I want to start my column this week by passing on my thanks to Alia, aged 8, from Soudley Primary School for her winning entry to my Christmas card competition this year. I would also like to thank Lexi, Rosie and Flossie, who were the runners-up, along with all the other children who sent me their wonderfully festive designs.
As this is my last column before Christmas, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the Government’s work over the course of 2023.
In January, the Prime Minister set out his five priorities for the country, to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats, and throughout the year this Conservative Government has been working diligently to deliver on them.
On the Prime Minister’s economic pledges, we have seen inflation fall from its peak of 10.7 per cent at the start of the year to 4.6 per cent in October – providing families across the Forest of Dean with immediate relief and helping their money go further. We have also witnessed the economy recover more quickly from the pandemic than first thought, and the Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that the Government will meet our fiscal rule to have debt falling as a share of the economy a year early, meaning there will be more money to spend on funding public services.
On the Prime Minister’s priority to cut waiting lists, the Government has recently announced that more than 50,000 extra nurses are working in the NHS compared to September 2019, meaning we have delivered the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing workforce. These additional nurses will help support cutting waiting lists and getting patients the care they need, when they need it.
Finally, on our pledge to stop the boats, the House of Commons recently showed its support for the toughest legislation ever introduced to tackle illegal immigration – making it unequivocally clear that Rwanda is a safe country where illegal migrants can be lawfully relocated, and ending the merry-go-round of legal challenges that have blocked our policy for too long. This builds on the Government’s progress in reducing the number of arrivals across the Channel by a third, while crossings to other European countries are up by 80 per cent.
This has been a busy and eventful year, and I expect the year ahead to be just as busy. I would like to wish everyone across the Forest of Dean a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
This column was first published in The Forester newspaper.