Whilst things are difficult now, a brighter future is within our grasp. We have a Prime Minister determined to deliver. And as I sat in the audience listening to that speech, it was good to hear the firm reiteration that “as soon as we can, the Government will reduce the burden of taxation on working people”. We are, and always will be, the party which works to ensure people can keep more of their hard-earned money.
Theresa Villiers is a former Environment Secretary, and is MP for Chipping Barnet.
In the midst of a very difficult winter – with inflation caused by Vladimir Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine, strikes, and the NHS fighting to cope with the backlog caused by Covid – people want a Government that gets things done. They want a Prime Minister relentlessly focused on tackling the problems they face today and in the future.
Yesterday, Rishi Sunak pledged to do just that. Halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting our national debt, bringing down NHS waiting lists and passing new legislation to tackle illegal migration – the Prime Minister has put the public’s top priorities first and foremost.
When I backed Rishi to be Prime Minister, I knew he was someone who would say it how it is. I knew that he would not try to sugar-coat the challenges we face as a country. As he said in his speech today, change is hard. It takes time.
He has a vision for a better future, but we will not get there overnight. The foundations of that future lie on these five immediate priorities.
First, inflation is the enemy which makes everyone poorer. Rishi has pledged to halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living to give people more financial security.
Second, he has promised to get the economy growing again, create better paid jobs, and ensure that opportunity is spread right across the country.
Third, to secure the future of public services and save the taxpayer from paying the costs of higher debt, he will make sure that we get to a point when national debt is falling as a proportion or our national income.
Fourth, he has pledged to tackle the NHS waiting lists that rocketed during the pandemic, so that people get the care that they need.
Fifth, he has pledged new laws to stop small boats. We are a generous, outward-looking nation, but it is only right that those that come here illegally are detained and removed.
The Prime Minister has done something that we must do more of: he talked our country up. He set out a plan to change our country and build a brighter future for people across our whole United Kingdom.
Much has been achieved since Conservatives returned to Government twelve years ago: repairing the public finances after the 2008 global crash; unemployment down to levels not seen since the 1970s; landmark reform of the welfare system; higher standards in schools; millions more apprenticeships for young people; real progress on cutting carbon emissions; backing our armed forces and boosting our defence capabilities; and getting Brexit done.
But, as Rishi said, there is still much more that we need to do. From a more innovative economy to safer streets and a society that truly values the family, we can make life better for people.
Take education: by giving young people stronger numeracy skills, they will be able to get higher paid jobs and they will have greater opportunities to succeed in a constantly changing world.
Better education and skills will also help us innovate. Innovation boosts the economy, makes people better off, reduces the cost of goods and services, and helps solve the biggest challenges of our time from energy security, to net zero, to cracking down on crime, to feeding a growing world population. It is through innovation that our economy will grow, inflation will be eased, and living standards will rise.
That investment in our schools will increase despite the severe pressure on the public finances caused by global economic turbulence shows the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to ensuring that education is an engine of social mobility in our country. When he was Chancellor, he listened to my appeal for more funding for maintained nursery schools. These schools do incredible work for vulnerable children in the crucial early years, and now they are finally going to get those additional funds.
When it comes to safer streets, this Conservative Government will have delivered an additional 20,000 police officers by
spring 2023. I have always fought for more police officers on the beat in my constituency, catching criminals and focusing on local priorities – such as cracking down on burglaries. So I very much welcome the fact that here in London, the Metropolitan Police now have more uniformed officers than at any point in their history and that their latest funding settlement is £170 million higher than last year.
Whilst things are difficult now, a brighter future is within our grasp. We have a Prime Minister determined to deliver. And as I sat in the audience listening to that speech, it was good to hear the firm reiteration that “as soon as we can, the Government will reduce the burden of taxation on working people”. We are, and always will be, the party which works to ensure people can keep more of their hard-earned money.