We will get through the economic storm by driving growth and tackling inflation
3 min read
When I stood outside Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister, I promised to take decisive action to get us through the economic storm we face in the wake of Covid and Vladimir Putin’s appalling war in Ukraine. I promised to unleash the potential of our United Kingdom and ensure it emerges a stronger and better nation.
Together, we have just mourned the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the rock on which modern Britain was built. We are now embarking on a new chapter in our national story under His Majesty King Charles III and will take on this new era with a new approach.
I am determined to reform our economy to get Britain moving. For too long, politicians have been caught up in a fight over how to slice up the economic pie in different ways. Instead, we have shown our readiness to do things differently by focusing on growing the pie.
We remain committed to the foundations of fiscal responsibility: sound public finances, a lean state and getting the debt down
Our Growth Plan sets out how we will deliver a target of 2.5 per cent growth. Of course, growth is about much more than numbers on a spreadsheet. Fundamentally, a growing economy gives families and businesses the hope of a better future. Growth means people have more money, businesses can invest more in their future and create jobs. It is key to providing more funding for our public services, including the NHS, schools and armed forces. That is why I will not apologise for our relentless focus on growth.
We believe people deserve to keep more of the money that they earn. And so, we are putting our money where our mouth is by delivering the biggest package of tax cuts in generations.
More than 30 million people will benefit from our changes to income tax and national insurance. We are abolishing the additional rate income tax altogether from next April to reward enterprise and incentivise growth for the benefit of the whole economy.
We are helping house-buyers, especially first-time buyers, to climb the ladder by cutting stamp duty. We are reversing the rise in corporation tax to maintain our edge in the global marketplace.
We will level up the country through the power of free enterprise by creating new Investment Zones across the country in areas like the Tees Valley, Norfolk and the Midlands.
This is Conservatism in action: taking a pro-growth, pro-consumer and pro-business approach to unleash our country’s potential.
At the same time, we remain committed to the foundations of fiscal responsibility: sound public finances, a lean state and getting the debt down. I know the prospect of unaffordable energy bills has left many families and businesses worrying about how they will make it through this winter. That is why we took immediate action to tackle the energy crisis. We are cutting everyone’s energy bills by an expected £1,400 this year through our Energy Price Guarantee, supporting the British people and reducing peak inflation by around five per cent. We are easing the pressure on bills in the short term while tackling the root causes of this crisis with the reforms necessary to ensure the UK never again finds itself in such a position.
This is only the beginning of our rolling programme of supply-side interventions over the next few weeks and beyond.
My strong team of ministers will unveil and deliver more measures to get our economy growing, including changes to the planning system, business regulations, childcare, immigration, agricultural productivity, and digital infrastructure.
Only the Conservatives can be trusted to deliver the results the British people expect. We will do what it takes to get Britain moving on the path to long-term success.
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