'Time to mark the Government’s homework'

MP for Ellesmere Port

WE’VE reached the end of the Parliamentary summer term and now is the time to mark the Government’s homework.

And it’s definitely a case of ‘Must do better’ for Rishi Sunak and Ministers sitting round the Cabinet table.

You may well remember that six months ago Rishi Sunak set out five pledges that would address “the people’s priorities”, based on “five foundations on which to build a better future for our children and grandchildren”.

The PM was going to halve inflation, he was going to grow the economy, the amount of debt owed by the nation would be falling, NHS waiting lists would be on a downward spiral and, of course, there would be fewer small boats full of asylum seekers crossing the Channel. His pledges, which at the time were seen as modest, were the yardstick by which he, and by implication everyone else, was to judge his time in office.

There are another six months to go, which is a good thing because marks on Rishi Sunak’s coursework so far are not looking good.

On inflation – and remember the Bank of England’s long-standing task is to keep inflation at two per cent – at the time he made his pledges it stood at 10.7 per cent, and with food inflation way above that figure. It now stands at 8.7 per cent when most experts expected to have dropped further than that by now.

Economists said inflation would steadily fall back over 2023, and halve as the Prime Minister hopes by the end of the year.Mr Sunak promised to “grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country”.On the economy, persistent sluggish UK growth rates have been of major and the official Opposition in Parliament has pointed out “the UK is one of the only advanced economies to not grow this year, so we could hardly do worse than we were”.

On the economy, the PM promised to deliver “greater investment in local areas to boost growth, create jobs” the last three months have essentially shown a flatling economy with no overall growth to report.

Turning to whether our national debt has shrunk, the short answer is ‘no’ and the International Monetary Fund says it will not do so anytime soon. Indeed, Government debt rose in June above 100 per cent of Growth Domestic Product for the first time since the 1960.

On the promise of NHS treatment queues, the pandemic is blamed for waiting lists problems, but waiting times were escalating long before we were confronted by the COVID-19 nightmare.

As of this month the number of people in England waiting to start hospital treatment has risen to a new high of 7.5 million, but there is a glimmer of hope that times for those on the longest waits are showing signs of improvement. However, given the waiting list was at 7.2 million when the pledge was made, it seems that we are heading in the wrong direction.

And finally to small boats filled with migrants crossing the Channel. In June Rishi Sunak said the number of people making the dangerous journey from France to England was down by about 20 per cent since last year but that appears to have been dictated by the weather with more recent figures suggest that the numbers crossing are about the same as last year, with a record daily number for the year arriving only last week.

In summary again, Must Do Better!