this where we are as a country. this is not 1997, when the economy was decent, but public services were on their knees. it is not 2010 were public services were strong, but the public finances were weak. we have to deal with both sides of that coin. these are unprecedented circumstances. but the budget the chancellor will deliver on wednesday will prevent devastating austerity in our public services and prevent a disastrous path for a public finances. that is the reality of what would happen if we had stuck to tory spending plans and it is why we never, unlike the opposition in 1997 and 2010, committed to the same spending plans. and, yes, things are worse than we

possibly could have expected during the election, but the budget will set that out very clearly just look at the state of our prisons last week. where is the tory apology for that? watching the prison population rise while they dithered. too weak to either reform sentencing or build new places. too scared to conduct a proper spending review, as we have done, because the damage they knew it would uncover. 0h, they knew. that is why they ran away from that exercise and called an early election instead. they knew our public services were broken. they knew there is a black hole in the public finances. £22 billion of unfunded spending this year, wasting the reserves three times over on rwanda, asylum

hotels, propping feeling train companies, before we even get to the long—term challenges ignored for 1h years. an economy riddled with weakness on productivity and investment. a state that needs urgent modernisation to face down the challenges of a volatile world. a country where people don't have faith in politicians to fix this, but also wonder whether britain can. whether we still have the resources to move forward. or whether decline is now an incurable disease. they knew all of that, but i won't offer it as an excuse. i expect to bejudged on my ability to deal with this. politics is always a choice, so we won't hide from our decisions on wednesday, or

any day for that matter. besides, as i said two weeks ago, after international investment summit, we have huge assets in this country. leading positions in the industries of the future. clean energy, artificial intelligence, life sciences, the creative industries, a technical sector thatis industries, a technical sector that is the envy of europe. a heritage steeped in science, trade and innovation. and the values, values deep in the bones of this nation, which say to the world this country is open for business. this country respects diversity and difference under the same flag. we are still a country known all around the world for our pragmatism and our creativity. the end ofjune —— ingenuity and industry other people. so

if we do grasp the nettle on our economy if we do fix those foundations, stick to the values and deliver the change working people need, we won't just get through this. better days are ahead. seriously, this is an economic plan that will change long—term british growth for the better. we are tackling the biggest challenges in our economy. our investment, we are dealing with it. planning, we are reforming it. the labour market, we are getting people back to work, but also making sure that work pays. one competition, we are stripping out the needless regulation that holds back private investment. and all of this built on that foundation of economic stability. that is what fixing the foundations means, what delivering change means. everyone in this country will benefit. everyone can wake

up will benefit. everyone can wake up on thursday knowing a new future is being built, a better future. applause. ., y ., ., applause. that i tell you now what we can't _ applause. that i tell you now what we can't do _ applause. that i tell you now what we can't do is _ applause. that i tell you now what we can't do is waste - applause. that i tell you now what we can't do is waste any| what we can't do is waste any more time. politics is a choice and it is time to choose a clear path. it is time to embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality so we can come together behind a credible long term plan. it is time we run towards the tough decisions because ignoring them on path. it is time we ignored the populous course of easy answers, because we saw what happens when you reject the constraint of economic stability and we are never going back to that. that is our

choice. stability to prevent chaos. borrowing that will drive long—term growth. tax rises to prevent austerity and rebuild public services. we choose to protect working people. we choose to get the nhs back on its feet. we choose to fix the foundations, reject decline and rebuild our with investment. applause. �* , ., investment. applause. , ., , applause. and whilst i am sure ou applause. and whilst i am sure you understand, _ applause. and whilst i am sure you understand, i _ applause. and whilst i am sure you understand, i can't - applause. and whilst i am sure you understand, i can't get - you understand, i can't get into the individual measures before wednesday, i will say this, if people want to criticise the path we choose, thatis criticise the path we choose, that is their prerogative. but let them spell out a different direction. if they think the

state has grown too big, let them tell working people which public services they would cut. if they think tax rises are on fair, let them tell working people which taxes they would raise instead. if they don't see our long term investment in infrastructure is necessary, let them explain to working people how they would grow the economy for them. if they think that taxes are too high, that they don't want to cut public spending, let them tell working people why the lessons of liz truss no longer apply. because i've said it before and i will say it again, the time is long overdue for politicians in this country to level with you honestly about the trade—offs this country faces. to stop insulting your intelligence with the chicanery of easy answers. working people know

that hard choices are necessary. they lived through the liz truss episode. they lived through the cost of living crisis. they know the things that they want from us, protecting their living standards, rebuilding our nation, fixing our public services, they know that this can only be achieved alongside economic stability. there are no short cuts. what they want to see on wednesday is a country on a different path, making different choices. they don't want to pay the price any more in times of crisis because our economic foundations are weak. they don't want to the proceeds of growth which could serve their family, their community, their public services. instead all be serving those at the top. they want change and that is what they will get because that is

they will get because that is the mandate we are elected to deliver, the only path consistent with our driving purpose to return britain to the surface of working people. applause. that purpose also runs through the priorities we set out in our manifesto. the national mission, which captured the hope of working people have for the future of our country. there is a paradox in politics at the moment. all around the world traditional values, democratic values, values, democratic values, values that have underpinned the way countries like ours have operated for years, the pragmatism that is part of identity, is under attack. why? because people, working people most of all, have lost faith we

can still deliver for their family, and yet at the same time what people want from politics hasn't changed. people want a stable economy, they want a stable economy, they want their country to be safe, their borders secure, economic security, national security, border security. those are still the foundations that everything rests upon. beyond that, they want exactly what those national missions promise. a growing economy, safer streets, clean british energy in their home, opportunities for their children and an nhs that is there when they need it. i know populism preys on the fears that people have that these things no longer belong to them, but i've neverfelt things no longer belong to them, but i've never felt that them, but i've never felt that the right response is to ignore those concerns, rather than

showing that they can still be delivered. i will never pick just one of those missions and say that is everything, because every single one of them matters to working people. for that same reason i will never turn away from them. because i know actions speak louder than words, because i expect to be judged by the british people. in coming weeks, and every mission we will publish clear ambitions for this parliament and we will also track our progress against them, so every single person in this country can see exactly how we measure “p can see exactly how we measure up to the things that matter to them. after all, we have five years and a big mandate. so working people will not accept any excuses. they want to see us build 1.5 million homes, make sure a record number of children start school ready to

learn, raise living standards so that there is more cash in their pockets, restore confidence that crime will be punished, guaranteed neighbourhood policing in every community, make sure our energy system is more secure by harnessing clean british energy, accelerating towards net zero, and on our nhs they want us to cut waiting times dramatically to meet the 18 week target that is still the best benchmark of an nhs that is back on its feet, facing the future is back o