UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has listed reducing the national debt and lowering inflation among his priorities for the coming year. Sunak today issued a list of five promises to get recession-bound Britain back on track.
In his first speech of the year, the 42-year-old vowed that the UK will emerge from its winter of discontent with economic growth. He promised to pass new legislation to stop the boatloads of migrants crossing the Channel from France.
In office for less than three months, Sunak is battling multiple crises including disruption to the National Health Services and rail services due to worker strikes. The strikes were prompted by industrial action, a record cost-of-living squeeze, and an economy that may already be in recession.
In recent polling, the opposition Labour Party was ahead by more than 20 points of the Conservatives, putting Sunak under pressure to show he has a vision for the country.
Sunak, who came to power in October on the back of the tumultuous premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, today said, "We will rebuild trust in politics through action or not at all,"
"So I ask you to judge us on the effort that we put in and the results that we achieve," he added.
The five pledges outlined by Rishi Sunak today are:
- Halving inflation this year to ease cost-of-living.
- Creating better-paid job opportunities across the country.
- Reducing national debt to secure the future of public services.
- Cutting NHS waiting lists, speeding up care for patients.
- Passing laws to stop small boats, swiftly removing illegal arrivals.
Sunak, a self-confessed numbers geek, today also spoke about his plan to make mathematics compulsory for all students till the age of 18, a move he feels will bring Britain into line with other advanced economies.
