A promising vision for Britain’s future

In a speech in London on Monday, Rishi Sunak began to set out the dividing lines that could come to define the battle between the Tories and Labour at the coming general election. At the centre of his analysis was the increasing danger the world faces. The Prime Minister said he was convinced that the next few years would be “the most transformational our country has ever known”.

Mr Sunak is clearly right about the danger. Aside from conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, British vessels have suffered direct attacks from Iranian proxies in the Red Sea. In Asia, tensions are ratcheting up over Taiwan, while China has been accused of conducting aggressive cyber operations against the UK and its interests.

The Prime Minister is also right to judge that defence and security should be central issues in the coming election. We are no longer living in the world of the “peace dividend”, when politicians felt that they could divert money away from the military towards benefits and the NHS.

The question is what to do about all this. Mr Sunak has already made the promising announcement that defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, in clear contrast to Labour’s prevarication. Sir Keir Starmer will only say that spending will rise when “resources allow”.

But as the Prime Minister himself suggested, bolstering the country’s resilience, and ensuring its future safety, will require action in many other areas – from energy policy to immigration control.

Could there be further moves to ensure that net zero does not leave the UK perilously reliant on foreign energy supplies? Mr Sunak said there could be “flashpoints ahead with the European Court of Human Rights” on illegal immigration: how will he ensure that foreign courts do not continue to thwart efforts to secure the borders?

It is welcome that the Prime Minister has begun to set out a vision for the country, should the Conservatives win the next election. He has highlighted a number of areas in which there are dangerous omissions in Labour policy, including on stopping the Channel migrant crisis, where Sir Keir wants to scrap the Rwanda deal but has no obviously credible alternative.

In the months ahead, we look forward to Mr Sunak announcing further, concrete policies that will match the scale of the challenges the country now faces.