14 May 2008
Transcript of a statement by the Prime Minister on the Draft Legislative Programme at the House of Commons.
Read the full statement
Lasting Prosperity and Real Fairness for All
I’ll start by saying this has been a difficult few months for the Government. But most importantly for the country.
I know that the economic situation - as a result of the global credit crunch and rising prices - is creating genuine, and understandable anxiety.
So it is more important than ever that the direction of the Government is clear and decisive.
First of all, building a lasting prosperity is my immediate priority.
And let me tell you that I am determined to take all necessary measures to make sure that we guide Britain through this period of global turbulence.
Prosperity will be damaged unless we:
- take action to ensure we don’t see a wage and price spiral;
- take action to support homeowners and understand the needs of those facing high fuel bills and food costs;
- take action to support business and enterprise, using the constructive power of government intervention to help people through this difficult time.
That is why we will work to bring consumers and producers together in the International Energy Forum so we get a better balance between supply and demand. And we will work with the UN, IMF and the World Bank to take action internationally on food prices.
Closer to home we will prevent the mistakes of the past by preventing the old price and wage spiral where wage rises were wiped out by rising inflation. We have concluded three year pay deals with 1.5 million public sector employees and encourage similar stability in the private sector.
But this is not enough.
I know that for most families their greatest store of wealth is their house, and the dream that their children get on the housing ladder so they can have both independence and future prosperity.
That is why we have launched a substantial package to stimulate the housing market and to accompany low interest rates. Many first time buyers are finding it hard to get 100 per cent mortgages that is why today we announce that for the first time shared equity mortgages will be open to applications from all first time buyers, subject to a household income limit. This will allow them to build up full equity in the house over time, giving young people a gentle step onto the housing ladder.
With the Bank of England’s liquidity injection of £50 billion into the mortgage market we will help banks provide new mortgage lending.
But this is only part of the picture in building lasting prosperity.
In a world dominated by the rise of India and China we cannot afford to stand still. That is why this Government must focus on building a prosperous economy by encouraging enterprise at every turn.
We cannot guarantee future prosperity unless we build upon the work we have done in making Britain a more flexible economy and press ahead with our commitment to enterprise by:
- reducing unnecessary regulation;
- maintaining flexible labour markets;
- modernising and simplifying the UK’s corporate tax regime.
But even this in and of itself will not suffice. We must ensure that this lasting prosperity delivers real fairness.
In the old world social justice involved just compensating people. Social justice in the new world is about helping people rise as far as their talents can take them and make the most of their potential.
For that reason our social policy must have hope and aspiration at its centre.
So this is the essential position of my leadership.
Fairness means, yes, we will address poverty. But yes too fairness means we are always on the side of aspiration and ambition.
I have never forgotten what drove me into politics was seeing at first hand the injustice of wasted potential. To see friends of mine with ability and talent who weren’t give the same chances, the same breaks as me and the tough lives they had to live, but who should also have had the opportunities and encouragement to make more of their potential.
My school’s motto was “I will try my utmost”. The school’s nearby was “reach for the light”.
Today I aspire for everyone to reach for the light - their ambition. Very simply I aspire to create an opportunity-rich country where every one can get on and get up in the lives we live. Never to level down, always to lift up.
The best way for families to realise the hope that their children will have a better life than them is through education, learning and skills.
We will do this by doing everything to ensure that every school is a good school.
Education now starts with nursery at 3 - and will go right through to 18.
But it is also more personal to a child’s needs with new chances for those that need it - to have access to personal tuition and at secondary school support and advice from a personal tutor.
By the time the legislation announced today is passed, I want every qualified teenager to be able to acquire apprenticeships or go to college or university. And every adult lacking skills to have a guaranteed second chance in education.
By doing this we will ensure our children will have a better future than ours today.
Leaving no one out or behind is how we build a fairer Britain.
Building real fairness in Britain is also about people playing by the rules and government enforcing those rules.
So over the coming months we will roll out our Australian-style points system to make sure that only those who can contribute can come in. Newcomers will be required to learn English and play by the rules before they are allowed to become permanent residents or full British citizens.
And with fairness as our guide we will also pick up the pace of reform in our public services. Because it is not fair if the services you pay taxes for do not respond to your needs. It is not fair if you do not get a say in the medical treatment you receive or the way your area is policed. And it is not fair if the schooling in your area is so much poorer than that in another area.
So as we move onto the next stage of delivery we must make our services respond to what users want; services that genuinely serve you and your family by meeting both personal requirements and the demand for excellence. Services which are shaped by the user.
The health service is a decisive test and we will do our utmost to create a fairer NHS.
This is not about treating everyone the same but about tailoring the service to fit each of our needs. We have already acted to extend the hours of opening for GP surgeries. Now we will tackle underperforming hospitals, taking decisive action against any provider who falls below minimum standards. And we will give patients new rights to receive information about their care and to give them a greater say in what treatment is best for them.
Responding to user satisfaction is now commonplace in the private sector and whilst many NHS Trusts do this well, they are not financially incentivised to do so. So we will increasingly base payments to hospitals on patient reported outcomes and patient satisfaction.
On crime our goal is not just reducing crime or its causes but also making people feel safe in their neighbourhoods. That is why there are now neighbourhood police teams in every area of the country. We will give residents a say on how crime is tackled by giving local people more direct control over policing priorities and responsiveness through directly elected representatives. And we will root out and reduce red tape to make sure police officers are spending more time on the beat and less time in the station.
Building this fairer Britain has to involve helping those in need and ensuring that those who can work do work. So we will help more people off incapacity benefit; and we will ensure every unemployed person has the skills they need and a duty to acquire them where necessary to get into the labour market.
We are also proposing major changes to help you get on in life and to manage your work-life balance. We propose to give every worker the right to request time to train and to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of older children, in order to help them balance their work and family life.
Finally, as families across the country face pressures, so government must respond. That is why we have announced a new efficiency programme to see how we can deliver much better value to every family in Britain. More and better public services for every pound spent.
And this will mean fewer civil servants than at any time since 1945.
This then is my purpose and pledge. We will see Britain through this difficult time. In the past we were first in and last out of a recession. In the last eleven years we have avoided recession and we will emerge from this world slowdown stronger and better, both as a country and a government.
So there is no lack of clarity about direction, let me state unequivocally:
- for economic stability, we shall continue to favour a strong, flexible and dynamic market economy and be prepared to act on the side of families and intervene where necessary to ease the pain of the credit crunch;
- we will support the housing market;
- the impact of a changing world on UK competitiveness also requires us to ensure we simplify the tax system to support business, to keep regulation smart and lean, used only where there is no alternative, and to reward enterprise;
- we will put ambition and aspiration at the centre of our social policy. And deliver an opportunity rich Britain;
- public service and welfare reform will move further and faster on diversity of supply;
- we will give patients and parents more say over the management of their local hospitals, schools and police;
- we will ensure fairness by far more stringent checks on illegal immigration and a tougher test for permanent residency or British citizenship;
- and we will strive to create greater efficiency and value for money in Government.
So I ask, and indeed expect, to be judged by this test: our stewardship of the British economy and building a lasting prosperity by releasing untapped potential.
And with this lasting prosperity we can pass a second and wider test: building a fairer Britain where nobody who makes the effort is left out or loses out and where all can enjoy the rising opportunities of a new world.
That opportunity-rich Britain is both my passion and my purpose. And to advance it is my promise.
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