LAST week the Prime Minister set out the Government’s priorities for 2023.

These included halving inflation this year to ease the cost of living, growing the economy to get the national debt falling, reducing NHS waiting lists and passing new laws to tackle illegal immigration from across the Channel.

Each of these issues are important, starting with the cost of living. Examples of support provided so far in Central Devon include:

► At least £400 in energy bill support to all households,

► £650 in cost of living support to 8,500 low-income households,

► £150 disability payments to 1 in 10 households,

► An extra £300 winter fuel allowance for more than 13,000 pensioner households,

► £150 of council tax support for households in Bands A to D.

As Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I am also helping pensioners in our constituency with the cost of living by increasing the state pension by 10.1 per cent from April.

The second pledge – to grow the economy – will not be easy when many economies around the world are in recession. But by investing in innovation and supporting businesses, the UK can fight back. In fact, the UK economy is forecast to grow more than Germany and the United States during the two year period of 2022-2023. Specifically, the PM spoke about:

=increasing public funding in Research & Development to £20bn to enhance our world leading strengths in AI, life sciences, quantum, fintech, and green technology. 

=seizing the opportunities of Brexit to ensure our regulatory system is agile and pro-innovation.

=making sure entrepreneurial and fast-growing companies get the finance they need to expand.

The PM has tasked me to look specifically at reducing economic inactivity – for example among the 650,000 people who left the workforce during the pandemic but have not yet returned (many taking early retirement).

A third priority – to reduce NHS waiting lists – is another huge challenge. Demand on health services has increased to unprecedented levels and backlogs of surgeries and treatments due to the pandemic are still too high. 

The NHS is in a similar position in Wales under a Labour Government and in Scotland under the SNP. In fact the proportion of people waiting more than two years for treatment in Wales is about 200 times higher than it is in England (about one in 12 patients in Wales have been waiting more than 2 years compared to one in 2500 in England). 

The government is increasing hospital bed capacity by 7,000, providing new funding to discharge people more quickly, and the NHS is working urgently on further plans for A&E and ambulances.

The PM also spoke about new legislation to tackle illegal channel crossings, a third of which are from Albania, a safe and prosperous European country. While Germany, France and Sweden reject almost all Albanian asylum claims, we reject less than half. 

Our legal system is being abused and this must be addressed so we continue to look after genuine refugees while swiftly detaining and deporting those coming here illegally.

More from Mel at www.melstridemp.com