Rishi Sunak showed Tories he CAN save us from Keir Starmer's wokery

The day Rishi Sunak gave Tories a reason to believe he CAN save us from Keir Starmer’s wokery

• The PM revealed plans to phase out smoking, sparking an immediate Tory revolt 

Rishi Sunak invoked Margaret Thatcher yesterday as he laid out a ‘bold and radical’ policy blitz to transform Britain – and rebuild Tory fortunes.

In a major gamble, he brushed aside protests from his No 10 predecessors and confirmed the northern leg of HS2 will be axed in favour of billions of pounds of regional transport upgrades.

The Prime Minister also unveiled plans to phase out smoking, sparking an immediate Tory revolt. And he set out proposals to axe A-levels and replace them with an ‘Advanced British Standard’, which will require youngsters to study maths and English until the age of 18.

The Prime Minister dedicated a chunk of his conference-ending speech talking up his pride in multi-ethnic Britain, in the importance of family and drawing a dividing line on gender ideology to create clear blue water with Labour.

Introduced on stage by his wife, Akshata Murty, Mr Sunak said his rise from humble beginnings to No 10 showed Britain was not a racist country, despite claims from the Left. And he threw down the gauntlet to Labour over trans rights by declaring: ‘A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.’

Rishi Sunak invoked Margaret Thatcher yesterday as he laid out a ‘bold and radical’ policy blitz to transform Britain – and rebuild Tory fortunes. Pictured: Rishi Sunak with his wife Akshata Murty

The Prime Minister unveiled plans to phase out smoking, sparking an immediate Tory revolt. And he set out proposals to axe A-levels and replace them with an ‘Advanced British Standard’

Rishi Sunak was introduced on stage by his his wife Akshata Murty (pictured)

Ms Murty paid tribute to her husband, praising his ‘aspiration’ and his commitment to ‘doing the right thing for the long term, even when it is hard’.

In a policy-heavy speech, Mr Sunak:

• Scrapped the Manchester leg of HS2 – a move condemned by Boris Johnson and David Cameron – and pledged the £36billion saved would be ploughed into a new ‘Network North’ plan to improve connections across the North and Midlands;
• Unveiled plans to raise the smoking age every year, meaning that children aged 14 today will never be able to buy cigarettes legally;
• Set in train a ten-year plan to transform post-16 education that will see youngsters required to study five subjects instead of the usual three A-levels;
• Announced £30,000 tax-free recruitment and retention bonuses for teachers in key areas, allowing schools to provide more teaching time;
• Pledged that he ‘will deliver’ tax cuts once inflation is tamed;
• Announced a crackdown on the marketing of vapes, to tackle the ‘worrying’ rise of teenage users;
• Accused Labour’s Keir Starmer of ‘banging on about Europe’ and warned he ‘can’t be trusted’ with Brexit;
• Hinted he would be willing to quit the European Convention on Human Rights if judges block his Rwanda asylum plan;
• Announced a ‘life means life’ policy for the worst sexual and sadistic killers.

Pitching himself as an agent of change after 30 years of failed political consensus, Mr Sunak told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester: ‘We will be bold. We will be radical. We will face resistance and we will meet it.

‘We will give the country what it so sorely needs, and yet too often has been denied: A government prepared to make long-term decisions so we can build a brighter future – for everyone. Be in no doubt: It is time for a change. And we are it.’

Mr Sunak likened his background as a pharmacist’s son, to the humble origins of Baroness Thatcher.

‘The party of the grocer’s daughter and the pharmacist’s son, will always be the party of enterprise,’ he said.

And, in a thinly veiled criticism of predecessors Mr Johnson, Theresa May and Mr Cameron, he pledged to shatter a three-decade ‘consensus’ that has taken hold since Baroness Thatcher left Downing Street.

In a major gamble, Mr Sunak brushed aside protests from his No 10 predecessors and confirmed the northern leg of HS2 will be axed in favour of billions of pounds of regional transport upgrades

‘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. Thirty years of rhetorical ambition which achieves little more than a short-term headline,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way. It won’t be this way.’

Allies acknowledged that the hour-long speech was a gamble designed to show the country that Mr Sunak has the energy, ideas and determination needed to lead the Conservatives to a fifth term in government next year.

The PM also piled pressure on Sir Keir to come clean about Labour’s plans for government, accusing him of trying to win the next election by default instead of setting out his own plans.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak is reported to Scottish police for ‘contempt of court’ after making comments about Nicola Sturgeon in Conservative conference speech

Mr Sunak held an emergency meeting of the Cabinet yesterday morning to brief them on HS2. He also held crisis talks with West Midlands mayor Andy Street who bitterly opposed the plan and was said to be on the brink of resigning.

Mr Street said he was ‘incredibly disappointed’ by the ‘agonising’ HS2 decision but would not quit the Tories, despite thinking ‘incredibly long and hard’ about his future in the party. The decision to axe the flagship levelling-up project came despite an outcry led by Mr Johnson, who warned last week that ditching the line to Manchester would be a ‘betrayal of the North’.

Mr Sunak insisted the project, where costs have ballooned from £30billion to an estimated £100billion, was the ‘ultimate example of the failed consensus’.

There was nothing ambitious he said ‘about simply pouring more and more money into the wrong project’, with the business case for the line ‘massively weakened’ by changes in post-Covid travel patterns. He pledged that every penny of the savings would be ploughed into alternative projects that would deliver ‘the same or more government investment … with quicker results’.

Mr Sunak said the pledge to phase out smoking would end the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill health, disability, and death. He acknowledged it was ‘never easy’ for a Tory government to place restrictions on freedom, but added: ‘What has ultimately swayed me is that none of us, not even those who smoke, want our children to grow up to be smokers.’

However the PM said legislation would be decided by a free vote by MPs.

Sunak’s Snapshots 

Invoking Maggie

‘This Conservative Party, the party of the grocer’s daughter and the pharmacist’s son, will always be the party of enterprise, the party of small business.’

Party that offers real opportunities to migrants 

‘What does the Conservative Party offer a family of immigrants? The chance to become energy secretary, business secretary, home secretary foreign secretary – even the chance to become prime minister.’

Champions of diversity 

‘We had the first ethnic minority prime minister when Queen Victoria was still on the throne, we have had three female prime ministers, and I stand before you today as the first non-white leader in our country’s history. Meanwhile, Labour’s last three leaders all live within the same square mile of north London.’

The proud husband 

‘My wife – truly the best long-term decision for a brighter future I ever made.’

Starmer’s backing for Corbyn 

 ‘Sir Keir Starmer might want us to forget about his repeated support for Jeremy Corbyn, but we never will. You can never trust Labour with our country’s security.’

Labour’s cynicism 

 ‘The Labour Party have set out their stall: to do and say as little as possible and hope no one notices.’

Common sense on wokery 

 ‘We shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t – a man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense.’

Jibe at Sturgeon 

‘Sturgeon wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who broke up our country, but now it looks like she may go down for very different reasons.’

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