It was a wrench to see my friend Kwasi Kwarteng leave Government but we must build a high-growth, low-tax economy
GOING for economic growth isn’t just my political mission.
It’s personal. I know from my own upbringing what it’s like to live somewhere that isn’t feeling the benefits of growth.
I remember the dejected high streets and shuttered shops in Paisley and Leeds in my childhood.
I remember the anger of people who wanted to build a better life for themselves but weren’t given the opportunities to.
I remember the frustration of so much talent going to waste.
So while, as I laid out on Friday, we are going to do things differently and chart a new course to growth, it remains the core mission of this Government.
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We will get Britain moving and spread the chance of a better life to everyone in this country.
Right now, people across the United Kingdom rightly want stability and opportunity.
As Prime Minister, I will work flat out to provide both amid the huge challenges we face.
We know the global economic crisis has been fuelled by Covid and Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine, with interest rates and energy prices rising around the world.
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I know the energy crisis left Sun readers gravely concerned about how they would make ends meet.
So, we pulled out all the stops to shield families and businesses this winter and the next.
This was the right thing to do. It was the biggest part of our mini-Budget.
However, it has become clear other parts went further and faster than the markets were expecting.
I’ve listened, I get it. So we are keeping the corporation tax increase that was previously on the cards.
This will raise £18billion a year. But I want Sun readers to be in no doubt, the burden will be borne by those with the broadest shoulders.
Smaller businesses like electricians and plumbers will not pay the full rate, and those making less than £50,000 will not see any increase at all, continuing to pay corporation tax at 19 per cent.
We will control the size of the state so the private sector grows faster.
Our public sector will become more efficient to deliver world-class services including the National Health Service and policing.
As Conservatives, we remain in the business of helping working people keep more of their hard-earned money by cutting taxes.
We started to make this happen by reversing the planned rise in National Insurance.
But we cannot pave the way to a low-tax, high-growth economy without maintaining the confidence of the markets in our commitment to sound money.
It was a wrench to see my friend Kwasi Kwarteng leave the Government.
But in Jeremy Hunt we have a highly experienced new Chancellor who shares my desire to build a high-growth, low-tax economy.
Jeremy will also set out at the end of this month our plan to get the national debt down over the medium term.
To deliver for the British people, we need to take on the anti-growth coalition threatening to hold us back.
Leading the charge are Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP who don’t understand aspiration.
They just don’t get the British people. That is why they have no plan or vision for our country.
Push on
If Keir Starmer’s anti-growth coalition had their way, only his friends on the hard Left would benefit.
Free speech would be stifled and businesses would be shackled with ever greater mountains of red tape.
Protesters would have free rein to blockade our roads while strikers grind our railways to a halt.
We cannot allow Britain to be held back by this militant mob.
That is why we will push on this week with new measures to stop the chaos caused by guerrilla protests and to curb the power of militant rail unions.
This is only the beginning.
We will drive further reforms over the coming weeks to do everything from helping you set up your own business to getting spades in the ground quicker, building what local communities most need.
As Prime Minister, I will always act in the national interest.
Every day, I am thinking of nothing else but how to support families and businesses across our great country.
The best way to do this is to get our economy growing.
Put simply, growth means stability, security and success.
No matter how hard things get, my mission will remain the same.
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Going for growth is critical – not just for this generation but generations to come.
I will do whatever it takes to ensure we succeed.