The machinery of Government is like turning an oil tanker… but we will get there and deliver change for working people
MISSION-led government means a ruthless focus on working people’s priorities.
It means driving them through despite obstacles or doubters. And it means instilling purpose and ambition to restore trust in politics once again.
That’s what Sun on Sunday readers voted for in July, and that’s what I’m delivering.
This Government was elected to turn the page on chaos, austerity and decline, choosing the path of stability, investment and reform instead.
Already we’ve seen the benefits with a Budget that has freed up tens of billions of investment in our NHS, prevented devastating austerity in our public services and protected the payslips of working people.
And we’ve gone further. We’ve raised the National Living Wage, handing an extra £1,400 each to millions of hard-working people.
Safer streets
We’ve attracted £63billion of investment into Britain.
We’ve launched our Border Security Command to smash the people-smuggling gangs.
We’re reforming the skills system so businesses can recruit the highly trained workers they need.
We’re knuckling down, but there’s more to do.
We’re improving the lives of working people with a decade of national renewal.
But Sun on Sunday readers want to know how we will deliver for them by the end of this Parliament.
That’s why, next week, I am setting out our Plan For Change, which will be the next phase of action across government.
It is the most ambitious yet honest delivery plan in a generation.
That means doing things a different way, and launching new, measurable milestones so the public can track our progress.
Because when I said this was a government in the service of working people, I meant it.
Delivering will be tough. We have major problems which we can’t fix overnight
Sir Keir Starmer
The missions are our mandate — growing the economy to put more money in working people’s pockets and rebuild Britain, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, secure power through clean energy and opportunity for all.
The milestones will track our progress.
They will also ensure the attention and resources of government are focused relentlessly on delivering real and meaningful change.
But we can only deliver on that alongside genuine reform.
We’ve started that work already, with radical measures in our NHS.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already been clear that failing NHS bosses will see their pay docked if they fail to deliver.
Because we know that every penny of taxpayer money must be spent wisely.
But we haven’t stopped there.
We’ve reformed planning laws to build new homes, pension pots to boost growth, industrial strategy to drive innovation, and children’s social care to support our young people.
I know delivering change will be tough. We were left a dire inheritance, with crumbling public services and crippled public finances to face up to.
In 1997, the incoming government inherited a public realm on its knees.
In 2010, the incoming government inherited public finances in desperate need of repair.
We inherited both of these with a £22billion black hole in the public purse.
These are major problems that cannot be fixed overnight. I make no bones about that, and there’s no point pretending otherwise.
Obstacles and blockers
Meaningful change is not easy to deliver, and that’s why I’m taking a new approach.
Gone are the days of sticking -plaster politics and Tory politicians promising the world but failing to deliver.
The British people aren’t fools. They know a ruthless focus on priorities is essential.
Yes, there will be obstacles and blockers — maybe even protests. And yes, it will take time.
Focusing the machinery of government can be like turning an oil tanker.
Is it any wonder — after years of broken Tory promises, expensive gimmicks and berating from the sidelines — that it’s not just the public that has lost confidence in government’s ability to deliver, but that acceptance of managed decline has even seeped into parts of Whitehall?
This Labour Government was elected to deliver change for working people.
With this ambitious but honest plan, coupled with relentless focus, that is exactly what we will do.