Prime Minister receives applause for his speech with wife Akshata Murthy Photo: Paul Grover for The Telegraph
Rishi Sunak announces plans to ban selling cigarettes, ditching A-level exams and canceling stage two of HS2 on Wednesday, unveiling a “radical” program aimed at winning the next election.
Making his first conference speech as the Conservative Party. leader, Mr Sunak invoked Margaret Thatcher in an attempt to position himself as a force for change in British politics.
Mr Sunak railed against the «30-year political status quo» and said «policy is not working». as it should» in an implicit criticism of the last four Conservative Prime Ministers.
As part of what he called «three major decisions to change the direction of our country», the Prime Minister announced a ban on cigarette sales, which will be introduced gradually, with the age of majority rising every year, and has unveiled plans to replace A-levels and T-levels with new qualifications.
He also defied Tory critics and canceled the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2, using the £36 billion in savings to fund other transport projects and repair potholes.
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Mr Sunak chose to include an unusually large number of policy statements in his conference speech, believing that by being «courageous» he could persuade voters disillusioned with politicians and yearning for change after 13 years of Tory rule , support him.
He said: “We will be brave. We will be radical. We will face and meet resistance.
“We will give this country what it so desperately needs but is too often denied: a government committed to making long-term decisions so we can build a brighter future — for all. Make no mistake: the time has come for change.”
Elsewhere in his speech, he said: “Do we want a government committed to long-term solutions, willing to be radical in the face of challenges and take on vested interests? Or do we want to stand still and quietly accept the same?
“You either think this country needs change or you don’t. And if so, then you should stand next to me—and to every person in this room. You should support the Conservatives.»
He also said: “In doing this work, I meet and interact with inspiring men and women across our country. You see that our greatest strength, our most powerful resource, our greatest hope is our people.
“But I realized that there is an undeniable feeling that politics simply does not work the way it works . should.”
In his speech in Manchester, the Conservative leader's longest speech at the party conference, Mr Sunak announced plans to completely ban the sale of cigarettes by gradually raising the legal age. buy cigarettes.
Currently, purchasing cigarettes is prohibited until a person is 18 years old. Under the new plan, the selling age will be raised by one year each year starting in 2027.
This means that by 2043, only those over 35 will be able to make such purchases legally.
This mirrors New Zealand law and essentially means that everyone aged 14 or under will never be able to buy cigarettes legally, while people who currently smoke will not be affected.
Mr Sunak admitted such restrictions «have not always been easy» for the Conservative, but said there is «no safe level of smoking», pointing to the deaths it causes and the negative impact on The National Health Service.
He said the changes were a chance to “do the right thing for our children: we have to stop teenage smoking in the first place.”
The plan will mean that in the future «a generation can grow up without smoking.»
However, this caused an immediate reaction. Liz Truss, the former prime minister, is among those expected to vote against the plan, which will be put to a free vote in parliament, while other Conservative MPs have branded it «ridiculous» and «completely unworkable».
Health campaigners welcomed the plans, with former health secretary Sajid Javid saying Mr Sunak would «be on the right side of history».
Labour, which had already proposed such a ban, signaled on Wednesday that it would give the votes of its MPs to Mr Sunak to pass the legislation, although civil liberties groups have called the plan «ridiculous, illiberal» and «unconservative».
Downing Street cannot say when the vote will take place, but a spokesman said that «Rishi Sunak is a man in a hurry.»
Replacement for A-level graduates
The Prime Minister also unveiled plans to replace A-levels and T-levels with what he called «Advanced British Standards».
This will mean that pupils will typically study five subjects in their final year, rather than three, as usual now. Maths and English will also be compulsory for all students under 18.
Teenagers will choose a combination of subjects, called core and minor, from both academic and technical options.
However, Downing Street later made it clear that the transition to the new system would take at least ten years and that children who had just started primary school were likely to be the first group to gain the new qualification.
< p>G- Mr Sunak also said pupils would spend at least 195 more hours with a teacher over two years, with teaching hours increasing by an extra 15 per cent for most pupils aged 16-19, bringing the country closer to international norms.
He announced an initial investment of £600 million over two years to lay the groundwork for the plan, including funding tax-free bonuses of up to £30,000 over the first five years of their careers for teachers facing key shortages. items.
Mr Sunak told the conference: “Firstly, it will finally deliver on the promise of equality between academic and technical education by having all students take the Advanced British Standard exam.”
“Secondly, we let's raise the bar by ensuring our children leave school literate and numeracy, because with Advanced British Standard all students will study some form of maths and English until they turn 18, with extra help for those who struggle the most. In our country, no child should be left behind.”
The health and education policy areas are devolved, meaning the political parties running the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will have to decide whether to accept or reject the same policies.
HS2 cut
As expected , the Prime Minister has officially announced that the return leg of HS2, which was due to run from Birmingham to Manchester, will now not take place.
But he promised that «every penny» of the £36 billion in savings would be reinvested in new transport projects, mainly in the North and Midlands.
More emphasis will be placed on East-West connections rather than links between East and West. North-South: £12 billion spent on improving links between Manchester and Liverpool. Almost a quarter of the money saved, £8.3 billion, will be spent on repairing potholes.
HS2 will now connect to London Euston rather than Old Oak Common station on the outskirts of the capital. But Euston will be overhauled, saving £6.5 billion.
The decision was made despite protests from pro-HS2 Conservatives, including Andy Street, the party's mayor of the West Midlands.
Mr Sunak has tried to turn criticism into a political advantage, linked to his wider theme of challenging consensus and being honest with the public to achieve «long-term results».
He said: «There will be people I respect , people in our party who will oppose this. But there's nothing ambitious about just throwing more and more money at the wrong project.»
Mr Sunak not only positioned himself as a force for change, but also tried to brand Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party, as the choice of continuity for voters.
Mr Sunak once said: “He is a walking definition of 30 -year-old political status quo, in order to put an end to it.”
Sir Keir is expected to respond to the comments at the Labor Party conference in Liverpool, which starts this weekend.
General elections are expected to take place in the fall of 2024.
Mr Sunak also grouped the New Labor years of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown with those of his Tory successors: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
He said: “We've had 30 years a political system that rewards easy solutions rather than good ones.”
“Thirty years of vested interests have stood in the way of change. Thirty years of rhetorical ambition that only resulted in a short-term headline.”
Rarely has a party leader so openly criticized his predecessors — although criticism of «vested interests» echoed the lines used by Ms Truss in her conference speech last year.
The reference to 30 years of service was a tribute to Thatcher, who was forced to step down in 1990 and is still considered by party supporters to be one of the greatest Conservative reformers .
There were also more explicit references to the first. Prime Minister. Mr Sunak compared his upbringing to Thatcher's, calling the Tories «the party of a grocer's daughter and a pharmacist's son».
Elsewhere, the Prime Minister cited Thatcher to support his argument that he would make significant cuts taxes only when inflation is under control — an approach he said she also followed.
He said: “Everything we want to achieve requires bringing inflation under control. Inflation is the biggest destroyer of everything—industry, jobs, savings, and society.
“No policy that jeopardizes defeating inflation—regardless of its short-term appeal—can be right.”
“Not my words, but the words of Margaret Thatcher: they are as true now as they were then. I know you want a tax cut, I want it too — and we will make it happen.
“But the best tax cut we can give people right now is to cut inflation in half and cut the cost of living.” .< /p>
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