Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Sophie Huskisson

Rishi Sunak's five pledges six months on - from NHS waits to small boats crisis

In a major speech in January, Rishi Sunak unveiled his five priorities to stabilise the Government after months of crisis and political chaos.

The Prime Minister promised to cut NHS waiting lists, slash inflation, grow the economy and tackle the small boats crisis.

But six months on, not a single pledge has been met - and Mr Sunak seems to be getting further away from achieving many of his promises.

Downing Street has refused to give a timeframe for when these pledges will be achieved, only saying it will be "for the public to judge at the appropriate time".

However No10 admit the PM only has a limited time to meet his goals ahead of the next election.

We take a look at how Mr Sunak is faring on delivering his five pledges - as time is running out.

Rishi Sunak set out his priorities in his first major speech of 2023 (PA)

Stop the boats

Mr Sunak's pledge to "pass new laws to stop small boats" has been at the top of the news agenda since he made the promise on January 4.

In June, he insisted his plan was "starting to work". But figures released yesterday revealed asylum seekers maing the dangerous Channel crossings reached a new record for the month.

Some 3,824 migrants arrived by boat in June, compared with 3,140 in the same month last year. This pushes the total number of small boat arrivals so far this year to 11,434.

Mr Sunak's efforts were hit by a major setback last week when controversial plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda were ruled unlawful by judges.

Migrants arriving in an inflatable boat bound for Dover (AFP via Getty Images)

This decreases the likelihood of deportation flights taking off any time soon, despite the asylum policy being key to the Government's Illegal Migration Bill working in practice. The Bill - aimed at beefing up powers to tackle the problem - also suffered a series of defeats during its passage through the House of Lords.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper blasted the PM after data showed a record number of Channel crossings for the month of June.

She said: "Time and again the Prime Minister chases short term headlines instead of doing the hard work needed to tackle the problem. The numbers of dangerous crossings are rising again, hotel costs are spiralling, all while the government’s flagship Rwanda policy unravels in front of their eyes.

"The Prime Minister isn’t just failing to tackle the Tory boats chaos, he is making things worse."

Score: 1/10

Cut NHS waiting lists

The PM promised that NHS waiting lists would fall and that people would get the care they need more quickly.

At the time, 7.2 million people were waiting for routine hospital treatment. Since then, it has hit a new record of 7.4 million.

Only days after he made the promise, the multimillionaire PM was forced to admit he had used private healthcare - but said he was now registered with an NHS GP.

The NHS has been hit by severe disruption due to the Government's failure to resolve pay disputes with health unions. Figures released this week revealed almost 650,000 appointments and operations have been postponed due to the wave of strikes.

The NHS has been hit by a wave of strikes (AFP via Getty Images)

Aneira Thomas, the retired nurse who was the first baby born under the NHS, gave a scathing response to the Tories' handling of the NHS in an interview to the Mirror to mark the service’s 75th anniversary this week.

“I really feel that the Tories don’t care about the NHS the way we do because they can afford private healthcare. I fear it’s going back to the dark days," she said.

Score: 2/10

Reduce national debt

Mr Sunak set promised to "make sure our national debt is falling so that we can secure the future of public service".

But according to the latest figures, the UK's debt pile reached more than 100% of economic output for the first time since 1961 as Government borrowing more than doubled in May.

The impact of higher interest rates on the cost of servicing that debt further imperils the Prime Minister's chance of fulfilling his goal.

Efforts to cut debt will also make it less likely that Mr Sunak will have the scope to give in to Tory MPs clamouring for a pre-election tax giveaway.

Score: 1/10

Halve inflation

The PM's only pledge with a specific timeframe is to "halve inflation this year to ease the cost of living and give people financial security”.

This was once seen as the most achievable of Ms Sunak's pledges as it was thought he was seeking to take credit for something that was already set to happen. Inflation was forecast to fall from its January rate of 10.7% over the next 12 months to around 5%.

However, it has proved more difficult than forecasters expected at the start of the year as inflation remains stubbornly high at 8.7%.

The Bank of England added to mortgage misery by again hiking interest rates in June (PA)

The Bank of England added to mortgage misery by hiking interest rates again in June to an eye-watering 5%, in a bid to tackle inflation.

Mr Sunak needs to get it to around 5% to live up to his promise, but his means of achieving this are limited other than supporting the central bank's rate hikes and seeking to constrain spending.

Score: 3/10

Grow the economy

Mr Sunak's final pledge was to "grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country".

However, half a year on the economy is flatlining and higher interest rates, which increase the threat of the UK tipping into recession, also make this pledge more challenging to achieve.

Downing Street claims the economy is an area where "we have made ground".

"We were predicted to fall into a recession. That has not happened," Mr Sunak's spokesman said.

"Avoiding recession by any government, particularly when you're seeing countries like Germany not be able to maintain that path, is good to see, but clearly there is still a great deal of work to be done."

Score: 3/10

* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat , Tiktok , Twitter and Facebook .

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.