TRANSCRIPT
If the polls are right, Labour’s set to win the next British election in a landslide. So Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs a game changer to ensure his first party conference as leader is not his last.
The first surprise: his wife, Akshata Murthy, heiress to a multi-billion-dollar tech fortune, making a rare public appearance.
"But yes, you're absolutely right. I'm not on the agenda for today. A bit of a surprise addition, shall we say? And a surprise for my husband, too, who has no idea what I'm going to say. When I told our lovely girls, Krishna and Anushka, about being here today. They were also quite surprised. But look, the reason why I'm here is really quite simple, and it's because Rishi and I are each other's best friends. We're one team, and I could not imagine being anywhere else but here today with all of you to show my support to him and to the party." (APPLAUSE)
A very personal endorsement for a man who even allies admit can appear a little awkward when under the spotlight. Mr Sunak touched on his heritage.
''I am proud to be the first British Asian prime minister. But you know what? I'm even prouder that it's just not a big deal.''
… and leaned into culture wars.
“We shouldn't get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can't. A man is a man and a woman is a woman. That's just common sense."
On migration, he used language that will be familiar to Australians:
'I'm confident that once flights start going regularly to Rwanda, the boats will stop coming. Just look at how our returns agreement with Albania has seen the numbers coming from there fall by 90%. I am confident that our approach complies with our international obligations. But know this I will do whatever is necessary to stop the boats.''
He also wants to stop kids smoking, with plans to raise the legal age at which cigarettes can be bought by one year, every year.
The biggest announcement came in the form of a cancellation. Britain’s largest infrastructure project - a high-speed rail link between London and Manchester - is being cut in half.
"HS2 is the ultimate example of the old consensus. The result is a project whose costs have more than doubled, which has been repeatedly delayed, and it is not scheduled to reach here in Manchester for almost two decades, and for which the economic case has massively been weakened with the changes to business travel post-COVID. I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.''
The move went down well with party members.
“Rise above politics, look after the country that's what that was all about."
Rishi Sunak is trying to present himself as the ‘change’ candidate - someone who wants to do politics differently. But that’s difficult when the Conservatives have been in power for 13 years. And potential successors are already circling:
The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, made headlines, and angered moderates, with this fiery speech on immigration.
“The wind of change that carried my own parents across the globe in the 20th century was a mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming. That the future could bring millions more migrants to these shores, uncontrolled and unmanageable, unless the government they elect next year acts decisively to stop that happening. And we are the only party that will take effective action.''
The party of Churchill and Thatcher has changed dramatically in recent years. There have been scandals… chaos… and of course, the 6-week premiership of Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak wants voters to forget all that, and trust him to make ‘tough decisions’.
Labour hopes the public has had enough. Their conference is next week.
