Sunak will aim to rally Conservative members with a call to action, in all but the last roll of the dice to reset his premiership…reports Asian Lite News
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will set out his mission to fundamentally change the country at his Conservative party’s conference on Wednesday, promising to overturn a political system that prefers the “easy decision, not the right one”.
Trailing the opposition Labour Party in the opinion polls before a national election expected next year, Sunak will aim to rally Conservative members with a call to action, in all but the last roll of the dice to reset his premiership.
But, as the conference in the northern English city of Manchester draws to an end, his attempt to revitalise his tenure by promising action rather than empty promises has been largely overshadowed by a row over the future of a high-speed train line.
After a year in power, Sunak will take the stage at what could be his last party conference to say he will do things differently, prioritising long-term decisions above short-term opportunism.
“Politics doesn’t work the way it should. We’ve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one. Thirty years of vested interests standing in the way of change,” he will say, according to excerpts of his speech.
“Our political system is too focused on short-term advantage, not long-term success … Our mission is to fundamentally change our country.”
His message risks being undermined by a row over the HS2 high-speed railway and his refusal, so far, to announce a decision on whether its second phase with a line to Manchester, the host city of his party’s conference, should go ahead.
Sunak and his finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, have attacked the eye-watering costs of a project that has been dogged by delays and large increases to its budget, which estimates say could hit 100 billion pounds, but both have kept their counsel on whether it will be mothballed.
If it is scrapped or delayed, business leaders say Sunak should be accused of being driven by short-term political gain rather than considering the value a new high-speed train line could offer generations to come.
Hoping to change the narrative, Sunak will also take aim at Labour leader Keir Starmer, a taste of what is gearing up to be an ugly election campaign.
“The Labour party have set out their stall: to do and say as little as possible and hope no one notices. They want to take people’s votes for granted and keep doing politics the same old way,” he will say.
“It is about power for the sake of power. It is in short, everything that is wrong with our politics.”
In a convention centre built from a former railway station, Mr Sunak will reflect on his first year in No 10 and acknowledge a “feeling that Westminster is a broken system”.
“It isn’t anger, it is an exhaustion with politics. In particular, politicians saying things, and then nothing ever changing,” he is expected to say. And you know what? People are right. Politics doesn’t work the way it should. We’ve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one – 30 years of vested interests standing in the way of change.”
Sunak will accuse Labour – recording a consistently double-digit lead over the Conservatives – of failing to “set out their stall” under Keir Starmer and betting on voters’ “apathy”.
And he will say he is the reformer: “Politicians spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it. Our mission is to fundamentally change our country.”
Sunak has struggled to keep the conference on track amid Tory criticism over HS2.
And his predecessor Liz Truss drew big conference crowds as she demanded immediate tax cuts to “make Britain grow again”, a year after she left office following a chaotic 49 days.
Sunak instead compared himself to Baroness Thatcher, who tackled inflation before cutting taxes during her premiership between 1979 and 1990.
He has repeatedly ducked questions about scaling back HS2 despite northern leaders, businesses and former Tory premiers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron all warning against the move.
But Sunak did on Tuesday say the costs of the project had gone “far beyond” what had been predicted, and the sums involved were “enormous”. The HS2 scheme was given a budget of £55.7 billion ($67bn) in 2015 but costs have ballooned, with an estimate of up to £98 billion – in 2019 prices – in 2020.
Since then, soaring inflation will have pushed costs even higher. It is unclear whether HS2 will reach central London in Euston, or terminate in the western suburbs of Old Oak Common.
Sunak would be expected to outline measures to soften the blow to the north, and has hinted at better train and bus connectivity in the region, and money to fix potholes. Transport Secretary Mark Harper acknowledged that “some people won’t like” the decision Sunak makes.
Street used a conference fringe event to issue a last-ditch plea for Sunak to change course. “I think they are about to make an incredible political gaffe,” he said.
“Every Labour MP in the North is lining up tomorrow to say … the Tories have come to Manchester to shaft the North.”
