British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a new education qualification system and the cancellation of the HS2 project.
Rishi Sunak made the announcement during his first Tory party conference speech as the Prime Minister of Britain. He said his government is introducing a new educational qualification for England that combines A-levels and T-levels which he proposes all students would sit. He said they will be all for all students in England, and will typically include five subjects.
The Prime Minister also announced the scrap of the HS2 project which is Britain’s new high-speed rail line being built from London to the North-West, with HS2 trains linking the biggest cities in Scotland, Manchester, Birmingham and London.
He said the government will complete the high-speed line from Birmingham to Euston, but the northern leg to Manchester is cancelled.
Sunak pledges to “reinvest every penny” saved – which he says is £36bn – in other transport connections in the North, the Midlands and across the country.
Aside from HS2, he also proposes raising the age at which people can buy tobacco and cigarettes in England every year to create a “smoke-free generation.”
The Prime Minister’s announcement came after a number of Northern leaders had reacted angrily to the scrapping of HS2 links.
This could be the last party conference season before the next general election; Labour leader Keir Starmer will set out his stall next week.
Reporting on Rishi Sunak’s announcement, BBC’s dedication editor Branwen Jeffreys wrote: “This is not the first time a promise has been made to end “rip off degrees” in England.”
“The Office for Students, which regulates universities in England, is being asked to limit the number of students that can be recruited onto degrees judged to not deliver good outcomes for their graduates.”
“One of the key measures of this will be high drop-out rates, or poor progression into a graduate job or further study.”
“Overall, England has no limits on the number of university students and it’s notable that Rishi Sunak does not mention re-introducing a cap overall.”
There was a lot in that hour-long speech from the prime minister and here are the main policy announcements:
- Sunak cancels the “rest of HS2” – meaning everything that isn’t on the London-Birmingham leg
- Every penny saved, he says, will be reinvested in transport – meaning £36bn for the North, Midlands, and “across the country”
- HS2 will go to Euston, as planned – but the Euston project will be run by a new management team
- The £2 bus fare cap in England will remain
- Sunak proposes raising the legal age to buy cigarettes every year, meaning someone aged 14 today will never be able to buy them legally
- He also proposes a new law meaning full-life terms for “sexual and sadistic murders”
- Sunak proposes a new Advanced British Standard, which brings together A-Levels and T-Levels
- They will be all for all students in England, and will typically include five subjects
- There will be a £30,000 tax-free bonus for teachers of key subjects across the first five years of their career
After a rousing end to his speech, Sunak gets a standing ovation from the audience and is cheered as he leaves the hall, shaking hands with activists on his way out.
