London (Parliament Politic Magazine) – Rishi Sunak pledges to restore Britain’s pride post-Covid, focusing on economic growth, welfare reform, and returning people to work
Rishi Sunak promised to give Britain a renewed sense of pride after the “tough times” the country has been experiencing. The Prime Minister confessed the last few years have not been comfortable but insisted the future is shining under his plan to turn the economy around.
Talking to Daily Express, Mr Sunak vowed significant progress is already being created on some of the biggest problems the country is facing, including rising numbers of adults disregarding work. And he disclosed the very personal motivation behind his desire to do the best for the country that gave his parents a “special” welcome.
Further, he stated: “I want everyone to have a renewed sense of pride in our country, and if we stick with our plan, I think I can give you the peace of mind that the future will be better. That’s what I’m about.”
“We have been through a tough time in the last couple of years as a country, getting through COVID with all the impact that’s had on backlogs, then we’ve had the situation in Ukraine driving up energy bills.
“So it hasn’t been an easy time. But I think that although we have work to do, we are pointing in the right direction at the start of this year.
“We have turned a corner and are heading in the right direction. I feel that because I look at the progress we are making. Inflation has been more than halved, which was a big priority when I first got the job.
“Despite the predictions, the economy grew last year; debt is on track to fall to ensure financial security for our public services and grandkids.”
Mr. Sunak revealed that small boat crossings were down by a third, which has “never happened before,” while there were “challenges” in the NHS, improvement is being made on waiting lists.
He added: “So, is there work to do across the board? Yes. But I think we are heading in the right direction, particularly in the economy, where I was keen to ease the burden of the cost of living for all of you and everyone else.
“And because financial conditions have improved, we have been able to start cutting taxes.
“I think that’s important because I believe in a country where hard work is rewarded, you can keep more of your hard-earned money, and at the beginning of the year, we started doing that.”
Mr. Sunak also talked about his determination to stop people from being given sick notes when they can work. Last year, a record 2.5 million people were signed off, with mental health issues and long covid to blame. The government is investing £2.5 billion in a Back to Work plan to help more than one million people with long-term conditions return to employment. As well as improving mental health support, it includes programs that give people tailored support when they have been unemployed for an extended period.
Moreover, Mr. Sunak expressed that the welfare system must be “compassionate” but also “fair” to everyone, including people going out to work daily.
He said: “We have far too many people who are not working and should be working now. So, we are in the process of reforming our welfare system. We have many signed-off sick people who don’t need to be. That number has increased massively over the past decade, and we have not gotten that much sicker as a country.
“So something has gone wrong in the system, and we are now reforming it. We are actually really focused on controlling welfare and supporting people in work because work is a good thing. I always say work is something I believe in. It gives you purpose, dignity, and fulfillment, so we should want people to work.
“And it’s also about fairness in the system. Everyone working hard and putting in wants to know everyone who can work is doing that, too. It means you will have access to the needed staff, allowing us to reduce immigration. That’s why controlling and reforming welfare is appropriate and sensible. It’s something I believe in, and it’s something we are doing.
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“We lost a bit of that during the pandemic for obvious reasons, but after that, we need to get back to being rigorous about saying ‘if you can work, you should be working’ and having a welfare system that says we need to be compassionate and support you, but we also need to be fair and fair means if you can work you should be working.”