UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledges to halve inflation and ‘stop the boats’

In major address, Britain’s leader responds to ‘do-nothing PM’ jibes with five-point plan to address the nation’s biggest concerns.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers his first major domestic speech of 2023. Picture: AFP

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to halve the rate of inflation in a headline-grabbing five-point state of the nation-style address overnight (AEDT).

In addition to halving inflation, Mr Sunak said he would grow the British economy, shrink national debt, reduce NHS waiting lists and pass new laws to “stop the boats” coming across the English Channel.

“(We will be) making sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are detained and swiftly removed,’’ he said, as government figures show 45,756 people arrived on small boats across the English Channel in 2022, most of whom are accommodated in hotels and hostels for months while being processed.

This first wide-ranging policy announcement comes 71 days after Mr Sunak was appointed prime minister in October and following criticism that he has been missing in action amid a cost of living crisis, and as the British economy falters under debilitating strikes across train, buses, post and the border force. Energy costs, which have increased fourfold in the past year, will increase another 20 per cent in the coming months.

As your Prime Minister you need to know what my focus will be, so you can hold me to account directly on whether it is delivered.

These are my five promises 👇 pic.twitter.com/XyXrlMshdG

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 4, 2023

Mr Sunak said of his five pledges: “Those are the people’s priorities. They are your government’s priorities. And we will either have achieved them or not.

“No tricks, no ambiguity. We’re either delivering for you or we’re not. We will rebuild trust in politics through action, or not at all. So, I ask you to judge us on the effort we put in and the results we achieve.”

Mr Sunak believes he can get the rate of inflation, currently close to 11 per cent, down to around five per cent in the next 12 months. He also insisted, without providing any detail, that “as soon as we can, the Government will reduce the burden of taxation on working people”.

This comes as Mr Sunak raises the taxation rate on businesses from 19 per cent to 25 per cent from April.

Mr Sunak said his five promises would “deliver peace of mind” and help to build a “better future for our children and grandchildren”. He has also insisted that school students will have to study some form of mathematics up until the age of 18.

“Right now, just half of all 16-19-year-olds study any maths at all. Just imagine what greater numeracy will unlock for people,’’ he said.

On the bloated and inefficient National Health Service, he wants eliminate people waiting more than one year for treatment by adopting more flexible working conditions and using more “independent capacity” in the private sector.

The NHS is collapsing with waiting times at hospitals beyond 12 hours. One of the many reasons is that aged and social care patients, once treated, have no beds to be transferred to, causing a huge backlog.

Mr Sunak said the government would also respond to “misinformation” from unions amid the wave of strikes, including by nurses in the coming days.

The immediate reaction to the speech was mixed, with Labour saying the problems were of the Tory party’s own making, labelling Mr Sunak as the “do-nothing prime minister”.

“For weeks this speech was hyped up as his big vision – now he’s delivered it, the country is entitled to ask: is that it?”, the Labour Party said in a statement.