One year since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister: ‘inaction man’ and his five failing pledges

One year since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, Labour today exposes the scale of his failure to deliver for the British people.

Mortgages have sky-rocketed, school classroom ceilings have crumbled, and 90 per cent of crimes now go unsolved.

The unelected PM staked his premiership on five ‘pledges’, urging the British public “to hold my government and I to account on delivering those goals.”

Sunak’s five failing pledges:

• Rishi Sunak promised to halve inflation. Yet the UK is set to have the highest inflation of any G7 country this year, food prices are soaring, and petrol is once again on the rise. Inflation is set to be higher at the end of this year than forecasts predicted when Sunak became Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Labour analysis has found mortgage holders are £580 a month worse off compared to last year.

• Rishi Sunak promised to grow the economy. Yet the UK’s growth is set to be almost non-existent this year, the second lowest in the G7 and three times slower than the advanced economy average. The tax burden is at a record high.

• Rishi Sunak promised to cut debt. Yet the national debt has hit record levels, surpassing £2 trillion for the first time ever.

• Rishi Sunak promised to cut NHS waiting lists. Yet last month they rose to a record high of 7.75 million, meaning that one in seven people in England are currently waiting for NHS treatment.

• Rishi Sunak promised to stop the boats. Yet the asylum backlog has surged to a record high of 175,000 people, and 33,742 people have come in 708 small boats since he has been in power, and spending on hotels has reached £8 million a day.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General, said:

“The past year has seen weak Rishi Sunak pushed around by a chaotic and divided Conservative Party, allowed Liz Truss to dictate government policy, and hopelessly failed to deliver for struggling working families paying more on their mortgage thanks to the Tories.

"Inaction man Sunak simply isn't strong enough to turn Britain's fortunes around after 13 years of Conservative decline.

"As we’ve seen from Labour’s fantastic results in Selby, Rutherglen, Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire the British people are demanding change. Only a Labour government can turn the page on 13 years of Conservative decline, grow our economy, make working people better off and get Britain's future back."

Ends

Notes:

According to the International Monetary Fund, the UK is expected to have the highest average inflation in the G7 in 2023:https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/10/10/world-economic-outlook-october-2023

CPI forecasts for Q4 2023 are higher in the October 2023 summary of independent forecasts produced by Treasury than in the October 2022 version:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-forecasts

According to the International Monetary Fund, UK growth is set to be around 0.5 per cent this year, lower than every G7 country bar Germany. It is three times slower than the advanced economy average of 1.5 per cent: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/10/10/world-economic-outlook-october-2023

Over the course of this Parliament, taxes are set to rise by more than any other Parliament on record: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/will-be-biggest-tax-raising-parliament-record

When Sunak was Chancellor, the national debt surpassed £2 trillion for the first time ever:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-public-debt-two-trillion-record-coronavirus-economy-a9681236.html

NHS waiting lists have reached a record high: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/guide-to-nhs-waiting-times-in-england/

Small boats arrivals have reached 33,742 since Rishi Sunak took office:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats

Mortgage holders £580 per month worse off under the Tories:

• An average household with a mortgage spent £535 on their weekly shop in 2021/22. Table 32:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/datasets/familyspendingworkbook2expenditurebyincome   

• Based on inflation since 2021/22 in each of the 12 categories of Consumer Price Inflation, equivalent figures in August 2023 are £618. Table 57:https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/consumerpriceinflation

• That means that those with mortgage are paying £83 more a week today than in 2021/22, or £360 a month. 

• These figures do not account for rising mortgage costs among those re-mortgaging. The Bank of England said this would be an average of £220 a month: 

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financial-stability-report/2023/july-2023

• A family with a mortgage re-mortgaging could therefore face a total increase in monthly costs of over £580, made up of £360 in rising budget costs plus £220 in higher mortgage payments.