this is bbc news with the latest headlines the chancellorjeremy hunt is about to set out his plan to boost economic growth — — we'll bring you his speech live — due in the next twenty minutes. reports claim that the planned hs2 rail line may no longer reach central london because of rising inflation and construction costs. with the government not denying these reports, what do potential disruptions to hs2 make you think about access to rail travel across the uk? get in touch with me on twitter on @annitabbc and use the hashtag bbcyourquestions. president biden urges protesters in tennessee to remain peaceful after five former memphis police officers are charged with the murder of a black man, tyre nichols.

violin plays. ceremonies are being held to mark holocaust memorial day — to remember the millions of people — persecuted and murdered by the nazis. and britain's alfie hewett and gordon reid secure theirfourth successive australian open wheelchair doubles title — their 16th grand slam title together. hello and welcome. the chancellor, jeremy hunt will make a major speech shortly about where long term growth in our economy will come from.

mr hunt is expected to dismiss gloom as he sets out plans to increase productivity in the uk. it's also thought he'll pledge a relentless focus on the key industries of the future. but it comes against the backdrop of a cost of living crisis and ongoing strikes about public sector pay. it comes in a week the government has faced accusations it has no long term plans for growth. according to advance extracts from his speech released by the treasury he will say... the government will offer a plan for "long term prosperity based on british genius and british hard work". the plan for growth is a plan built on the freedoms which brexit provides. it is a plan to raise productivity. he'll say it is a plan to use the proceeds of growth to support our public services at home, and to support businesses with me is our correspondent darshini david. as we mentioned in the introduction, a difficult context and a difficult week for the chancellor to make the

speech and at the beginning of the week we had the cbi saying the uk was falling behind its rivals on green industry and technologies, a couple of days ago we had motor manufacturers saying the government had no plan for long—term growth so how can he convince them and anyone else who believes the government doesn't have a plant that they do? it is a tall order, isn't it. the chancellor will say do not talk written down but his speech is an admission britain can do better but will he have the answers this morning? possibly not. we know he will talk about employment, enterprise, education, everywhere by which he means spreading the gains all across and we may not get all the answers today. some in his party who say cut taxes, you free up cash and we grow faster, that's not going to happen and he is likely to say we cannot afford to do that for a while, we get public finances under

control given all the pressures we have been talking about. we talk about investment, that dry but necessary thing we need to get income is growing again, investment income is growing again, investment in skills and things like that, how do you give incentives to businesses? he says we have brexit freedoms, we can cut some of the eu red tape but in actual fact when you talk to businesses some of them say it is the uncertainty about things like the trading arrangements in ireland which remain which is stifling that kind of investment and actually some businesses are coping with more red tape as a result of brexit so we are likely to hear lots of warm words and statements from the chancellor on what he wants to see but it is not clear we will have all the answers.— see but it is not clear we will have all the answers. likely to be heavy on the music— all the answers. likely to be heavy on the music and _ all the answers. likely to be heavy on the music and light _ all the answers. likely to be heavy on the music and light on - all the answers. likely to be heavy| on the music and light on delivery, a strategy to deliver?— a strategy to deliver? absolutely, let's be clear. _ a strategy to deliver? absolutely, let's be clear. this _ a strategy to deliver? absolutely, let's be clear. this is _ a strategy to deliver? absolutely, let's be clear. this is a _ a strategy to deliver? absolutely, let's be clear. this is a challengel let's be clear. this is a challenge that has faced a lot of chancellors but has become even more acute

because of the situation we are talking about. our living standards are going into reverse, take away the changes in the cost of living and many people in this country are no better off than they were a decade ago so you can see why there is such a thirst to know how we can turbo boost our fortunes going forward but frankly, if you are going to tackle the nitty—gritty how do you increase skills, education, get people back to work unless you have a detailed plan when it comes to how you get businesses to work with you? do you have for example fund better childcare at low cost for people to get them moving back intojobs? all those for people to get them moving back into jobs? all those other kinds of answers people are looking for it but you may not yet much on that today but the chancellor is under pressure, the population, the markets, there is an election looming in the not—too—distant future and all of these things, he has play to that gallery but the results of these kinds of things

take an awful long time. fix, results of these kinds of things take an awful long time. a difficult context for this _ take an awful long time. a difficult context for this speech _ take an awful long time. a difficult context for this speech given - take an awful long time. a difficult context for this speech given the l context for this speech given the public sector strikes happening? very difficult and it indeed and he knows the strikes themselves are impeding the way the economy is performing and he knows there is a lot of dissatisfaction at the and he needs, frankly, to get workers back on side if we are to follow through on side if we are to follow through on the vision of us being a more prosperous nation going forward but how you do that without saying to people we will pay you more and balance that against the other pressures in the public finances, it's really hard to see how he will square all of that so only a few moments until he speaks, i'm not quite sure how many answers we will get to all of those questions. we will see. get to all of those questions. we will see- for— get to all of those questions. we will see. forthe moment, thank you will see. for the moment, thank you so much. and we'll cross live to that speech by the chancellorjeremy hunt a little later

in the united states — president biden has called for calm — after five police officers were charged with the murder of tyre nichols. a black man severley beaten after a traffic stop earlier this month. the officers in memphis, tennessee — who are all black — were fired last week after being accused of using excessive force. their actions were caught on body cameras. that video will be released within the next 2a hours. our correspondent peter bowes has more. another case of alleged police brutality in america. this time in memphis, where 29—year—old tyre nichols died three days after he was stopped for alleged reckless driving. his family say he was severely beaten. the five officers were sacked last week after an investigation found them to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of mr nichols. now they are being charged with second—degree murder. this is a failing of basic humanity towards another individual. this incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane.

video footage of the arrest will be made public in the coming hours. tyre nichols�* grieving family had an opportunity to review it earlier this week. i don't know anything right now. all i know is my son tyre is not here with me any more. he will never walk through that door again. he will never come in and say, "hello, parents," because that is what he would do. he would come in and say, "hello, parents." in a word, it's absolutely appalling. let me be clear. what happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. this was wrong, this was criminal. this is a case involving a young black man and police officers who were also black. it is, according to the civil rights leader, the reverend al sharpton, particularly painful

because of the race of the officers. for this young man to be beaten to death by five police is horrendous and inexcusable and intolerable. but even adding to that is more injurous to me and others that these are five black cops. we fought to put blacks on the police force. and for them to act in such a brutal way is more egregious than i can tell you. in a statement, president biden said tyre's family deserved a swift, full and transparent investigation into his death. he went on... with the imminent release of the video footage,

officials in memphis have called for calm but they are not discouraging people from taking to the streets. the days ahead will be tense. emotions are running high. with many americans asking, why does this keep happening? peter bowes, bbc news. tracking what shoppers buy, via loyalty—card data, can help spot those with early signs of ovarian cancer, doctors who have been running a study say. they found that frequent purchases of over—the—counter painkillers and indigestion tablets revealed a higher risk of ovarian cancer — which is often diagnosed late. there is no reliable screening test and the symptoms, such as bloating, can be vague and confused with other common, harmless conditions. holocaust survivor lily aybert was deported to auschwitz

by the nazis when she was just 20—years—old. soon she'll be turning 100 and to mark holocaust memorial day has started to share her experiences on tiktok — with the help of her great—grandson. graham satchell been to meet her. that was my number given in auschwitz. 10,572. they were born jewish. they are not human beings. we don't need them. what can we do with them? that is simple, we can kill them. we made a factory. a factory, not to produce something...

to kill picky people. and their crime was that they was born jewish. that was their crime. lily ebert was born into what she describes as a respectable middle classjewish family in hungary in 1923. we were six children. four girls and two boys. the most loving parents who any children can only dream of. when the germans invaded hungary, then our life changed from one second to the other. lily was put on a train to the nazi death camp, auschwitz—birkenau. it was 1944.

lily was just 20. when we arrived, we were selected. weaker people, men and women, first of all. their families were divided and that was terrible. my mother, my younger brother, brother and sister were taken to one side. i was taken there with my two younger sisters. the last time when i saw my mother, my younger brother and sister. and then it came the

darkest part of my life. more than 6 million people were killed in the holocaust. the vast majority were jews. auschwitz was both a death camp and a slave labour camp. lily was put to work in a factory making uniforms. we were not... taken for human beings. they cut our hair. the beautiful young girls were so dehumanised. they took away our life. lily was moved from camp to camp and was finally liberated in 1945 by the americans. astonishingly, footage of that moment was found a few years ago. this is lily, age 21. do you want to tell me about your younger sister?

she was the most beautiful little girl. lily made a promise after the war that she would tell her story as a warning to the world. when you look at these pictures... that these children were killed. with the help of her great grandson, dov, she's become a tiktok sensation. some of the videos are pure joy. lily has shared family photos and memories. but in most she answers questions about the holocaust sent in from all over the world, from her 2 million followers. at auschwitz, in the morning they gave us black water to drink, and that is what they called breakfast.

i never think that tiktok that i am a star, but i take it... i am very happy that i can be a part of it. i can tell the world, when we are not careful, we will... what can happen, and what happened in our generation. lily is now 99. her portrait, commissioned by king charles, hangs in buckingham palace. she received an mbe in the new year's honours list. she remains determined to tell her story. i hope for the sake of humanity, that humanity can survive. where nothing like that can happen again to anybody.

that was graham satchell reporting. and lily is a survivor of the holocaust and she is almost 100 years old. the chancellor's speech on growth comes as doubts have been raised over whether the h52 rail link will terminate in central london — as originally planned. the government hasn't denied a report this morning that the high—speed line may end in west london due to spiralling costs. the department for transport says it is committed to the service reaching manchester. the high speed rail services was orginally intended to connect london, birmingham, manchester and leeds but the leg to leeds has since been scrapped. joining me now from leeds station is the chief executive of the northern powerhouse partnership, henri murison. good morning to you. you are outstanding sum for what there was a promise, a plan to deliver connectivity to leeds, allowing it to connect with other parts of the

uk at a faster rate for passengers. that plan as i mentioned has been scrapped but what do you make of this report that the hst rail line not terminating in central london? if i was the chancellor i'd be very disappointed that someone has decided to brave the site on what should be a morning we were talking about growth because hs2 is critical to national productivity and growth, critical to productivity in the north of england under bowen in leeds we are waiting to find out how trains will get here, there is a commitment in the government integrated real plan to get hs2 trains to leeds even at the full line doesn't come here so whether you are in leeds or manchester, it's been promised a new line all the way to manchester, this report does not add up because the issue is that it is not enough platforms, maybe six platforms, far fewer than will be available at euston station so if you do not have euston station,

there is no way to get the same number of trains which means birmingham will get a service on hs2 but manchester and those trains running on to leeds, we can forget those so it's not good enough. whoever who has thought this up, it is a half baked idea and it will reduce the value for money of the whole scheme, every time we lop off another bit of line and every time those advisers close to boris johnson have another half baked thought, we make the project less valuable to the uk. other countries do not approach infrastructure like this and we need to stay the course and find better ways to save money on the project rather than reducing the benefits and making this so it would not compete with conventional rail so they need hs2 to do the same thing. rail so they need h52 to do the same thin. ~ . . ., rail so they need h52 to do the same thin. ., j~:: thing. according to the report 80-5 ear dela thing. according to the report 80-5 year delay is _ thing. according to the report 80-5 year delay is under _ thing. according to the report 80-5 year delay is under consideration i thing. according to the report 80-5j year delay is under consideration or pushing back the eastern terminus to 2038. as any of that acceptable to you even if it was for example a

two—year delay? you even if it was for example a two-year delay?— two-year delay? what we are interested — two-year delay? what we are interested in _ two-year delay? what we are interested in is _ two-year delay? what we are interested in is finding - two-year delay? what we are interested in is finding ways l two-year delay? what we are l interested in is finding ways to deliver this at the lowest cost to the taxpayer with maximum benefits we are concerned these proposals will make it more expensive to deliver the project. if we could access more private finance around the stations rather than buying the trains, none of the trains around me are owned by the government, why are we buying hs2 trains up front, these are things that we look at and make are things that we look at and make a difference but the longer you delay, the more you increase the costs so those people who complain that hs2 is too expensive, those people need to stand with us in the north of england, businesses in london making the case slowing down this project adds more cost, it does not save money. my sense would be the next three years we will big spending on hsz, if we can find ways to find out in different ways, including privately and we can make sure we are getting value in terms

of uk supply chains, people working, we can get stimulus for the uk economy. hs2 is valuable in the long term to the uk put in places like the midlands were a lot of money is being spent, there are huge opportunities for birmingham and surrounding areas and the supply chain structure to the north of england to places like teesside so i am clear with the government and those voices and the government that i briefing us out overnight. let sit and listen to the speech of the chancellor and talk about how we can grow the economy. jeremy hunt has been one of the biggest supporters of h52, much more so when he stood for the leadership against boris johnson and i support his ambition for the uk, i support what he will say in his speech this morning so let's get on with that, find a solution to the north—east which the prime minister is doing today rather than getting involved in parlour games when there are so many people who like to play engineer, who like to play tinpot engineer, who think doing this in the westminster village is a jollyjape but in the

north of england we are tired of it and we need commitment from the government to close the north—south divide and that means northern powerhouse rail and hs2 under an underground station at piccadilly to get maximum benefits so we can get direct trains from liverpool to manchester to leeds. i support the private sector, i do not trust the government. private sector, i do not trust the government-— private sector, i do not trust the covernment. ., ., ., , , , government. you are obviously hugely assionate government. you are obviously hugely passionate about _ government. you are obviously hugely passionate about this _ government. you are obviously hugely passionate about this as _ government. you are obviously hugely passionate about this as we _ government. you are obviously hugely passionate about this as we know - passionate about this as we know from previous interviews. just to be absolutely clear, the message that you are sending out today is if hs2 is not delivered as plant without connectivity right into central london that allows people from the of england to get the heart of london, then that would be a fundamental block to the sort of growth at the chancellor is going to be talking about in his speech and a few minutes, that is your message? absolutely. my point is there are not enough platforms, as much as i love ealing, the reality is people

from manchester and birmingham need enough platforms to be able to get to london so euston is essential and i think for central london, it's also the right thing for businesses there and i talk to my colleagues there and i talk to my colleagues there and i talk to my colleagues there and we will be having further discussions today to plan what we will do tackle this and fight back because the infrastructure of this country is much too important to be left to the westminster parlour games. there are many people in the westminster village who think they know best and can make that little obsessions about infrastructure policy have a massive impact on the country and we need to remember george osborne, people like him who had the vision and i am committed that whoever wins the next election, hs2 that whoever wins the next election, hsz will that whoever wins the next election, hs2 will survive. we have a chancellor who cares and in rachel reeves we have eight inch a chancellor who will protect the project so we have commitments from those people and we will work with them to deliver that's what i cynics and those on the outside of the

bubble are trying to perpetrate and create rumours and speculation which i think is motivated to destabilise the speech from the chancellor today. the speech from the chancellor toda . ~ , ., today. we must leave it there. chief executive of — today. we must leave it there. chief executive of the _ today. we must leave it there. chief executive of the northern _ today. we must leave it there. chief l executive of the northern powerhouse partnership, at leeds station for us this morning, thank you. we are asking you today what you think of the report suggesting that hs2 would no longer terminate at euston station in central london. also suggestions it might be delayed and eventually terminate there but it may be delayed. what would that mean to you about connectivity around the uk? please get in touch with us and give us your thoughts. you can do that on twitter. use the hashtag bbc your questions. israel says it's carried out air strikes against palestinian militants in gaza — after several rockets were fired into israel. they were intercepted by israeli air defence systems. the scale of the bombing in gaza is not yet clear. tensions have escalated in the region following the israeli military raid in the occupied west bank on thursday

in which nine palestinians — both fighters and civilians — were killed. israeli security forces say they entered a refugee camp injenin — to arrest members of the armed group, islamichhad, who they accuse of planning a major attack. our middle east correspondent yolande knell told us more from jerusalem. it's a pattern that unfortunately we have seen before, when you have violence in the west bank or in jerusalem very quickly, it spreads to the gaza strip. we know that the israeli operation injenin was targeting what it said was an islamichhad militant cell there and there was then a very angry reaction from islamichhad leaders in gaza who have a large rocket arsenal so what we think is that we had a total of six rockets fired from gaza at israeli cities and villages close to the gaza strip. israeli military used the iron dome missile defence system to bring down most of those and the other two landed without hurting anybody.

in response, israeli warplanes targeted what they said was a rocket manufacturing site in gaza. it's been relatively calm now for a few hours and we knew that in advance, egypt, the un, others who are traditional mediators between israel and the militant groups in gaza were trying to act pre—emptively to stop this from getting out of control, from any kind of escalation. and trying to preserve the shaky truce that exists in gaza. around 80 firefighters have spent the night tackling a two—storey blaze at a church in north—west london. the emergency services were called to st mark's anglican church, in stjohn�*s wood at around midnight, following reports that the building was engulfed in flames. the national churches trust described it as an "architectural and historical treasure". celestina olulode reports. just before midnight, this is what some residents woke up to.

80 firefighters and 12 fire engines raced to this residential part of north—west london to put the fire. i could see the fire inside the church, showing up the, what had been stained glass window at the east end. so, pretty disastrous. i was scared for the church and for the neighbouring buildings, because embers started to fly out of it all the way down, well above a block. i mean, big chunks of wood on fire started to land all over the place. no injuries have been reported. westminster city council says residents are safe and accounted for. firefighters used three ladders, including this, the tallest of its kind in europe, to distribute water evenly. this is a church that's much loved by locals. the grade two listed building is over 150 years old. residents have been advised to keep their windows and doors closed. the cause of the fire is not yet known. celestina olulode, bbc news.

the father of the serbian tennis star novak djokovic has issued a response after being criticised for posing with supporters holding russian flags at the australian open — after his son's quarter—final win on wednesday. srdjan djokovic said he hadn't intended to cause any controversy, adding that — having lived through the horrors of war himself — he wished only for peace. he also confirmed that he would not be attending his son's semi—final match, to avoid any disruption. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith lucas hello. the weather looking reasonably dry and settled through today and into the weekend for many of us, too. we have got fairly cloudy skies out there today, but there'll be some glimpses of sunshine breaking through the cloud for some of us. so it was a bit of a chilly start across scotland and northern ireland, but we will see a bit more cloud drifting in here from the northwest,

few splashes of rain for the northern isles, but some sunshine for aberdeenshire, perhaps across northern ireland. a little bit of sunshine. england and wales generally cloudier. just the odd light shower coming out of that cloud for parts of north east england, perhaps into the midlands, some sunshine down towards east anglia and the southeast as well. and temperatures for most of us around about 5 to 8 degrees. moving through this evening and tonight, that band of rain slips south across scotland and northern ireland tending to fizzle out as it does so. but a bit of drizzliness moving into northern england by the early hours of saturday. but the coldest weather will be towards the south. minus two or minus three degrees. touch of frost and a few fog patches. lots of reasonably dry weather through the weekend and temperatures turning a little bit milder by the time we get to sunday back into double figures for many of us. let's ta ke let's take you to the chancellor jeremy hunt. they way we sell goods and services, digital technology has transformed nearly early every aspect of our

economic lives. i know that because i too, just like matt, asked chat gpt to caff the opening lines of this speech! like other countries, the uk has been dealing with economic headwinds caused by a decade of black swan events. a financial crisis, a pandemic and then an international energy crisis. my then an international energy crisis. my party understands better than others the importance of low taxes in creating incentives and fostering the animal spirits that spur economic growth. but another conservative insight is that risk—taking by individuals and businesses can only happen when governments provide economic and financial stability. so the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.

and apply for help in the autumn statement tackles that route because of instability in the british economy. the prime minister talked about having inflation is one of his five key priorities. in doing so is the only sustainable way to restore industrial harmony. but i want to talk about his second priority, to grow the economy. just in case you weren't completely sure of that, i have helpfully put it out on a screen behind me. we want to be one of the most prosperous countries in europe. today i'm going to outline the four pillars of our plan to get there. just as our plan to have inflation will require patients and discipline, so too will our plan for prosperity and growth. but it's also going to need something else which is in rather short supply — optimism that we can get there. just this month, columnists from both left and

right have talked about an existential crisis, britain teetering on the edge and that all we can hope for is that things don't get worse. i welcome the debate, but chancellors too are allowed their say. and i say simply this. decline —— declinism has always been wrong in the past ideas wrong today. some of the gloom is based on statistics that don't reflect the whole picture. like every g7 country, our growth was slower in the years after the financial crisis than before it. but since 2010, the uk has grown faster than france, japan, italy, not at the bottom, but right in the middle of the pack. since the exit referendum, we have grown at about the same rate as germany. yes, we have not returned to pre—pandemic employment or output levels. but an

economy that contracted 20% in a pandemic still has nearly the lowest unemployment for half a century. and whilst our public sector continues to recover more slowly than we would like from the pandemic, strength being the case for reform, our private sector has grown 7.5% in the last year. yes, inflation has risen. but it is still lower than in 1a eu countries, with interest rates rising more slowly than in the us or canada. and yes, we have to improve our productivity, but output per hour worked is now higher than pre—pandemic. the last week, a survey of business leaders by pwc said the uk was the third most attractive country for ceos expanding their businesses. economists and journalists know you can spend a long time arguing the toss on statistics. but the strongest grounds for optimism comes not from debating this or that way

of analysing data, but from what we have been hearing about this morning, our long—term prospects. because when it comes to the innovation industries that will shape and define this century, the uk is powerfully positioned to play a leading role. let's look at some of them. in digital technology, as we heard from michelle, we have become only the third economy in the world with $1 trillion sector. we have created more unicorns than france and germany combined, with eight uk cities now home to two or more unicorns. the london oxford—cambridge triangle has to largest number of tech businesses in the world outside san francisco and new york. pwc say that uk gdp will be up to 10% higher in 2030 because of ai alone. fintech attracted more

funding last year than anywhere in the world outside the us. or life sciences, where we also have the largest sector in europe and a brilliant advocate with our superb science minister george freeman. we produce one of the world's first covid vaccines, estimated to have saved more than 6 million lives worldwide. we identified the treatment most widely used to save lives in hospitals, saving more than a million lives across the globe. we are behind only the us and china in terms of high quality life science papers published, and every one of the world's top 25 biopharmaceutical firm has operations in the uk. another big growth area is our green and clean energy sector. the uk is a world leader here. we have the largest offshore wind farm in the world. last year we were able to

generate an incredible 40% of our electricity from renewables. and on one day, a rather windy december the 30th, we actually got 60% of our electricity from renewables, mainly wind. the kinsey estimate that the global market opportunity for uk green industries could be worth more than £1 trillion between now and 2030. and we are proceeding with any plant at sizewell c, led by our brilliant business secretary, who also spoke wisely and surprisingly classically earlier on. i could also talk about our creative industries, which employ over 2 million people. they grow at twice the rate of the uk economy in the last decade and they have made the world the —— made they have made the world the —— made the uk there world's largest exporter of tv formats, giving us the top spot in the portland soft power index. or our advanced manufacturing sector, cute experts, where we create around half the

world? large civil aircraft wings and its biggest engines as well as around half the world's formula 1 grand prix cars. and the golden thread running through the industry's industries where britain does best is innovation. amongst the world's largest economies, the global innovation index ranks us fourth globally. there is innovation industries now account for around a quarter of our output. they have been responsible for nearly all our productivity growth since 1997. they are also the reason that all of you are also the reason that all of you are here. in the audience, we have leaders from meta, microsoft, apple and google, the well large tech companies, all with major operations in the uk. we have monzo, shining examples from our world beating fintech sector. we have founders and ceos from some of our most exciting uk technology companies. you are

vital for britain's economic future, but britain is vital for your future too. so i want to ask all of you to help our country achieve something thatis help our country achieve something that is both ambitious and strategic. i want to ask you to help turn the uk into the world's next silicon valley. what do i mean by that? if anyone is thinking of starting or investing in an innovation or technology centred business, i want them to do it here. i want the world's tech entrepreneurs, life science innovators and green tech companies to come to the uk, because it offers the best possible place to make their visions happen. if you do, we will put at your service not just british ingenuity, but british universities to fuel your innovation, britain's financial sector to fund it, and a british government that will back you to the

hilt. our universities are ranked second globally for their quality, and include three of the world's top ten. to support the ground—breaking work they do in so many new fields, the government has protected our £20 billion research budget, now at the highest level in history. and as you look for funding to expand, we offer one of the world's top two financial hubs in the world's largest net exporter of financial services. the capability of the land and, combined with the research strengths of our universities, —— the capability of the city of london makes our aim is notjust ambitious but the city of london makes our aim is not just ambitious but achievable. the government is determined to make it happen. but like any business embracing the opportunities, we should also be straight about our

weaknesses. structural issues like poor productivity, skills gaps, low business investment and the other concentration of wealth in the south—east have led to uneven and lower growth. real incomes have risen by as much as they could as a result. confidence in the future, though, starts with honesty about the present. so we want to be one of the present. so we want to be one of the most prosperous countries in europe. today i want to set out our plan to address those issues. our plan to address those issues. our plan for growth is necessitated, energised and made possible by brexit. the desire to move to a high wage, high skill economy is one that is shared on all sides of that debate and we need to make brexit a catalyst for the bold choices that will take advantage of the nimbleness and flexibility is that it makes possible. so this is a plan

for growth. it's not a series of measures or announcements, which i'm afraid will have to wait for budgets and autumn statement in the years ahead. but this plan is a framework against which individual policies will be assessed and taken forward. and i set out that plan, those priorities, and the four pillars. they build on the people, capital, ideas themes are set out by the prime minister last year and as such are the pillars essential for any modern innovation led economy. for ease of memory, the four pillars will happen to start with the letter a, the four —— they start with the e. they are enterprise, education, employment and everywhere. let's start with the first e, which is enterprise. if we are to be europe?

most prosperous economy, we need to have, quite simply, it's most productive and dynamic companies. there is a range of literature citing the importance of entrepreneurship and business dynamism, whereby more productive firms enter and grow and less productive firms shrink. but i don't just believe the theory, i have put into practice. i set up an man my own business for 1h years. it was one of the best decisions i ever made. and i actually owe it to margaret thatcher and nigel lawson, because by the time i got to university, i was thinking about my career options. they had changed attitudes towards entrepreneurship. had they not, i would probably have ended up in the city or civil service. instead, itook ended up in the city or civil service. instead, i took a different route to end up in the treasury. bless the fast stream, more than a long way round. but like thousands of other setting up on their own, i

learned to take calculated risks, to live with uncertainty and to work through failures, of which there were many. every big business was a start—up once. and we won't build the world's next silicon valley and we nurture battalions of dynamic new challenger businesses. today we are already ranked by the world bank has one of the best places to do business amongst large european nations, second only to america in the g7. the result of that pro—business climate is that since 2010, we have created more than a million new businesses in this country. but how are we going to generate the next million? firstly, we need lower taxes. in britain, even after recent tax rises, we have one of the lowest levels of business tax as a proportion of gdp amongst major countries. but we should be

expose it. high taxes directly affect the incentives which determine decisions by entrepreneurs, investors or larger companies about whether to pursue their ambitions in britain. with volatile markets and high inflation, sound money must come first. but our ambition should be to have nothing less than the most competitive tax regime of any major country. that means restraint, not spending. in case anyone is in doubt about who will deliver that restraint to make a low tax economy possible, i gently point out that in the three weeks since labour promised no big government cheque book, they have made £a5 billion of unfunded spending commitments. but it isn't just about lower taxes. we also need a more positive attitude to risk taking. let's start with one of the

most public risks taken this year. richard branson, his team and the uk space agency deserve massive credit for getting launcher one off the ground in cornwall. the mission may not have succeeded this time, but what we learn from it will make future success more likely. we should heed the words of thomas edison, who said, i haven't failed 10,000 times. i successfully found 10,000 times. i successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work. edison was american, and our attitude to risk in this country can still be too cautious compared to our us friends. but we are capable of smart risk—taking in this country. at the start of the pandemic, we bought over 350 million doses of vaccine without knowing if they would actually work, and we ended up with one of the fastest, most effective vaccine programmes in the world. we also need to, if we

are going to deliver those competitive enterprises, smarter regulation. brexit is an opportunity notjust to change regulations, but also to work with our experienced, effective and independent regulators to create an economic environment which is more innovation friendly and more growth focused. our chief scientific adviser sir patrick vallance is currently reviewing how the uk can better regulate emerging technologies in high—growth sectors and the government is identifying where to reform the laws we inherited from the eu. in the digital space, inherited from the eu. in the digitalspace, sir inherited from the eu. in the digital space, sir patrick is working with the brilliant matt clifford, who we heard from earlier, and our amazing culture secretary michelle donelan, both of whom gave excellent speeches. before we conclude those findings, we want to hear from you, conclude those findings, we want to hearfrom you, and conclude those findings, we want to hear from you, and that is why we have invited you this morning. we will repeat that process for green

industries, life sciences, creative industries, life sciences, creative industries and advanced manufacturing. finally, when it comes to the e of enterprise, there is a critical need for easier access to capital, particularly scale ups. i'm supporting important changes to the pensions regulatory charge cap. i have used the regulatory flexibility provided by brexit to change the solvency two regulations which will begin to be implemented in the coming months. alongside other measures announced in the edinburgh reforms, this could unlock over £100 billion of additional investment into the uk's most productive growth industries. but there is more to be done and i want to harness the ideas and expertise in this room to turn the e of enterprise into an enterprise culture built on low taxes, reward for risk, access to capital and

smarter regulation. the next e is education. this is an area where we have made dramatic progress in recent years, thanks to the work of successive conservative education ministers. the uk has risen nearly ten places in the global school league tables for maths and reading since 2015 alone. our teachers and lecturers are some of the best in the world. the prime minister said having a good education system is the best economic, moral and social policy any country can have. that is why in the autumn statement, we gave schools an extra £2.3 billion of funding and where the prime minister recently prioritised the teaching of maths until 18. but there is much to improve. we don't do nearly as well for the 50% of school leavers who don't go to university as we do for the ones who do. we have around 9

million adults with low basic literacy or numeracy skills. over 100,000 people leaving school every year unable to reach the required standard in english and maths. and that matters. we are becoming an adaptive economy in which people are likely to have to train for not one but severaljobs. not having basic skills in reading and maths makes that difficult and sometimes impossible. important is what happens beyond school. we have made progress with boot camps and apprenticeships and we are being advised on further improvements for the implementation of our reform agenda. we want to ensure our young people have the skills they would get in switzerland or singapore. we want to reduce dependence on migration and become a high skill

economy. the e of education will be essential, and that means ensuring opportunity is as open to those who don't go to university to those who do. so silicon valley enterprises and finnish education scores. let me turn to the third e, which is employment. if companies can't employment. if companies can't employ the staff they need, they can't go. high employment levels have long been a strength of our economic model. since 2010, we have seen a record employment rate, the lowest unemployment in nearly 50 years and labour market participation at an all—time high, partly thanks to the coalition reforms of a decade ago. we are at 76% employment levels, higher than canada, the us, france or italy. but the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our model. total employment is

nearly 300,000 people lower than pre—pandemic, with around one fifth of working age adults economically inactive. excluding students, that amounts to 6.6 million people, an enormous and shocking waste of talent and potential. of that 6.6 million people, around 1.4 million want to work. but a further 5 million don't. so it's time for a fundamental programme of reforms to support people with long—term conditions or mental illness to overcome the barriers that barriers and prejudices that prevent them from working. we will never harness the potential of our country unless we unlock it for each of our citizens. norwill we we unlock it for each of our citizens. nor will we fix our productivity puzzle unless everyone who can participate, does. so to

those who retired early after the pandemic, or haven't found the right role after furlough, pandemic, or haven't found the right role afterfurlough, i pandemic, or haven't found the right role after furlough, i say, pandemic, or haven't found the right role afterfurlough, i say, britain needs you and we will look at the conditions necessary to make work worth your while. that is why employment is such a vital third e. enterprise, education, employment. three key components for our long—term prosperity. i conclude with my final e, everywhere. that means ensuring the benefits of economic development are felt not just in london and the south—east, but across the whole of the uk. it is socially divisive if young people feel the only way to make a decent living is to head south. but it's also economically damaging if our second cities, the productive

powerhouses we see in other countries, our gdp would be second only to the united states and germany for gdp per head. that is why levelling up and really matters. and why last week, it was so exciting to see the progress being made. since february 2020, when the levelling up agenda got under way, 70% of new employerjobs have been created outside london and the south—east. thanks to our powerhouse regions, we remain one of the top ten manufacturers globally, and the same is starting to happen with new technologies, whether fintech in store, gaming and dundee, clean energy in teesside. every region has seen pay go faster than in london since 2010, which shows that our approach to regional growth is working. but there is much more to do. and whilst government grants can play a galvanising role, they aren't the whole answer. we also need the

connectivity that comes from better infrastructure. that is why in the autumn statement, we predicted key projects like hsz, east—west rail and northern powerhouse rail. digital connectivity matters as well, which is why under michelle's leadership, full fibre broadband is now available to more than 40% of homes in the uk. last year, 4 million more premises got access, with the biggest increases in scotland and northern ireland. but the e of everywhere has to be about local wealth creation as much as about local infrastructure. so this year, we will announce investment zones, mini canary wharfs, supporting each of our growth industries, each one focused on high potential but underperforming areas in line with our mission to level up. they will be focused on our research strengths, executing partnership with local government, with advantageous fiscal treatment

to attract new investment. and we will shortly start a process to identify where they will go. but spreading opportunity everywhere needs local decision—making alongside local infrastructure and local enterprise. so we must also give civic entrepreneurs more ability to find and fund their own solutions without having to bang down a whitehall door. shortly, over 50% of the population of england will be covered by a devolution deal and two thirds covered by unitary authority. that is an important part of that. but we need to move more decisively towards fiscal devolution so that fantastic local leaders like ben houchen and andy street have the tools they need to live for their communities. so four es, enterprise, education, employment, everywhere. four es to unlock our national

potential to be one of europe's most exciting, innovative and prosperous economies. bill gates is supposed to have said people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten. when it comes to the british economy, we are certainly not going to fall into that trap. we will remember the essential foundation on which long—term prosperity depends, namely the sound money that comes from bringing down inflation. but right now starts our longer term journey into growth and prosperity. world beating enterprises to make britain the world's next silicon valley. an education system where world—class skills sit alongside world—class skills sit alongside world—class degrees. employment opportunities that tap into the potential of every person, so businesses can build demotivated teams they need. and as talent is spread everywhere, so we will make

sure opportunities are as well. yes, there are many structural challenges to address, and working through our four pillars, we will do just that, but never forgetting the combination of bold ingenuity and quiet confidence that defines our national character. ladies and gentlemen, being a technology entrepreneur changed my life. being a technology superpower can change our country's destiny, so let's make it happen. thank you very much. applause. chancellor, thank you very much for that very substantive speech and wide—ranging exposition of some of the opportunities and a candid assessment of some of the challenges ahead. the chancellor has kindly agreed to take some questions. let

me start, if i may. you have been in office since october, been through some significant moments, speeches and changes. as you reflect on those first few months, what are your key takeaways and how has it impacted your view on the overall economy now that you are in post?— that you are in post? obviously, i have learned _ that you are in post? obviously, i have learned a _ that you are in post? obviously, i have learned a massive _ that you are in post? obviously, i have learned a massive amount l that you are in post? obviously, i | have learned a massive amount in that you are in post? obviously, i - have learned a massive amount in the three months i have been doing the job. but let me say the thing that hasn't changed from the days that i set up my own business from scratch in the early 1990s. the most successful organisations are ones that manage to combine tackling the short—term problems, doing the short term firefighting that any business has to do, but never allowing that to deflect you from the longer term vision. and what i am trying to outline today is what that longer term vision is. we know we have to

deliver on these five priorities. they are the british people's priorities. and as far as the economy is concerned, getting inflation down is central. we won't stop at anything to do that. but we also know that if we are going to unlock our potential, we have to do more than that. by the way, this is a project that is not going to happen in the next timespan for the next election. really, what i'm trying to say is that there is an incredible opportunity for us as a country and we have just got to grab it. there are things we can do now as steps on thatjourney, even if we are not going to get all the way there. but i would say that becoming there. but i would say that becoming the world's next silicon valley is the world's next silicon valley is the opportunity that if i am able to unlock with a brilliant team of ministers you have heard from this morning, would be the thing that all of us are most proud of in 20 years' time, if it happens, when we are long gone from the front pages of your newspapers. i think that is

something you would be pleased about for another reason, but it is something we should be proud of and work hard for. something we should be proud of and work hard for-— work hard for. let's get into the questions _ work hard for. let's get into the questions that _ work hard for. let's get into the questions that the _ work hard for. let's get into the questions that the chancellor i work hard for. let's get into the l questions that the chancellor has agreed to take. joe hill's from itv. welcome to viewers on bbc world. we are watching uk chancellorjeremy hunt on the right of your screen answering questions after a speech he has just given on answering questions after a speech he hasjust given on promoting growth in the uk. fin he hasjust given on promoting growth in the uk. on declinism, as ou oint growth in the uk. on declinism, as you point out. _ growth in the uk. on declinism, as you point out, many _ growth in the uk. on declinism, as you point out, many countries - growth in the uk. on declinism, as| you point out, many countries have struggled _ you point out, many countries have struggled with low growth in the last decade or so. the evidence shows_ last decade or so. the evidence shows that _ last decade or so. the evidence shows that the uk is towards the back shows that the uk is towards the hack of— shows that the uk is towards the back of the pack. the evidence shows that since _ back of the pack. the evidence shows that since 2010, the typical household in the uk has seen their living _ household in the uk has seen their living standards fall relative to countries _ living standards fall relative to countries we like to compare ourselves— countries we like to compare ourselves to, like france and germanx _ ourselves to, like france and germany. your speech suggests you don't _

germany. your speech suggests you don't acknowledge these things. if you cant— don't acknowledge these things. if you can't see the problem,