Sunak promises to halve inflation this year as he sets out his vision ahead of the next election

The Prime Minister yesterday set out key commitments which he said were the priorities of the British people in his first speech of 2023.

He pledged to halve inflation this year, grow the economy, make sure national debt is falling, cut NHS waiting lists and pass new laws to stop small boats.

Mr Sunak promised “no tricks… no ambiguity… we’re either delivering for you or we’re not”.

“We will rebuild trust in politics through action, or not at all,” he said during the speech in east London, adding: “So, I ask you to judge us on the effort we put in and the results we achieve.”

The Prime Minister would not give specific timescales for any of his pledges apart from inflation, arguing that he did not think it was “responsible or the right thing to do with goals that are so complicated”.

Mr Sunak went on to hint at further policies that his Government would bring forward, as part of an effort to “build a better future for our children and grandchildren”.

These included the importance of improving numeracy as he pledged to make it a central objective of the UK education system.

“Yet in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before, and letting our children out into the world without those skills is letting our children down,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the plan would not mean a compulsory A-level for maths for everyone and may not be achieved in this Parliament.

Mr Sunak also said that he will look to tackle anti-social behaviour including graffiti, discarded drugs in children’s playgrounds and people who “gang together and cause disorder and disruption”.

“Anti-social behaviour isn’t inevitable or a minor crime,” he said, adding that he would give mayors, police forces and local authorities the tools they need to tackle it

He said this would be an important aspect of his plans to continue with levelling up the country.

“All the regeneration in the world won’t mean anything unless people feel safe in their communities,” he said.

The first polling of the 2023 this week showed Labour had a 20 point lead over the Tories, while Mr Sunak’s party remained unable to to hit 30 per cent of public support.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour only had 3 point lead at this point in 2022, as Boris Johnson’s involvement in “partygate” began to wreck public support in the polls.

Tomorrow, Sir Keir will set out his own vision for the country in a speech in London, where he will promise to deliver a “decade of renewal”.

The Labour leader warned that his party would not be “getting its big government chequebook out again” as he sought to compete with the Tories’ refound competence on the economy.

“Of course investment is required - I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone.

“But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess - it’s not as easy as that. There is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community.”

The Conservative Party Chairman, Nadhim Zahawi said: “This is yet another desperate relaunch attempt by Keir Starmer – his tenth since he became Labour leader.

“Every week he changes his position depending on what he thinks is popular – from supporting free movement to supporting the unions, he’ll say anything if the politics suits him.”