READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE PEOPLE'S FORUM WITH RISHI SUNAK BELOW OR WATCH ABOVE
Speaking to the GB News People’s Forum, Rishi Sunak said: “Now, I've been out and about across the country for the past couple of months, talking to people everywhere about their priorities and what we're doing to deliver on them.
“And tonight, I want to do the same thing with all of you. Now, I know things haven't been easy over the past couple of years. We had COVID and the impact that had on public services, the backlogs we're seeing. And just as we were recovering from that, a war in Ukraine that drove up all of yours and everyone else's energy bills.
“But even though we're not out of the woods yet, I believe that we have made progress and that we're heading in the right direction.
“At the beginning of last year, you may have seen that I set out five priorities, your priorities that I wanted to focus on, and they were to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats.
“Of course, there's more work to do on all of them, but we are making progress.
“Inflation has been more than halved from 11% when I got this job, to around 4% now. The economy's outperformed expectations, debt is on track to fall and because of all of that, we've been able to start cutting taxes. The number of illegal migrants crossing the Channel is down by a third last year.
“And although of course there are challenges in the NHS, we've eliminated the longest waits; people waiting two years or a year and a half, and that is progress.
“But there's more to do, and that's what the election this year is about. That's the choice. Do we stick with this plan? Our plan that is starting to deliver the change that you all want and the country deserves? Or do we go back to square one with Keir Starmer and the Labour Party?
“We've just seen in the last week of absolute chaos over the £28 billion decarbonisation policy, that Labour simply don't have a plan. And if you don't have a plan, you can't deliver any change.
“In contrast, what I want to do is give all of you the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your children can look forward to a brighter future and that all of us can have a renewed sense of pride in our country. That's what I know you want and if we stick to the plan that is starting to deliver change, that's what I know that I can deliver for all of you.
David from Darlington. My question is very simple. Since the 2019 election when the Conservative Party won an 80 seat majority do you believe that the Conservative Party has delivered anything of real substance and value since then?
“I was in Darlington earlier today, working out of the campus that I set up there when I was Chancellor, which is a great example actually of levelling up and you're asking what have we delivered over the past few years? You don't have to look much further than Teesside to see what we're delivering for people.
“That is an area that had been neglected by the Labour Party for decades. If you look at what's happened over the last few years, we've got a great Conservative mayor and we've taken advantage of Brexit to create a brand new Freeport in Teesside.
“And what's a free port? It's something that we couldn't properly do inside the European Union. Outside of it, we've created them. It attracts businesses with tax incentives and businesses are investing in Teesside; creating jobs and industries of the future.
“I put the Treasury campus in Darlington: just think about that for a second - in Darlington. Forget about it not being in London, about putting in the north. It's not in one of the big northern cities not Manchester, Leeds, or Newcastle. It's in Darlington because it's places like Darlington that are now getting the focus from a Conservative government.
“You can see it in the infrastructure improvements that are happening. Darlington station being upgraded, the high streets and town centres and Stockton, in Thornaby not so far from here. All of these places getting record amounts of investment.
“So those are the changes that are happening, that is the plan that is working. And what is it about? It's about spreading opportunity because that's what I care about. It's about making sure that wherever you live in our country, you can grow up and know that your dreams can be realized. You don't have to move away from your home.
“And I was speaking to young people today at that Darlington campus who were all from the northeast; from Newcastle from York, from Durham, from Teesside from North Yorkshire. All of them working at the heart of government in Darlington.
“All of them said to me, ‘this is incredible. I never thought I'd be able to do this. I didn't want to move down to London.’ That's what this Conservative government has done to young people across the north, as well as all the improvements, which makes sure that people can have pride in the place that they call home.
“And pride does come down to simple things like making sure your high street’s clean, and it's safe. Making sure the transport in your area works so we can build youth clubs. That's what all that levelling up money is doing across the North East.
“You can see it happening around you; that is the change that you can feel. Talk to anyone in Teesside and they will tell you, and that's why I want to keep delivering. And if I can win another election, I can make sure that we can keep delivering that change, all of you can have the peace of mind that your kids can have that brighter future we can have a renewed sense of pride in our country, and that's what I'm fighting for.
Alex from London and I'm a student. As you know, the NHS is a key priority to most voters. And you said recently that you didn't make as much progress as you wanted to last year. But how can you convince us today that this year we're going to see some real meaningful change in the NHS and we'll see waiting this fall?
“So why should you trust me on the NHS? Well, first foremost, I come from an NHS family. My dad was a GP. My mum was a pharmacist. I actually grew up working in my mum's pharmacy, delivering medicines to people who couldn't come in. That was my world. That was my parents’ world. Those were their patients, that was our community.
“And I saw first-hand the incredible impact that primary health care in particular has on people's lives; the dependency that they have on it. So it's really important to me, that we support our NHS.
“Now that I don't need to tell you the damage that COVID has done to so many things in our country but particularly it’s caused backlogs in the NHS and whoever was Prime Minister, whoever was standing here tonight, there would be backlogs in the NHS because of what happened.
“You all know that; you’re fair-minded people. But what are we doing about it? Well, first of all, we're putting in record amounts of money - more money than the NHS has ever had. Some of you reasonably might say ‘Well, hang on, maybe we should stop focusing so much on the money we're putting in and actually focus on the reform as well?’ So we’re doing that too.
“More doctors and more nurses, because no one has ever trained enough doctors and nurses for the long term. But I've done that. Now with the best will in the world, I probably will not be around in the 14 years that it takes to train the consultant that we're now starting to invest in. But it's the right long-term thing to do for our country, which is why I've done it.
“So a massive expansion in the number of doctors and nurses we're training here, the first ever long term workforce plan so that in the future we're less reliant on people having to come from abroad.
“And we're doing lots of new things. I can bore you to death with all the innovations; elective surgical hubs, community diagnostic centres, so you don't have to go to the big hospital to get your elective surgery or your MRI or CT scan. All of these things, speed things up. Discharge hubs and hospitals; connecting social care with the hospital so people can get home back to their communities. It speeds up times in A&E and ambulances.
“The use of the independent sector. So all of you now if you and your families get referred by your GP for elective treatment, you can go on your app or talk to your GP and choose where to have your treatment. And that choice, giving you the power to choose where you want to go, speeds things up improves competition and quality.
“But we haven't made enough progress in spite of all those things I've told you about which is a lot. The NHS is doing more than it's ever done before. We haven't made enough of a dent in the waiting list.
“We've practically eliminated the number of people waiting the longest - two years, one and a half years - but overall, the waiting list has largely risen over the past year. The good news is though we saw that it started to fall, because we didn't have strikes for a period at the end of last year. And that has been a real challenge, and I'll just be honest with you about that.
“But in November, the first month where we had absolutely no strikes in the NHS, the waiting lists fell by 100,000. That’s the biggest one month fall in the waiting list in well over a decade outside of COVID. So that gives me the confidence that our plans can work and will work.
“The industrial action is something we need to work through and we're going to continue to have those conversations with the doctors and I'm sure we can talk about that later.
“But if we stick to the plan, I'm confident that we can bring it down. We've got a sense that that was possible at the end of last year without strikes. And because of all those things that I've told you about. I know that it will just get better over time if we can get the strikes behind us.”
Keith from Edinburgh. My question is about social care. Social Care is chronically underfunded, and government has abdicated responsibility to local government, effectively making it a postcode lottery for many. Do you agree that it needs radical reform and if so, what?
“Social care is something that is a particular challenge for councils and you're right, if you talk to most local councillors, they’ll talk to you about the challenges and social care. I think you all know we’ve got an ageing population and that puts pressure on.
“That's why just the other week, we announced an extra £600 million for local government across the country. And it will mean that on average, this coming financial year, councils will have about 7.5 percent more money to invest in local services like social care than they did last year. That gives you a sense of the scale. And of that extra money that we've put in the bulk of it is ring fenced specifically for social care because that's where the challenge is.
“I don't have an overnight fix to the challenges in social care. Of course I don't. But I do know that if we improve how social care works with hospitals, it will make a difference, because that's where there isn't enough join up. And that's why we’re working hard and it won't happen overnight, because the NHS is a big system and social care is spread across the country with lots of individual local authorities, But bit by bit, we're joining those things up closer together and that's how I think we will bring real improvements to bear.
“Because of course it's important right? I believe in a country where if you work hard all your life, you should have dignity in retirement. And social care is part of that contract we have with our grandparents and those who have come before us.
“It's important that we get it right. I can't promise you it's going to fix it overnight, but I can tell you we've just put a lot of extra cash in to help councils with some of that pressure going into next year.
Linda, and I'm from Middleton in Teesdale, and I'm retired. My question is, why are you so adamant about Rwanda, when public documentation shows it isn't working and that it's not going to work? So can you be open and honest with everybody today and tell us what the next steps are?
“Why did I say stopping the boats is one of my five priorities? It’s because I think illegal migration is profoundly unfair. I actually think our country is based on a sense of fairness. We are people that we wait our turn, we put in our fair share. We play by the rules and illegal migration actually breaks that sense of fairness. It erodes a sense of trust in our system.
“And I also think as a matter of compassion, it's the right thing to do, because there are very vulnerable people who are being exploited by criminal gangs, and tragically, some of them losing their lives. And that isn't, I think, something that any of us can countenance carrying on.
“Lastly there’s the pressure on public services. Many of you would have seen your local hotel, like mine, and like many others, taken over to house illegal migrants. It’s costing all of you and everyone watching something like £7 million - £8 million a day. And that’s not something that is sustainable.
“For all of those reasons, I think stopping the boats has got to be a national priority.
“The plans we put in place are working. We’re making progress. Illegal migration is a good example of that. Last year, for the first time since the small boats thing became a phenomenon, the numbers were down. They were down by over a third.
“Meanwhile, in the rest of Europe, they were up by quite a lot.
“That didn't happen by accident, it happened because we worked really hard on lots of different things to start getting the numbers down.
“You may have heard about the new deal with Albania, which means that when people illegally migrate from Albania to here, because of the deal that they struck with Albania, we're able to return them.
“We returned something like 5000 last year. What do you know? They stopped coming; numbers were down by 90%.
“We've increased our cooperation with the French joint patrols on the beaches sharing intelligence, placing barriers in some of the rivers that lead up to the beaches in France. That's helped make sure that the interception rates remain strong.
“We started fighting crime upstream in Europe before people get anywhere close to the channel. We pass laws that allow us to arrest people connected with this awful trade.
“In the last 15-18 months. We've arrested almost a thousand people and we're starting to sentence up to hundreds of years in jail.
“We've done thousands of illegal enforcement raids: all of those things are helping us to get the numbers down, which is why they're down by a third.
“The plan is working but in order to fully solve this problem, we need a deterrent. We need to be able to say pretty simply and unequivocally that if you come to our country illegally, you won't get to stay.
“We want to be able to remove you; either to your home country if it's safe, like we've done with Albania. And for everyone else, we need an alternative and that's what Rwanda is about.
“So yes, we've made progress, down by a third, but in order to fully solve this problem, we need a deterrent. That's what Rwanda is all about and that is why I'm absolutely committed to getting this bill through Parliament and getting this scheme up and running.
“And without that we won't be able to fully solve this problem and I think you all want me to solve this problem. The country certainly does and I want to deliver for the country.”
Prime Minister, I'm not meant to really interject with any questions, but I've got to say a lot of people will be wondering, how do you get this through Parliament? This is a big problem.
“In one sense it’s less a question for me and it’s a question for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party.
“We are committed to getting it through Parliament, but unfortunately we don’t have a majority in the House of Lords.
“Everyone else right now, as we speak, is lining up to do deals in the House of Lords to block us right. We've already seen that in the Commons. They will keep doing that in the House of Lords, but I will keep going.
“I am absolutely committed. I fought very hard for this legislation. It's the toughest legislation anyone's seen. It will make sure that we can implement and operationalize this scheme and get flights off and get that deterrent working. And that's what I'm going to do.
“And the question really is Why is everyone else lining up to try and stop me? Because I don't think that's right. I don't think that's what the country wants. We can't stop the boats unless we get the scheme up and running.”
My name is John Watt, and I'm one of the COVID vaccine injured in this country. I want you to look into my eyes and look at the pain, the trauma and the regret I have in my eyes. We have been left with no help at all. Not only am I in here, there's just as another man over there whose life’s been ruined by that COVID-19 vaccine I know people who have lost legs, amputations. I know people with heart conditions, like myself. Why have I had to set up a support group in Scotland to look after the people that have been affected by that COVID-19 vaccine? Why are the people who are in charge, who told those all to do the right thing have left us all to rot and left me and the tens of thousands in this country to rot? When are you going to do the right thing? The vaccine damage payment scheme is not fit for purpose and in Scotland right now, according to the yellow card system, that over 30,000 people have had an adverse reaction to that vaccine.
“I'm very sorry to hear about your personal circumstances and you said someone over here also seems to have suffered by a similar thing. Now, obviously, I don't know about the individual situation that you're in.
“There is a vaccine compensation scheme that's in place, as you alluded to in the NHS. Obviously, everyone individually will work through their cases. It's difficult for me to comment on any one's individual case, I'm sure you'll appreciate that. I'm very happy to go and look at the cases and I'm sure you'll get them to the team here.
“I'm very saddened and shocked to hear that you've been silenced by anybody -that is surprising to me. So please do get your details to Steven and the team and I will happily take that away. Of course you should better speak about your experience, what's happened to you. And as I said, we have a compensation scheme in place for that and I'll make sure that we're working through that.
“Obviously, I think you'll appreciate it's hard for me to comment on your specific circumstances just not knowing them.
“We went through a pandemic, like everyone else. At points when it came to the vaccine, those decisions were always taken on the basis of medical advice from our medical experts to tell us, as politicians who were obviously not doctors, about how best to roll out the vaccine, what was in the public health interest, the priority order how that should be done, who should be eligible. That was something that the doctors recommended on, and that's something that we followed.
“Now, obviously, if their individual circumstances which haven't worked out, then that's why we have the compensation scheme in place and I'll make sure that we follow up on your cases.”
Jack, 20 from York. The Reform Party are surging in the polls. They’re hitting a note with many disillusioned Conservative voters like myself. What are you going to do to convince traditional Conservative voters that their vote is still better off with you?
“In one sense, I can completely appreciate your frustration and that's because it's been a tough couple of years. When we go through the things that we've been through as a country; energy bills, more than doubling again starting to come down. The economic strain, the vast put on all your family budgets, the impact of COVID on backlogs NHS ,waiting for appointments. All of those things are real things that will cause you and everyone else an enormous amount of frustration and I can completely understand that.
“But I think fundamentally what you want and what I want are the same. What I talked about at the beginning, the things that I'm focused on, the values that are important to me, I think the things that we probably share, and all of you who clapped, I probably say the same thing. I think we want the same things for our country, we share the same values. Whether that's on controlling spending, cutting your taxes to ease the cost of living, making sure that we have strong borders, and we tackle illegal migration. These are things that we have in common.
“What I'd say to you and everyone else is the next election is a straightforward choice. At the end of it, either Keir Starmer or I going to be Prime Minister and a vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is simply a vote to put Keir Starmer into Number 10.
“So the question for you and everyone else clapped is who do you want to see in government after the next election?
“Who do you think is more likely to deliver on the things that you care about?
“It’s certainly not Kier Starmer. Right now, that's the pick. A vote for anyone who is not us is a vote for him.
“We've just seen over last few days. You've seen what's happened. Keir Starmer has been running around for the last year trying to tell everybody the Labour Party's changed.
“Well, look what just happened in Rochdale? A candidate saying the most vile, awful , anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. And what happened? He's stood by him; sent cabinet ministers to support him.
“Until apparently literally five minutes before I walked on tonight, under enormous media pressure, has decided to change his mind; that’s not principled.
“So no, the Labour Party hasn't changed. It's not changed. It's a con.
“And that's what you have to remember a vote for anyone who's not me who's not your Conservative candidate is a vote to put him, with his values and his party in power.
You saw it last week what that would mean for the economy. He can't tell you how he's going to pay for £28 billion, decarbonisation policy which means higher taxes for you and everyone else.
“He stood by this person in Rochdale until the media pressure got too much.
“He’s doing everything he can right now to frustrate the passage of the Rwanda Bill in the House of Lords. Do you want any of that?
“I'm going keep delivering for you; you and I want the same things. And that's how we're going to get them because I'm going to win the next election.”
John from Darlington. I’m retired and I’m worried about the local council tax finances that are in such a parlous state. Why not review the council tax system so that a Band D in Darlington no longer has to pay the same council tax as the Band D in London, when a house in Darlington might be £150,000 and the same house in London would be £1.5 million?
On local government funding, it’s a little bit what we touched on before. Council tax and local government funding are all mixed in together. So in your local area, the money that your council is going to spend is a mix of what they’ve raised locally, what they get centrally from government. But ultimately, those individual decisions are for your local councils. They set their council tax levels, and that’s not something we do centrally at government.
“What we do is say that there's a limit to what we think they should put up your council taxes without asking you in a referendum. So that's our involvement in the council tax system.
“But ultimately, it's your local councillors who are going to set those council taxes. First of all, just reiterating what I said previously, we've provided an extra £600 million for local councils, which means this year, they'll have about 7.5 percent. That means more to invest in local services than they did last year.
“Now, of course, that will vary by council, but on average, and last year, they had something like 9% more to invest in local services than the year before. So that's been the last two years’ worth of increases in funding for local services.
“Now I know there's never enough money and people always want more, but you guys can make up your own minds about whether you think that seems reasonable, given all the other priorities that we also have. We’ve talked about the NHS for example, particularly being the big call on public services.
“We haven't gotten into the cost of living and tax and it's one thing I want to do is keep all your taxes coming down. So that that's the balance that we strike and ultimately, I think it's right that you elect your own counsellors, they set council tax and the simple thing I'd say is if you want lower council tax when it comes to the local elections in May, vote Conservative.
Robin, a barrister from Somerset. Why should LGBT people vote Conservative?
“If you look at our record over the past few years, it's one that I hope you and everyone else is proud of. It was a Conservative government under one of my predecessors who made sure that we had same sex marriage. And more recently, we're making sure that all our public services work better. We've made changes in the NHS for provision of health care services for same sex couples. And gives, hopefully you and everyone else's sense that this is a country whose values are reflected in our party and in government, and that is that it's a compassionate, tolerant place.
“And we want to make sure that people whatever their background, are respected and treated with dignity. That's the kind of country that I believe in. And it's not just about LGBT, it's about absolutely everything. Quite frankly, this is a place which has always been welcoming, tolerant and inclusive. That's who we are as a country. And I think that's what we will always be, and I'll always make sure that that's the case while I'm Prime Minister.
“On the trans issue, my view is relatively straightforward. For people who are going through that, particularly children, we have to be really sensitive about it. We should be understanding, we should be tolerant and compassionate, because that's who we are as a people; respecting everyone and their differences.
“But I also think on that issue, that particularly when it comes to questions around women's safety, women's health, that biological sex is important. And I don't think that should be a controversial thing to say. I think that is a relatively common-sense view that I think is held by the vast majority of people.
“And unfortunately, this debate over the past few years has become incredibly charged and polarized. But I really don't think anything I just said, quite frankly, should be controversial. Are we respectful and tolerant of people and their differences, particularly when they're going through things that are sensitive? Yes, of course we are. Do we think biological sex is important when we're thinking about women's safety, women's health? Yes, of course, I think most people would think that is important.
“And in particular, I think these things are important when we're considering our children, which is why we've recently published guidance for schools about how to deal with these issues in our classrooms. Teachers, unions, ask the government to do that and you'll see what I've said reflected in that guidance, but also making it clear that parents should be involved when these issues arise at school and concern children.
“It's of course, right that parents should be involved in those things, and we should be particularly sensitive about these issues when it comes to children.”
John Slater, in performing arts. My question concerns devolution. I live in Bridlington, which as you probably know is part of the East Riding of Yorkshire and shortly we are to be combined with Hull to become a new devolved area. Now in previous devolvements, there've been provision and proposals with regard to spending on culture and the arts. As far as I'm aware, for our devolution hole and the East Riding of Yorkshire, there is no proposal for spending on culture in the arts. Why is that?
“I don't know is the simple answer. I will go away and take a look at that. I'll say two quick broad points. One is devolution which we haven't touched on it tonight. I think that's a good thing. We've done a lot of it. What does that mean? It means putting you more in charge of the things that are happening in your area, making sure that we devolve powers and funding and responsibility to politicians that are more local to you.
“I talked for the first question, and we talked about Ben Houchen, who's the mayor here in Teesside. You can see the incredible change that he's brought here. Andy Street in the West Midlands, again, doing an incredible job. We think that's a good thing for the country. So we've done a decent amount of that, particularly here in the North.
“But then secondly, culture.I think the cultural sector in our country is something that we should be enormously proud of and for a couple of reasons. One is it obviously is very important in all our communities. And I remember as a kid performing quite probably not brilliantly in at Christmas carol at my local theatre in Southampton and it was an incredible experience that was. We'll all have fond memories of that.
“I's an important part of our social fabric. It's also part of our soft power. It's how we project ourselves across the world through our creative industries; film, TV productions, everything that you know, but the thing that people probably don't appreciate about that sector is the economic contribution it makes to our economy. It is a powerhouse industry for us. It employs millions of people across the country. We're here in the northeast and actually, the Northeast is one of the areas which is booming when it comes to film production.
“I went to Hartlepool not so long ago where we're making one of our levelling up investments in an enormous studio facility there, and they literally can't grow fast enough. We just need to help them train more and more young apprentices to get into the industry. So I think it's fantastic industry.
“I cared about it so much that in the pandemic -it's probably where most of you got to know me, when I popped up on your TV screens talking about this thing called furlough, which no one knew what it was at the time. But the other thing we did in the pandemic that I'm proud of his something called the Cultural Recovery Fund, because I knew that if we didn't do anything, all our incredible precious theatres, whether that's in Bridlington or anywhere else: The incredible Georgian theatre in Richmond where I am, in North Yorkshire.
“All these places would be lost. A year without any business, we’d lose all these wonderful venues that are so important to our communities. We put together a fund which supported them all and as a result of that we've protected thousands across the country - probably in every single one of your communities in your local areas, there'll be something like a small theatre, maybe a comedy store, that will have been supported by this cultural Recovery Fund, so that we could keep all of them together.
“When we emerged on the other side, they were there to entertain us and enrich our lives all over again, which is what they're doing. So I'm with you. I think it's really important and I will go and check that out for your devolution deal.”
Josh, 19, a student from Shrewsbury. The UK is estimated to be short of over a million homes. Yet despite this, your party have scrapped the housebuilding target and you've scrapped Michael Gove proposed planning reforms that would have liberalized the building of houses. You say you have a plan. Rishi. Do you have a plan to fix the supply crisis in British housing?
“I want you to experience what I experienced and what probably most of us, if I look around the room, have experienced that at one point and that is getting the keys to your first home.
“It’s an incredibly special feeling, those of us have experienced it, remember it. We start in a flat and hopefully build up over time, create a family there build a life that it's a magical, wonderful thing.
“And when I think about the type of country that I want to build as Prime Minister, it's one where aspiration and ambition is celebrated. And aspiration is about owning your own home. So I think it's really important that we make sure that you and every one of your generation can do that.
“I'm going be honest, I don't have an overnight fix and it has become trickier particularly in the southeast and it varies by region. I was talking to some people in the office in Darlington today, and they had just bought their first home and they were in their late 20s so it does vary where you are.
“But what can we do? Well, we need to build more homes, and that's what we're doing. So in this Parliament, we talked about million homes and we are going to deliver a million homes. We are on track to deliver a million homes in this Parliament so yes, the plan is working.
“But we're also making it easier to get on the housing ladder. So stamp duty. When you're trying to buy that first home that stamp duty was a real problem, but now we've cut stamp duty for first time buyers probably. Something like 85% of first-time buyers right now don't pay any stamp duty when they buy their first homes and that saves them thousands of pounds. That's a tax cut that we introduced.
“And most recently though, we wanted to go further. There are these old EU rules called nutrient neutrality. I won't get into the details of it but these are legacy rules from the EU.
“They're defective. They don't actually do anything to help the environment but they are blocking 100,000 homes from being very quickly delivered across the country. We were going to pass a law to change that and protect the environment and that would have very quickly unlocked 100,000 homes for you and people of your generation.
“What did the Labour Party do in the House of Lords? They blocked it. And this is what I talk about when I say Keir Starmer doesn't have a plan, doesn't have principles.
“This is a guy saying, ‘oh yes, we've changed. We want to build homes,’ and all the rest of it. But there was an opportunity. We put a law down in the House of Lords to change this defective EU law that we've inherited that's blocking 100,000 homes. And what do they do? They blocked it.
“So do I know we've got more to do? Of course we do because it is too hard and I'd love it to be easier. But we are making progress, we are building the homes and we will keep going and we'll be making some more announcements about that this week, making it easier to build in certain places where we do need to do homes but do that in a way that brings everyone with us.
“But there was an opportunity for Keir Starmer to do the right thing and make it easier for you and your generation to have those 100,000 homes. And he said no.
We're going keep going, though, because I want you to feel and what many of us did because it's a very special thing. And that's kind of country we want, where you and your friends can own that home.”
My name is Nourish. "I've come up from London. My question is, why aren't you making the UK more self-sufficient in power, rather than paying sort of exorbitant prices to other countries?"
So I agree with you, we need to be more energy secure. I agree with you so much, that I actually created an entire government department for it. For the first ever time, we now have a Department for Energy Security. So it's not just the Department for Net Zero and climate change, it’s the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.
“Because I think you're right. And the war in Ukraine just highlighted why we need to improve our energy security.
“We're building new nuclear for the first time in a long time, not just the big gigawatt power stations, but we're looking at small modular reactors as well.
“We're investing in renewables. Right now, Orsted is building one of the world's biggest offshore wind farms off the east coast. We've already got not just the world's biggest offshore wind farm, but the second, the third and the fourth, too. So we are doing more homegrown renewables and we're doing nuclear.
“But crucially, we're doing a couple of other things too, and these are a bit more controversial.
“I think that in order to have energy security, we need to focus on the energy we have here at home, and that means the North Sea oil and gas. Even the independent committee for climate change say that we will need some oil and gas in 2050. So the question is, where would you rather get that from? Are we better off getting it here at home: good for the economy, good for jobs, good for energy security?
“Or are we better off importing it from halfway around the world with three times more carbon emissions? To me, that's pretty straightforward. That's why we've said we will keep issuing licenses in the North Sea and use our energy here at home, build our energy security. That's the right thing to do for the country. It’s the right long term thing for our national interest.
“What did Keir Starmer and the Labour Party do? What you expect them to: Virtue signalling and they oppose it. That's not going to help our energy security and it's also not going to help cut your bills. Because the other thing I want to do is make sure that as we transition to this more secure, greener future which we all want.
“At the end of the day, we all have kids, we have grandkids, we want to leave them the environment in a better state than we found it. But we need to do that in a pragmatic way and there are far too many people who view that project as something ideological and want to race to net zero regardless of the cost on you and your families.
“I don't think that is right. We have decarbonise faster than any country in the world. You might have seen just last week; the only major economy to have hard carbon emissions. Who's that? Well, that would be the UK. So we're not going to take any lectures from anyone else.
“So I changed course in autumn. I made a speech, I got a lot of criticism for it. People came at me but I said ‘no, this is the right thing to do.’
“We've done more than anyone else. We're going to do more than anyone else. So we can do this in a more proportionate, pragmatic way that's going to save you and your families, £5,000, £10,000 15,000. Those were the plans that I inherited, forcing you to rip out things and replace things before that was necessary.
“I said, no, we're not going to do any of those things because I want to save you those thousands of pounds. We're going to get to net zero but we're going to do it in a proportionate way and at the same time, we're going to build our domestic energy security. That is a common sense approach to this issue and I think it's one that I hope the vast majority of you in this room and everyone else absolutely supports because it's the right one for our country.”
Daniel, assistant head of an independent school on Teesside. "Independent schools in regions such as the northeast and not the Etons of this world and one of Labour's few remaining policies is to charge VAT on independent school fees. Now, many of our families are middle income families that make lifestyle compromises to be able to invest in their children's education. Any rise in fees would be very difficult for them to manage, meaning their children would likely back in a swamped states sector. What are your plans for education and why are you not doing more to call out policy is a best ideological grandstanding, but at worst fiscally irresponsible in playing politics with the education of young people?"
“I got into politics partly because of education. I think education is the most powerful thing that you can do to transform people's lives. I often say that there isn't a silver bullet in my job in public policy. But the closest thing I know we have to the silver bullet is education.
“If we can create a world class education system in this country, that is the best way to transform young people's lives. And we are making progress. When I say the plan is working, by God is it working in education, thanks to the reforms that have happened under the Conservative government's over the past few years.
“When we came in office in 2010 we were plummeting down the league tables standards were slipping because of our reforms. All of that is reversed. We are just marching up those international league tables. That's how well our kids are doing at school: outperforming SNP-run Scotland schools, Labour on schools in Wales because of our reforms.
“Our kids here now are the best readers in the Western world thanks to the phonics reforms that you'll be familiar with in your school. We changed how we teach our kids. We focused on rigour and standards in the classroom, giving parents more information and choice. All of that has worked.
“The other thing that we focused on and we'll keep focusing on his skills because I don't believe in this idea that everyone has to go to university to fulfil all their dreams. I don't think that's right.
“I really think that there are multiple routes for young people to achieve success and fulfil all their aspirations, which is why we've invested hugely in apprenticeships. Not just improving the quality of them, not just spreading them out so they're available in almost every job, but also just changing how they are perceived.
“It really bugged me that in a classroom you had a bunch of kids who are going off to university and they would all focus on the UCAS system that I did and everyone will be obsessed with their UCAS forms. And if you weren’t applying to university, you felt a bit like a second-class citizen, because you weren't doing that. And I don't think that's right.
“So for the first time, this past year, we've put apprenticeships on the UCAS system to start to show people that hang on, there isn't one that's better than the other here.
“If I am fortunate enough to get your support and have another term the big reforms I want to do in education, I set them out in the autumn. I want to make sure that our post-16 education is reformed so it raises the standards so we make sure all our young people have a basic foundation in Maths and English.
“It means that we will bring together the best of technical and academic education so there isn't this artificial divide in the classroom into a high quality qualification. We'll make sure that people spend more time in the classroom to get us in line with our international peers. So that's the next bit of reform I think we can do in the education system, particularly focused on skills and that technical side, making sure it has the resources and the parity of esteem it needs.
“Because if we can get this right we will do the most wonderful thing for our young people and thank you to you and all your colleagues for what you do because it's incredible. You're changing people's lives every day and I just want to keep supporting you, because that is how we're going to make this an incredible country that spreads opportunity far and wide.
“It's an incredibly Conservative thing to do. It's how I was raised, and it's what I want to do for everyone else.
“You talked about the private school thing, so I want to touch on that for a second. The people you're talking about people like my parents. My parents came here without a huge amount, with my grandparents, but they worked really hard to give their kids a better life.
“They thought education was the best way to do that. They put everything into making sure my brother and sister and I had a great education and we got help along the way with scholarships and things as well. But that was what was important to them. That's what aspiration means to me.
“You know, I get attacked by Kier Starmer because of where I went to school. And I said to him once actually, I said you're not really attacking me, you're attacking my parents, and you're attacking everybody like them that works hard to aspire for a better life for them and their family. I think that's wrong. I don't think it's British and that's not the type of country that I'm going to build.”
Colin from North Yorkshire. "Given the number of Conservative MPs not standing at the next general election and the number of factions within the party there appears to be a lack of leadership at the head of the party. What are your plans to bring the factions together to build a team and to stop voter defections to Reform and other parties?"
“All Conservative MPs do have a unity of purpose and that is that we want a Conservative government returned at the next election. And that brings us back to a simple choice. At that election there is a choice between me and Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, between the Conservatives and the Labour Party.
“And whatever the difference is within our party - and of course there are going to be differences, of course we're going to debate things. That's what democracy is, that's what parliament is there for.
“But we are united in our purpose of wanting to deliver a country for you, where your children can look forward to a brighter future. Where you have that peace of mind. Where we can have a renewed sense of pride in your country. Those are things that unite all of us.
“And as we come into a focused election year, I know that that's what my colleagues all believe and I think that they will focus their attention on Keir Starmer and the opposition, because that's what this is about.
“It's not about the small minute differences between us on issues. There's a lot of coverage about the conversations and debates we were having on the illegal migration bill. Okay, there may be some differences of opinion about how best to implement the Rwanda scheme.
“Those differences are an inch, but the real difference is the difference between us and the Labour Party. That difference is a mile and that's the choice for all of you and everyone else. That's the choice at the election. I on that issue, in particular, and on every other issue.
“And I actually think my colleagues are united in that purpose of wanting to see a Conservative government return to the next election because they believe that is the right thing for our country. And I'm confident that we will fight hard to deliver that.”
Julie, a pharmacy technician. I've worked within the NHS for 25 years and I'm currently working in mental health hospital. Conditions now are the hardest I've ever seen within the NHS. But without thinking about the staff, I want to focus on the patients themselves. How do you plan to improve conditions for the patients and put money towards resources to treat the patients and stop wasting money unnecessarily?
“I'm going to give you one specific example and thank you for what you do specifically because my mum was a pharmacist, so I know exactly what you did. And the one thing I'm going to tell you about that makes life easier for all of you and for patients concerns pharmacy.
“We announced it the other week, you may or may not have seen it, but I think it's going to be brilliant. And that is for seven of the most common ailments that we all have, things like sore throats, ear infections, sinusitis:” right now, you don't have to go and see your GP for those things. You can go and see your pharmacist.
“You can get the medicines you need direct from your pharmacist without having to make a GP appointment with the hassle that is, the time you might have to take off work or your kids if you have young kids, take them out of school. We’ve done away with all of that.
“You can go into your pharmacist for those seven common things. And that is something that's going to make a major difference to patients, to families to all of you and everyone else in our country. It’s an example of us doing something practical, reforming to just improve quality of health care, improve the speed of health care.
“Many of you will know your pharmacist, you'll know the difference they make in their communities. That's certainly what my mum did growing up. It was inspiring to me. I saw it first-hand.
“Our pharmacists today are so well trained, they're able to do all of this for you. Pharmacies have consultation rooms so that change that we've worked hard on and now just implemented in the past few weeks means that it will save all of you time.
“So when you next get ill with one of those seven things, you just go straight to your pharmacy get the medicines you need. And hopefully you'll remember this.
“Julie and all her colleagues are going to have all this extra work to do which is great, because it means we're also supporting our pharmacy sector at the same time. And that is just an example of us practically improving healthcare in this country.
“But is that going to solve all our problems? Of course it's not. But it's a good practical example of something that will make all your lives a bit easier, empowering patient, and that's what we should be doing.”
John from Glasgow. I work as an aircraft engineer and company director. My question is with the high tax rates in Scotland and the inferior services compared to what you have in England in education, health care, what would your plan be to make Scotland vote for the Conservatives and make them more voteable?
“We've got a good reason not to be very happy about them vecause they're higher. So if you earn a bit more than £28,000 you pay higher tax in Scotland. Right. And that's because of the budget that the SNP government just put in place recently.
“And if you want a lot more than £28,000 you’d pay a lot more tax. They’d try and say all this is just for high earners but it's not.
“Anyone earning just over £28,000 is paying higher tax in Scotland. I forget the exact figures off the top of my head.
“Why is that? It's because we're starting to cut taxes for all of you, and this is something I really wanted to deliver. Lots of you probably got frustrated with me that I hadn't done it a year ago.
“But I said to you that this is something I want to do, of course I want to do it right. I believe so deeply that hard work should be rewarded. That's the type of country that I want to build.
“You guys work so hard. Everyone works hard. I want hard work to be rewarded. That means I want to cut your taxes so you can keep more of your hard-earned money.
“But when I got this job inflation was running at 11% and just like Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson many years before me, I knew that the right thing to do for our country economically was to get inflation down first: control spending and borrowing, get inflation down, and then we could start responsibly cutting taxes.
“And we were able to deliver that and the budget at the end of last year. It kicked in in all of your January pay slips so for everyone in work, that tax cart is not small.
“The national insurance rate has been cut from 12% to 10%. So for someone earning an average salary, about £35,000, that tax cut is worth £450 this year, and it kicked in in January.
“You might say, ‘Yes, about time, what next?’ I can appreciate that. And I said when it's responsible to do so of course we want to keep cutting your taxes because that is important to me, because it's about rewarding hard work.
“But it's got to be done as part of a plan. And because we've got a plan and because that plan is starting to work, and you can see it, if we stick with it, then there are better times ahead.
“Because we've got a plan and we stuck to it, inflation is down from 11 to 4%. Wages have now been rising steadily for the last six months above prices. Mortgage rates are starting to come down.
“We've controlled welfare and so we're in a position where, because the economic conditions have improved, we can start cutting your taxes. Now that's the type of party we are, that type of government we will be, and the contrast is very clear.
“You can see it in Scotland with the SNP, you can see it in Wales with the Labour Party. Many of you will be small business people. Many people watching will be small businesses. If you own a pub or restaurant or café, we've cut your business rates by 75% this year to support our high streets, support those businesses and the jobs.
“The Labour government in Wales hasn't done that. Those pubs are all paying more and Keir Starmer can't tell you how he's going to pay for his £28 billion green decarbonisation policy.
“What does that mean? That means higher taxes. Go right back to where I said at the beginning. Stick with the plan. The plan is working. You can see that on the economy. You can see it in low taxes. The alternative is going back to square one where the Labour Party.
“He can't tell you what he's going to do differently. He doesn't have a plan and that means we won't get the change that our country deserves. That's the change that I want to deliver for all of you.”
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