Chancellor Rishi is the right man for jobs

RISHI Sunak faces a challenge as Chancellor which would make even his greatest predecessors tremble but he demonstrated yesterday why he is indisputably the right man for the job.

He is determined to ensure that all people in every part of the UK share in the economic recovery. He stood before MPs and delivered the spending review not as a defender of vested interests but as a champion of communities which have been dealt cruel blows by the pandemic.

Success for Mr Sunak means more than an uptick in GDP. He wants new hospitals, better schools, vigorous action against crime and the creation of superb new infrastructure.

Above all, he understands the critical importance of people having jobs. Families in every part of Britain have memories of how the lives of loved ones were devastated by unemployment, and Mr Sunak will invest billions to ensure people are not denied the dignity of a decent job.

Government spending will reach £ 540billion next year. This is a colossal sum of money but we are in the throes of a true emergency; the growing debt cannot be ignored but it can be managed.

If resources are invested wisely and the foundations for future prosperity are laid today, then there is the real hope that the Britain which emerges from this crisis will be a better country for everyone.