Good afternoon,
My conviction that this country needs to go for growth is rooted
in my personal experience.
I know what it’s like to grow up somewhere that isn’t feeling the
benefits of growth.
I saw what that meant and I am not prepared to accept that for
our country.
I want a country where people can get good jobs, new businesses
can set up and families can afford an even better life.
That’s why from day one I’ve been ambitious for growth.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the potential of this great
country has been held back by persistently weak growth.
I want to deliver a low tax, high wage, high growth economy.
It’s what I was elected by my party to do.
That mission remains.
People across this country rightly want stability.
That is why we acted to support businesses and households with
their energy costs this winter.
It’s also the case that global economic conditions are worsening
due to the continuation of Putin’s appalling war in Ukraine.
And on top of this, debt was amassed helping people through the
Covid pandemic.
But it is clear that parts of our mini budget went further and
faster than markets were expecting.
So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change.
We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal
discipline.
I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax
that was planned by the previous government.
This will raise £18 billion per year.
It will act as a down-payment on our full Medium Term Fiscal Plan
which will be accompanied by a forecast from the independent OBR.
We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a
share of the economy in the medium term.
We will control the size of the state to ensure that taxpayers’
money is always well spent.
Our public sector will become more efficient to deliver
world-class services for the British people.
And spending will grow less rapidly than previously planned.
I met the former Chancellor earlier today. I was incredibly sorry
to lose him.
He is a great friend and he shares my vision to set this country
on the path to growth.
Today I have asked to become the new Chancellor.
He is one of the most experienced and widely respected government
ministers and parliamentarians.
And he shares my convictions and ambitions for our country.
He will deliver the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan at the end of this
month.
He will see through the support we are providing to help families
and businesses including our Energy Price Guarantee that’s
protecting people from higher energy bills this winter.
And he will drive our mission to go for growth, including taking
forward the supply side reforms that our country needs.
We owe it to the next generation to improve our economic
performance to deliver higher wages, new jobs and better public
services, and to ease the burden of debt.
I have acted decisively today because my priority is ensuring our
country’s economic stability.
As Prime Minister, I will always act in the national interest.
This is always my first consideration.
I want to be honest, this is difficult.
But we will get through this storm.
And we will deliver the strong and sustained growth that can
transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.
