Prime Minister written statement – made at on 5 December 2024.
This Government was elected to deliver change. To strengthen our country, in an increasingly volatile world, with a decade of national renewal.
This begins with the strong foundations of economic stability, secure borders and national security. In dangerous times, strengthening these foundations is ever more vital to the daily task of securing the national interest. The Government has begun this work, with a Budget that stabilised the economy, the creation of a new Border Security Command and increased investment in defence.
Building on these foundations, the Government has five national missions to deliver a decade of national renewal. These missions are our mandate, the priorities of working people:
To deliver change requires relentless focus and prioritisation, as well as tough decisions. This Government has already made such decisions to restore economic stability, including reforming agricultural property relief and means-testing the winter fuel allowance.
But, change has begun. Even while we have inherited the unprecedented twin challenges of crumbling public services and crippled public finances. We have made headway on our first steps: establishing Border Security Command; setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour; and beginning the work of recruiting 6,500 teachers in key subjects, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools.
Our missions represent a long-term plan for the country, an end to the sticking-plaster policies of the past. They capture the basic hope that Britain can get better. This Government has also been clear that it will do things differently. That includes being open and honest about what we will deliver.
That is why, today, I am pleased to lay in this House, our Plan for Change.
Guided by our missions, this Plan for Change shows the path towards a decade of national renewal. To drive us forward in this Parliament, it sets clear milestones to track our progress and allow the British people to hold us to account. These are our milestones for change:
These milestones for change are ambitious. Indeed, given the appalling economic situation and state of public services we inherited, meeting these milestones in this Parliament represents a huge challenge. Together, they represent the most ambitious and honest programme for government in a generation. But they are achievable. And for the next five years, they will give our country the stabilising certainty of a clear destination.
The Plan for Change is not just about government: these are milestones for the entire country - a partnership between public and private sectors, national and local government, business and unions, alongside the whole of civil society.
And so I am pleased today, with the publication of our Plan for Change, to invite Parliament, and the people of the United Kingdom, to join us in this mission of national renewal.