Stay true to our values and we will get through this together

One of the proudest moments of my life came in 2015 when I was elected to represent the good people of Richmond, North Yorkshire. I ran for the seat because I believed I had a duty to give back to the country that has given me and my family so much. I still feel that same sense of public duty every day.

During my time as Chancellor we, as a country, have been through some of the biggest challenges any generation has faced. A once-in-a-century pandemic, the most significant conflict on European soil for more than three quarters of a century and now the aftermath of both – rising inflation amid energy and food price shocks not seen since the early 1980s.

However, these are not intractable problems. Inflation can and will be tamed. Rising costs will be met with higher growth, higher productivity and higher wages. We have the tools at our disposal to fix the problems. It will not be easy but it will be done.

And the whole country should take confidence in the fact the Government is focused on them and their lives and what we can do to help.

We will not be dogmatic. Whether it was the furlough scheme, the Kickstart scheme, Help to Grow or the Future Fund, I will always prioritise the right idea, the policy that will help the most people and in the best way possible over and above any political advantage. Because doing the right thing for the country is good politics in of and itself.

The over-arching economic challenge we face right now is the task of rebuilding our economy after the pandemic. The cost of living challenge we are facing is the most immediate aspect and that is why we have committed £37 billion to support families across the United Kingdom. Helping with energy bills, council tax and more. This isn’t the effort of any one minister or department, but the entire Conservative team led by our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

And as a team we will help build a stronger economy.

Over time, we know higher productivity is the only way to achieve a sustainably high growth, high wage economy but we must also be honest about the long-standing weaknesses that are hampering our ability to achieve that, specifically in investment, skills and innovation.

I believe the Government is doing its part. Public sector net investment is at its highest sustained level in half a century. And yet, capital investment by UK businesses is significantly lower than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average and accounts for approximately half our productivity gap with France and Germany.

On skills, post-16 education funding is increasingly significant alongside initiatives such as the Prime Minister’s lifetime skills guarantees. However, UK employers at present spend just half the European average on training their employees.

Even in research and development business investment as a percentage of GDP is less than half the OECD average and explains almost all the productivity gap with the United States. So, in the autumn we will set out a range of tax cuts and reforms to help and incentivise businesses to invest more, train more and innovate more. I’m confident we’ll see the fruits of this plan in no time.

Take somewhere like Teesside where only a few years ago the SSI steel plant closed and thousands of jobs were lost. Since then, thanks to the ingenuity of the private sector, generous investment from this Government and strong local leadership from Ben Houchen, the mayor, new industries have sprung to life across the North-east. New carbon capture and storage sites, a new freeport, offshore wind, the Government’s new economic campus – it’s all there and is providing people with new opportunities.

I want to see that transformative change across the UK. A winning Conservative party represents the best of British values: a belief in hard work and fair reward, in justice and opportunity and that our country and its story is something to be proud of. We made it through the pandemic together and we have a plan to get families through the cost of living and grow our economy.

Politics at its best is a unifying enterprise and if we stay true to the values we share, we can inspire, unite and deliver for our country and be worthy of the great trust placed in us when we were elected.