Tag: Rishi Sunak

When making decisions on pay, as your Prime Minister, I have a responsibility to be fair.

Fair to public sector workers, who do so much in the service of our country.

But also fair to taxpayers, who ultimately fund our public services.

And the best way we’ve found of making fair decisions about public sector pay…

…are the independent Pay Review Bodies.

They were called for by the Unions themselves.

And for over four decades, they have been the independent arbiters of what is fair and responsible.

Those bodies have considered a range of evidence about where to set this year’s pay.

And their recommendations to government are for public sector pay to go up by a significant amount.

Now clearly, this will cost all of you, as taxpayers, more than we had budgeted for.

That’s why the decision has been difficult and why it has taken time to decide the right course of action.

I can confirm that today we’re accepting the headline recommendations of the Pay Review Bodies in full.

But we will not fund them by borrowing more or increasing your taxes.

It would not be right to increase taxes on everyone to pay some people more, particularly when household budgets are so tight.

Neither would it be right to pay for them by higher borrowing…

…because higher borrowing simply makes inflation worse.

Instead, because we only have a fixed pot of money to spend from…

…that means government departments have had to find savings and efficiencies elsewhere…

…in order to prioritise paying public sector workers more.

And now there is a clear message here.

There are always choices.

Budgets are not infinite.

When some ask for higher pay, that will always create pressures elsewhere…

…costs which must be ultimately be borne by the taxpayer, or by spending less on our other priorities.

So that’s our decision.

And having honoured the independent pay review process…

…I urge all union leaders to accept these pay offers and call off their strikes.

Already, earlier this year, the NHS staff council…

…representing over half a dozen unions, and over a million NHS workers…

…made a significant decision, and voted to accept their our pay offer and suspend strikes.

I’m grateful to them and their members.

And today, in response to the news of our decision, I’m pleased to say that we’ve had another major breakthrough.

All teaching unions have just announced that they’re suspending all planned strikes immediately.

Teachers will return to the classroom.

Disruption to our children’s education will end.

And the unions have themselves confirmed that this pay offer is properly funded.

And so, they’re recommending to their members an end to the entire dispute.

So it is now clear: momentum across our public services is shifting.

The vast majority, who just want to get on with their life’s calling of serving others, are now returning to work.

And in that spirit, I want to address those yet to do so.

Now that we’ve honoured the independent pay recommendations, I implore you:

Do the right thing, and know when to say yes.

In particular, for Doctors and Consultants, I would say this:

We have a national mission for all of us to make the NHS strong again.

The government has not only made today’s decision on pay…

We’ve backed the NHS with record funding…

Delivered the first ever, fully funded Long-Term Workforce Plan…

… and met the BMA’s number one ask of government, with a pensions tax cut worth £1bn.

So, we should all ask ourselves, whether Union leaders – or indeed political leaders…

…how it can it be right to continue disruptive industrial action?

Not least because these strikes lead to tens of thousands of appointments being cancelled – every single day…

…and waiting lists going up, not down.

So: today’s offer is final.

There will be no more talks on pay.

We will not negotiate again on this year’s settlements.

And no amount of strikes will change our decision.

Instead, the settlement we’ve reached today gives us a fair way to end the strikes.

A fair deal for workers.

And a fair deal for the British taxpayer.

Thank you.

This morning, I’ve been out in the Channel with our new Small Boats Operational Command.

And the whole experience just reinforces how tragic, morally wrong, and profoundly unfair this situation is.

We’ve got organised criminals risking people’s lives in makeshift dinghies.

Gangs trying to usurp the role of government; taking it upon themselves to decide who comes to our country.

Our asylum system is being overwhelmed with people travelling from safe countries, taking away our capacity to help those in the greatest need.

And the British people are having to spend £6 million a day putting up illegal migrants in hotels.

Earlier this year I set out five priorities: to halve inflation; grow the economy; reduce debt; cut waiting lists – and stop the boats.

Today I’d like to update you on the progress that the Home Secretary and I are making.

And my message is this – our plan is starting to work.

Before I launched my plan in December, the number entering the UK illegally in small boats had more than quadrupled in two years.

Some said this problem was insoluble or just a fact of 21st century life.

They’d lost faith in politicians to put in the hard yards to do something about it.

And, of course, we have a long way still to go.

But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20 per cent compared to last year.

That’s right: crossings are down 20 per cent.

This is the first time since this problem began that arrivals between January and May have actually fallen compared to the year before.

And this progress is not replicated across the Channel. Illegal migrants entering the rest of Europe have risen by 30 per cent.

But we’re not complacent because we know people smugglers are highly organised and will change their tactics if we let them.

I will not rest until the boats are stopped.

With grip and determination, the government can fix this, and we are using every tool at our disposal.

First, I promised to work closely with our international partners.

Because this is a global phenomenon.

There are 100 million people displaced around the world.

And European countries alone saw almost a million asylum applications last year.

This international approach is delivering.

Our partnership with France stopped around 33,000 crossings last year – 40 per cent more than the year before.

I’ve put co-operation on tackling illegal migration on the agenda of every international summit I’ve been to from the G7 and the Council of Europe to last week’s European Political Community Summit in Moldova.

Last week we agreed a new action plan with Bulgaria.

We began discussions on joint working with the European border agency, Frontex.

And in December I reached a deal with Albania because last year nearly a third of all those arriving in small boats were from that safe European country.

That’s delivering too.

We’ve now returned 1800 to Albania in just six months.

We’ve gone from accepting around 1 in 5 Albanian asylum cases to now just 1 in 50 – in line with our European partners.

And what is the result of all of this?

So far this year, the number of Albanian small boat arrivals has fallen by almost 90 per cent.

This is proof that our deterrence strategy can work. When people know that if they come here illegally, they won’t get to stay – they stop coming.

Second, I promised to improve enforcement.

So, we’ve doubled the funding given to the National Crime Agency for tackling organised immigration crime.

And arrests here of illegal workers have more than doubled.

Third, I promised to stop people spuriously using modern slavery claims to frustrate their removal.

And since we started asking for basic evidence to back up modern slavery claims, the refusal rate has tripled.

Fourth, I promised to clear through the backlog of people waiting for initial decision.

Numbers published today show the initial decision legacy backlog is down by over 17,000.

And we’re on track to clear it entirely by the end of the year.

Fifth, I promised we would get illegal migrants out of hotels – and into alternative sites, including military facilities.

Today, I can confirm new large sites will open at Wethersfield and Scampton with hundreds moving in over the Summer and nearly 3,000 by the Autumn.

And while we’re bringing those sites online, we’re also making more efficient use of hotels.

By asking people to share rooms, where it’s appropriate to do so we’ve found an additional 11,500 places which will save taxpayers an extra £250 million a year.

And I say to those migrants who are objecting: this is more than fair.

If you’re coming here illegally, claiming sanctuary from death, torture, or persecution then you should be willing to a share a taxpayer-funded hotel room in Central London.

To reduce pressures on local communities, we’ll also house people on ships.

The first will arrive in Portland in the next fortnight.

And we’ve secured another two today that will accommodate another 1,000.

Finally, I promised not just to reform our asylum system, but to reform our laws.

So, we’ve introduced unprecedented legislation to make clear that if you come here illegally you will be detained and removed in weeks – either to your own country or to a safe third country like Rwanda.

Our Stop the Boats Bill passed the House of Commons in weeks.

And we’re preparing now so that once any legal challenges are complete, we’ll be able to put this Bill into practice.

I am ensuring we have more detention capacity to hold those who arrive illegally, enough court capacity to process their cases and the planes to remove them to Rwanda.

I know these are tough measures.

But I make no apology for that.

We cannot allow our generosity of spirit to be used as a weapon against us or against those who are being pushed to risk their lives in the Channel by criminal gangs.

Our approach is working.

For the first time, crossings are down by 20 per cent.

But we are not complacent.

This won’t be solved overnight, and people will continue to come this summer, which is why it’s so important that we change the law.

My policy is very simple: it is this country – and your government – who should decide who comes here, not criminal gangs.

I will do what is necessary to achieve it.

I said I would stop the boats and I meant it.

As Ramadan comes to an end, I would like to send my warmest wishes to Muslims in the UK and around the world as they mark Eid al Fitr.

Eid is a timely opportunity to acknowledge the shared values which bind us together, particularly your compassion and dedication to contribute to charity and philanthropy. This was evident earlier this year, through the community’s outstanding response to support the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

As families and friends come together to celebrate, I pay tribute to the incredible contribution the Muslim community makes to the country. Whether it be in business, sports, media, our public services, or of course our NHS and armed forces, British Muslims are helping to make the country the success it is.

Eid Mubarak to everyone observing it today. I look forward to welcoming representatives from the British Muslim community to Downing Street to celebrate.