It was painful to see my friend Kwasi Kwarteng leave the government, but we must build a high-growth, low-tax economy

Striving for economic growth is not only my political mission.

It’s personal. I know from my own upbringing what it’s like to live in a place where the benefits of growth aren’t felt.

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I remember the downed high streets and closed shops of Paisley and Leeds as a child.

I remember the anger of people who wanted to build a better life but didn’t get the chance.

I remember the frustration that so much talent was wasted.

So while, as I set out on Friday, we will do things differently and embark on a new growth trajectory, that remains the core mission of this administration.

We will move Britain and give everyone in this country the chance for a better life.

At the moment, people in the UK are right to want stability and opportunity.

As Prime Minister, I will work flat out to provide both given the enormous challenges we face.

We know that the global economic crisis has been fueled by the barbaric war of Covid and Putin in Ukraine, with interest rates and energy prices rising around the world.

I know that due to the energy crisis, Sun readers were seriously concerned about how they were going to make ends meet.

So we pulled out all the stops to protect families and businesses this winter and next.

That was the right thing. It was the largest part of our mini budget.

However, it has become clear that other parts went further and faster than markets expected.

I listened, I understand. We are therefore sticking to the upcoming corporation tax increase.

This will bring in £18 billion a year. But I want Sun readers to be in no doubt that the burden will be borne by those with the broadest shoulders.

Smaller businesses like electricians and plumbers don’t pay the full rate and those earning less than £50,000 will see no increase at all and will continue to pay corporation tax at 19 per cent.

We will control the size of the state to make the private sector grow faster.

Our public sector will become more efficient to deliver quality services, including the National Health Service and the Police.

As conservatives, we stay in the business of helping working people keep more of their hard-earned money by lowering taxes.

We started to do this by reversing the planned increase in Social Security.

But we cannot pave the way to a low-tax, high-growth economy without maintaining market confidence in our commitment to sound money.

It was painful to see my friend Kwasi Kwarteng leave the government.

But in Jeremy Hunt we have a very experienced new chancellor who shares my desire to build a high-growth, low-tax economy.

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Jeremy will also present our plan to reduce government debt in the medium term later this month.

To deliver for the British people, we must take on the anti-growth coalition that threatens to hold us back.

At the top are Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, who know nothing about aspirations.

They just don’t understand the British. Therefore they have no plan or vision for our country.

Keep pressing

If Keir Starmer’s anti-growth coalition had his way, only his hard-left friends would benefit.

Freedom of speech would be stifled and companies would be shackled with ever-increasing mountains of bureaucracy.

Protesters would have a free hand to block our roads while strikers shut down our railroads.

We cannot allow Britain to be held back by this militant mob.

That’s why this week we will push ahead with new measures to stop the chaos of guerrilla protests and curb the power of militant rail unions.

This is just the beginning.

We will continue to drive reforms over the coming weeks to do everything from helping you start your own business to breaking ground faster to build what local communities need most.

As Prime Minister, I will always act in the national interest.

Every day I think of nothing but supporting families and businesses in our great country.

The best way to do this is to make our economy grow.

Simply put, growth means stability, security and success.

No matter how difficult things get, my mission will remain the same.

Striving for growth is crucial – not only for this generation, but also for generations to come.

I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we’re successful.