It’s always great to be here in Birmingham. A city that is at the heart, not just of our country but also – our plans for growth – as we announced two weeks ago £500m worth of new investment in battery storage will create the jobs of the future right here. And that’s a snapshot of the Britain we are building this week and beyond.
Our economy – stabilised.
The foundations – fixed.
Hope in the future – restored.
Another step taken on the long, difficult, but resolute path that we will walk.
Towards a Britain returned to the service of working people.
I said on the steps of Downing Street – the day after the election that this would be a government for the working people of this country.
That, when the cameras stopped rolling. When that black door closed. We would carry their hopes and aspirations with us.
That the basic, completely reasonable desire to want a better future for your family. That would become the driving purpose of this Government.
Now, I will never stand here and tell you to feel better, if you don’t. And I will never ask you to feel grateful for what you should expect as a given.
Trust in my project to return Britain to the service of working people can only be earned through actions not words: Change must be felt.
But every decision we have made. Every decision that we will make in the future will be made with working people in our minds’ eye. People who have been working harder and harder for years, just to stand still.
People doing the right thing maybe still finding a little bit of money to put away. Paying their way – even in the cost-of-living crisis but who feel this country no longer gives them or their children a fair chance.
People stuck on an NHS waiting list whose town centre is blighted by anti-social behaviour who can’t afford to buy a place they call home or can’t afford the home they have, because of the mortgage bombshell.
And people who feel ignored as their lives, no matter how hard they work slide into greater insecurity. Scared of the postman coming down the path – will it be another bill I can’t afford?
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I know some people want to have a debate about this and I know there will always be the exception that proves the rule. Welcome to the wonders of a diverse country!
But I also know that the working people of this country know exactly who they are and that – they are the golden thread that runs through our agenda. Every single one of our national missions is about delivering for them.
And we are getting on with the job. That’s why we reformed planning rules to get Britain building again – restore the dream of home ownership.
It’s why we ended junior doctor strikes to lift the pressure on our NHS. Start cutting waiting lists.
It’s why we stopped the riots with tough sentences for violent thugs.
Launched a Border Security Command to smash the people-smugglers.
Switched on Great British Energy to get Putin’s boot off our throat. Make our country more secure. Create good jobs – right across the country.
And it’s also why we’ve started the work of changing our economy. Stabilising it. Fixing its foundations.
But also – changing how it works for them. An employment bill that will finally make work pay. That will contribute to growth and raise living standards for working people. A direct response to the cost-of-living crisis, we were elected to tackle for them. Because let me tell you, it is working people who pay the price when their Government fails to deliver economic stability. They’ve had enough of slow growth, stagnant living standards and crumbling public services.
They know that austerity is no solution. And they’ve seen the chaos when politicians let borrowing get out of control.
We choose a different path. Honest, responsible, long-term decisions in the interests of working people.
Because it’s stability that means we can invest. And reform that will maximise that investment. £63 billion worth of investment secured from business two weeks ago – a record-breaking show of confidence in our plan for growth.
That’s investment that will create tens of thousands of jobs. Good jobs – in every corner of the country.
I know some people will recoil when we say we have to take the tough decisions needed to fix the foundations.
This doesn’t happen by accident it’s because business can see we are fixing the foundations. Everyone who finds damp in their house – know they have a decision. Paint over it or strip it out, pull off the plaster, deal with it once and for all.
So, I will defend our tough decisions all day long.
It’s the right thing for our country. The only way you get the investment we need. Stability. Investment. Reform.
That is how we fix the NHS, rebuild Britain, and protect the payslips of working people, delivering on our mandate of change.
That’s what the Budget this week will be about. It’s what every week of this Government will be about.
A Budget for working people, from a government for working people. Because returning Britain to their service, that’s our fundamental cause – and it never changes.
It will also be the first budget delivered by a woman – ever. That is a moment of pride. That is a moment of pride. When Rachel Reeves stands up – she will be making history – young women and girls will watching across the country. They will look up – and they will notice.
It will also be a Budget which will show to the British people that we won’t be distracted from our task.
We will stick to our long-term plan. Run towards the tough decisions, rip-off the short-term sticking plasters, so we can lead our country finally but decisively out of this ‘pay-more, get less’ doom-loop [political content removed].
Of course there will still be tough decisions. Rebuilding Britain and delivering growth, that will take the skills and effort of all of us.
That is why this Budget will also Get Britain Working. It will pave the way for reforms that tackle the root causes of economic inactivity, make sure – that those who can work, do work.
[Political content removed] we will always help those who cannot support themselves, but the UK is the only G7 country where economic inactivity is still higher than it was before Covid.
That is not just bad for our economy, it’s also bad for all those who are locked out of opportunity. So the Chancellor will announce £240 million in funding to provide local services that can help people back into work, and the dignity it brings.
A Britain that works for working people. With all those who can, playing their part.
We will also be ruthless in clamping down on government waste, just as we will be ruthless on clamping down on tax avoidance, so the British people that every penny counts.
Every single person in this country had to do that during the cost-of-living crisis and government must be no different.
And frankly, when we’re asking broader shoulders to carry a higher burden on tax, that determination to be more productive and efficient in government, that’s the very least their contribution deserves.
Look – nobody wants higher taxes, just like nobody wants public spending cuts. But we have to be realistic about where we are as a country. This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees. And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong, but the public finances were weak. We have to deal with both sides of that coin.
These are unprecedented circumstances, but the budget the Chancellor will deliver on Wednesday, will prevent devastating austerity in our public services and prevent a disastrous path for our public finances.
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And yes – things are worse than we could possibly have expected during the election – the Budget will set that out very clearly.
I mean – just look at the state of our prisons last week.
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On Rwanda, asylum hotels, propping up failing train companies [Political content removed] . An economy riddled with weakness on productivity and investment. A state that needs urgent modernisation to face down the challenge of a volatile world.
A country where people don’t just lack faith in politicians to fix any of this but also wonder – whether Britain can. Whether we still have the resources to move forward or whether decline is now an incurable disease.
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I expect to be judged on my ability to deal with this. I expect to be judged on my ability to deal with it. Politics is always a choice. So we won’t hide from our decisions on Wednesday or for that matter, any day.
Besides, as I said two weeks ago at our International Investment Summit we have huge assets in this country. Leading positions in the industries of the future:
Clean energy, artificial intelligence, life sciences, the creative industries, a technology sector that is the envy of Europe. A heritage steeped in science, trade and innovation. And values. Values deep in the bones of this nation and which say, to the world – this country is open for business. This country respects diversity and difference under the same flag.
We are still the country, known all around the world for our pragmatism and our creativity, the ingenuity and industry of our people and so if we do grasp the nettle on our economy, if we do fix those foundations, stick to those values and deliver the change working people need we won’t just get through this – better days are ahead.
Seriously – this is an economic plan that will change long-term British growth for the better. We are tackling the biggest challenges in our economy.
Higher investment – we’re dealing with it.
Planning – we’re reforming it.
The labour market – we’re getting people back to work, but also making sure work pays.
On competition – we’re stripping out the needless regulation that holds back private investment and all of this built on that foundation of economic stability. This is what fixing the foundations means.
What delivering change means. Everyone in this country will benefit from this. Everyone can wake up on Thursday and see that a new future is being built. A better future. But I tell you now – what we can’t do. Is waste any more time.
Politics is a choice and it’s time to choose a clear path.
It’s time to embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality. So we can come together behind a credible, long-term plan.
It’s time we ran towards the tough decisions because ignoring them set us on the path of decline.
It’s time we ignored the populist chorus of easy answers because we saw what happens if you reject the constraints of economic stability and we’re never going back to that.
That is our choice. Stability – to prevent chaos.
Borrowing that will drive long-term growth.
Tax rises – to prevent austerity and rebuild public services.
We choose – to protect working people.
We choose – to get the NHS back on its feet.
We choose – to fix the foundations reject decline and rebuild our country with investment.
And while I’m sure you understand I can’t get into individual measures before Wednesday. I will say this.
If people want to criticise the path we choose – that’s their prerogative. But let them then spell out a different direction.
If they think the state has grown too big let them tell working people which public services they would cut.
If they think tax rises are unfair let them tell working people which taxes they’d raise instead.
If they don’t see our long-term investment in infrastructure as necessary let them explain to working people how they would grow the economy for them.
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Because I have said it before and I will say it again the time is long overdue for politicians in this country, to level with you, honestly about the trade-offs this country faces.
To stop insulting your intelligence with the chicanery of easy answers. Working people know that hard choices are necessary.
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They lived through the cost-of-living crisis so they know that the things they want from us:
Protecting their living standards.
Rebuilding our nation.
Fixing our public services.
They know – that this can only be achieved alongside economic stability. There are no short-cuts.
No, what they want to see on Wednesday is a country on a different path. Making different choices. They don’t want to pay the price anymore, in times of crisis because our economic foundations are weak and they don’t want to see the proceeds of growth which could serve their family, their community, their public services – instead – always serving those at the top.
They want change and that is what they will get.
Because that is the mandate we were elected to deliver and the only path consistent with our driving purpose to return Britain to the service of working people.
That purpose also runs through the priorities we set out in our manifesto.
The national missions which capture the hope working people have for the future of our country. Look – there is a paradox in politics at the moment.
All around the world, traditional values. Democratic values. Values that have underpinned the way countries like ours have operated for years. The pragmatism that is part of our identity, it’s under attack.
Why?
Because people – working people most of all have lost faith it can still deliver for their family. And yet, at the same time, what people want from politics that hasn’t changed.
People want a stable economy, they want their country to be safe, their borders secure. Economic security, national security, border security. Those are still the foundations everything rests upon.
And then beyond that they want exactly what those national missions promise.
A growing economy.
Safer streets.
Clean British energy in their home.
Opportunities for their children.
And an NHS that is there when they need it.
I know populism preys on the fears people have that these things no longer belong to them. But I have never felt the right response is to ignore those concerns rather than showing that they can still be delivered.
So I am never going to pick just one of these missions – and say that’s everything because every single one of them matters to working people. And for the same reason – I will never turn away from them either.
In fact, because I know actions speak louder than words because I expect to be judged by the British people.
In the coming weeks, on every mission, we will publish clear ambitions for this Parliament and we will also track our progress against them, so that every single person in this country can see exactly how we measure up to things that matter to them.
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They want to see us build 1.5m homes, make sure a record number of children start school ready to learn, raise living standards so that there is more cash in their pocket, restore confidence crime will be punished. Guaranteed neighbourhood policing in every community.
Make our energy system more secure by harnessing clean British energy, accelerating towards net-zero.
And on our NHS, they want us to cut waiting times dramatically and meet the 18-week target – that is still the best benchmark for an NHS that is back on its feet facing the future, once more – a beacon of pride to the world.
These are my priorities for change and I won’t change course.
The budget will light the way and we will use the power of government.
Stability, investment and reform, partnership across the whole of society, galvanised by clear objectives.
To deliver on the priorities of the British people.
The foundations – fixed.
Public services – renewed.
A country rebuilt by investment.
Released from decline.
Returned once more.
To the service of working people.
Now that is the course we set this week.
That is the driving purpose of this government.
That is the change we will deliver.
Thank you very much.
