Sunak promises to deliver what his predecessors couldn´t from waiting lists to inflation

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in his first major speech in the role has promised to deliver what his predecessors couldn´t.

Speaking on Wednesday, January 4 Sunak said that he intends to rebuild the public´s trust in politics and that there would be “no tricks, no ambiguity.”

Setting out his vision for the future he made five pledges, most of which successive governments have either failed to tackle or failed miserably in trying.

The first and the one probably closest to people´s hearts is that he has promised to bring down NHS waiting lists. What he hasn´t said is how intends to do this with the organisation short-staffed, under pressure and in the midst of strike action over pay and conditions.

But he is confident that he can do this saying: “NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.” The government has been criticised for a lack of understanding of the long-term issues with the Health Department blaming the pandemic and the current high levels of Strep A, COVID-19 and flu for the backlogs.

The second promise is to pass new laws that would bring an end to the small boats making illegal crossings, something he in the past described as a priority for the government. He added that the government intends to do so by swiftly detaining and removing those who come to the country´s shores through illegal methods.

His third pledge is the halving of inflation during 2023 which he said was important to ease the cost of living and to bring more financial stability to markets and families. Again the pledge was devoid of detail in an inflationary environment much of which has been created by current world affairs and as such is beyond the control of the UK government.

Along the same lines, his fourth pledge is to “grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity across the country.”

His last pledge was to “Make sure our national debt is falling so that we can secure the future of public services.”

He rounded off the speed by saying: “So, five promises. We will: Halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats.”

Sunak then used the speech to highlight a new mission, which is to combat the high levels of innumeracy in England. That received a cautious welcome from education experts who the Independent spoke to, with the mission, not a new one that again successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to tackle.

Finally, he said that he believed these were the priorities of the people and said: “So, I ask you to judge us on the effort we put in and the results we achieve.

“They are your government’s priorities. And we will either have achieved them or not.”

Sunak has promised to deliver on five pledges that have generally been well received, however, with no detail on how these pledges will be delivered the jury remains out. He currently trails Labour in the polls and will need some major wins in order to bridge the gap.

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