Some groups on the political spectrum who offer only grievance: The government is proceeding with the job of economic renewal.
At the budget last week, we made the right choices for Britain, lowering power bills with £150 off bills, defending public healthcare and combating the problem of impoverished children by scrapping the two-child restriction. Steps were likewise implemented that the revenue we raised through taxes was done equitably, with each person chipping in but those with the greatest capacity bearing an appropriate burden.
As a result of the choices we made, the budget created a more stable economic environment, reducing price increases and state borrowing costs. This is essential for securing our public services, when a tenth of all expenditures by government goes on debt interest.
Building on Economic Foundations
The plan reinforces the action we have already taken to enhance economic performance: providing £120bn in extra capital investment in such things as transportation and power infrastructure; introducing significant overhaul measures in a generation to support developers, not obstructionists; advocating for the growth of Heathrow and Gatwick; and signing trade deals with the EU, India and the US.
Taken together, these have allowed us to outperform our expansion estimates.
Renewing Our Nation
As I outlined at the party conference, the government’s purpose is precisely the renewal of our economy, our communities and our state. Via these methods, we will end decline and restore faith in our country.
We will challenge those on the both sides who only offer dissatisfaction and whose approach would lead to continued weakening. Let me be clear, increasing public debt or reimposing spending cuts – that is the approach of deterioration and I refuse to countenance it.
A Thorough Development Strategy
During an address next week, I will situate the financial plan within the broader commercial rejuvenation on which the government will be evaluated upon conclusion of this parliament.
For us to realize the national renewal we seek, we must do more to promote development, to combat unemployment among young people and to seek enhanced global partnership with our trading partners.
Bureaucracy Reduction Effort
Our development strategy will include a renewed focus on sweeping away unnecessary regulation. Frequently it was those on the left who have favored regulation, but there is nothing forward-thinking in regulations which merely act to raise the cost of living for the poorest, to slow down economic growth unnecessarily, or hinder a reformist leadership achieving its aims.
This is the reason I am asking the business secretary to tackle the type of excessive additions and needless paperwork that add to costs and get in the way of our industrial strategy.
Social Security Reform
Economic renewal also demands that we must continue to overhaul social security. We inherited a failing system that left children too poor to eat and which wrote off young people as too sick to work.
We must not accept either part of that failing Tory system. This explains we will do more to support adolescents in reaching their abilities.
Because if you are ignored in your early career, if you are denied the assistance you need to address psychological challenges, or if you are merely dismissed because you are having neurological differences or impairments, then it can imprison you in a loop of joblessness and neediness for decades.
This imposes financial burdens, is detrimental to our output, but considerably more crucially, it takes away opportunity and overlooks capability. Any Labour government worthy of the name cannot ignore that.
This is the reason we have commissioned former health secretary to make practical recommendations to help young people with health conditions access work, training or education – ensuring they are supported to succeed instead of excluded.
Global Commerce Improvement
Finally, we have to do more to help our businesses trade internationally. There is no credible economic vision for Britain that does not place us as a welcoming, business-oriented country.
We must confront the reality that the botched Brexit deal considerably harmed our commerce. You do not need to have a PhD in economics to know that erecting unnecessary trade barriers with your primary business associate will impede expansion and increase expenses.
Therefore a component of our economic renewal will be persisting in advancing toward a enhanced business association with the EU. Should we obtain less expensive nourishment, improve development and produce work opportunities by having a closer relationship with the EU, we should.
A Substantial Strategy for Significant Challenges
A financial plan founded on equitable decisions for Britain must be backed up with a determination to achieve the commercial rejuvenation that the country needs.
Through implementing a substantial, courageous extended strategy, not a set of short-term remedies, we will revitalize the nation. We should evolve anew a meaningful society, with a serious government, able collectively to undertake challenging tasks to regain control of our future.
By having a clear mission to rejuvenate our finances, our localities and our nation, we will execute the modification we committed to – and then be judged on it at the next election.