{"id":57195,"date":"2015-05-22T15:55:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T15:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=4a62bc16f56488ebcce51ae78c4d74a7"},"modified":"2015-05-22T15:55:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T15:55:51","slug":"speech-chancellor-weve-got-a-plan-to-back-the-working-people-of-the-south-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=57195","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Chancellor: We’ve got a plan to back the working people of the south-west"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thanks for that introduction and great to be here in this fantastic yard; great to be with such a brilliant British company in Babcock. <\/p>\n

Congratulations to everyone here in this workforce on what you do, because you are a fantastic example of great British engineering and of how the south-west\u2019s defence industry is motoring ahead. <\/p>\n

You were of course part of putting together those great aircraft carriers that are now getting ready to form an absolutely central part of our Royal Navy in the future. <\/p>\n

You of course are building some great offshore patrol vessels that we are selling to friendly navies abroad; part of a great British export story, and I want to assure you that there will be plenty more work for firms like yours, as we continue to give Britain the most modern navy in the world, as we said in our manifesto and part of that, of course, is retaining our nuclear deterrent and building those four new submarines and of course your company is absolutely essential to maintaining that vital part of our national security.<\/p>\n

But the reason I\u2019m here is, I want to talk more broadly about how we are going to deliver for the whole of the south-west of England. <\/p>\n

For too long, the south-west has been neglected by governments in London. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019m here to tell you: not anymore. <\/p>\n

The people of the south-west have given this new government a major vote of confidence, which means I now come with \u2013 in two weeks of the general election \u2013 with a simple message: we will back the working people of the south-west at every stage of their lives. <\/p>\n

We will attract the jobs here, make the investments here, bring the prosperity here. The south-west have put their faith in us and we will repay that faith.<\/p>\n

How do we go about doing that? Well, first of all, you need an economy that works. <\/p>\n

You need economic stability, because without economic stability, nothing is possible and the people who bear the brunt of economic instability are not the politicians, but the working people of this country. <\/p>\n

And we have a plan that is delivering that economic stability and we will continue to deliver that economic stability. <\/p>\n

But we\u2019ll also need to do something else: for too long this country had relied far too heavily on the success of London, and in particular, the city of London. <\/p>\n

And that was a mistake and we\u2019ve paid a price for it, as a country and we\u2019ve been determined to change that. And we are changing it. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re rebalancing our economy and giving strength to the regions of our country, because, as I say, when the economy fails, it\u2019s not the people in the City of London who suffer, it\u2019s the working people in places like this who pay the price. <\/p>\n

Now five years ago, 160,000 people in the south-west were looking for work. <\/p>\n

Five years later, and \u2013 we\u2019ve found the situation, where we\u2019ve created 165,000 new jobs for people in the south-west. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because we\u2019ve taken difficult decisions to deal with our country\u2019s debts, to make our businesses more competitive. <\/p>\n

Five years ago, almost 400 businesses here were going bust every single week. <\/p>\n

Now a new business is being created every 12 minutes. <\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t abstract numbers. It\u2019s 165,000 more people with the security of a job. 165,000 more people, and their families, with the opportunity that brings to build for your future.<\/p>\n

And that brings me to the second point I want to make today: you can only get people into work, if you back the businesses that create the jobs. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not government that creates jobs, it\u2019s businesses that create jobs. Businesses, who frankly these days, can set up pretty much set up anywhere in the world. Now we want them to come to Britain. <\/p>\n

We want them to grow and expand in Britain, and in particular, we want them to come here to the south-west. <\/p>\n

So we need to invest here to make sure that we\u2019re offering the right package. <\/p>\n

And that starts with the transport links here to the south-west. <\/p>\n

Now, as everyone knows, the transport here in the south-west has been a weak link and it\u2019s held this part of the country back from reaching its true potential. <\/p>\n

And we want to transform the transport connections here. <\/p>\n

Yes, the transport connections between the south-west and London and the rest of the country; that\u2019s important. <\/p>\n

But of course, most of the journeys, most of the journeys you would undertake, are actually here within Devon or Cornwall or Bristol or whichever part of the south-west you live in. <\/p>\n

So we need to improve the connections within the south-west as well. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re making an unprecedented \u00a37 billion connection to do that. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to dual the A303, dual the A30, duel the A358 too. We\u2019re going to work with local councils to improve junctions on the M5, like junction 25; upgrade the North Devon link road and improve the A391 in Cornwall. <\/p>\n

And rail is also seeing massive investment. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve set out our plans to electrify the Great Western mainline to Bristol; increase the number of train services to the south-west; upgrade that Penzance sleeper; and freeze rail fares for five years. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re working on proposals for a new dedicated Devon and Cornwall rail franchise to improve services within the south-west. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re also looking at funding new stations, including, for example, the proposal for a station between Castle Cary and Taunton. <\/p>\n

As I say, in total we\u2019re committing a record \u00a37 billion to transport projects across the south-west. <\/p>\n

You\u2019re not able to do that, if you haven\u2019t taken difficult decisions to control the public finances and get them into order and spend on the priorities that mean that we can create jobs in this country.<\/p>\n

And as well as giving businesses and people those great transport links we need for the future, we\u2019ve got to back the specific economic strengths of the south-west. <\/p>\n

What are they? Well, of course, here of all places you know this: the defence and the security industries. But there\u2019s also agriculture and fishing and of course, in this beautiful part of the world, tourism. <\/p>\n

The south-west gets over 2 million overseas visitors every year, which is no surprise, when you look at the beauty and the unique cultural heritage here. <\/p>\n

Our goal is to make it even more successful; to increase the number of overseas visits to 3 million by the end of this decade. <\/p>\n

That creates jobs here; jobs in hotels; jobs in restaurants; jobs in shops. <\/p>\n

Over 7,000 more jobs will come. <\/p>\n

Indeed I\u2019ll be going to Cornwall just after this. <\/p>\n

One of the new attractions we\u2019d like to see is a stadium for Cornwall. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s long been a campaign for that, and that\u2019s why next week we\u2019re going to start talks with the council there to make sure the stadium gets built. <\/p>\n

And the Prime Minister and I are absolutely committed to this, and our new Secretary of State for Culture is going to make sure it happens.<\/p>\n

Now the third thing I\u2019ll say to you is this: those jobs are only going to come here, and businesses will only invest here, if people here in the south-west have the right skills to get those jobs. <\/p>\n

So we\u2019re going to give young people the skills they need to get on and get up the career ladder, with investment in education and skills here in the south-west. <\/p>\n

In the last five years we\u2019ve created over 600 academy schools here; there are 83,000 more children getting an education in a good or outstanding school compared to five years ago. <\/p>\n

But I think we all know we\u2019ve got a lot more to do to improve the skills of our young people. <\/p>\n

So we\u2019ll push ahead with our education reforms so that, over the next five years, we create another 60,000 great school places for your children here in the south-west.<\/p>\n

And of course, we\u2019ve got to make sure we go on training people through their lives. <\/p>\n

Now, companies like Babcock of course lead the way; you\u2019ve got a fantastic apprenticeship scheme here, and you\u2019re currently giving 22 people the opportunity to learn their trade and secure that better future. <\/p>\n

And I suspect many of you were apprentices back in the day. <\/p>\n

We want to make sure we go on providing that: hugely expanding the apprenticeship programme, creating a further 300,000 apprenticeships here in the south-west. <\/p>\n

So that, as I say, when the jobs are created, local people have the skills to go and get their jobs.<\/p>\n

Of course, once you\u2019ve got the job we believe you should keep more of the money that you work hard to earn. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why we\u2019re committed in this Parliament, over the next five years, to raising the tax free Personal Allowance \u2013 the amount you can keep of your income tax free \u2013 from \u00a310,600 to \u00a312,500; \u00a312,500 you earn before you pay any income tax.<\/p>\n

And we also want to support people who want to own their own home. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019ve introduced the new Help to Buy scheme, so that people who don\u2019t have big deposits, can\u2019t afford big sums of money to put down against their house, have real support. <\/p>\n

So we\u2019ve got a new Help to Buy ISA coming later this year to help you save for that deposit, to get your home. <\/p>\n

Indeed, our Help to Buy scheme has already helped over 3,000 families in the south-west, many of whom were first\u2013time buyers. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re also, for those who are tenants of housing associations here, going to extend the Right to Buy to them as well.<\/p>\n

And last but not least, I want to support the mums and dads who want to get back to work. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not right that the cost of childcare is a block to many parents who want to work, so we are going to double the amount of free childcare on offer, increasing it from 15 hours a week for three and four year olds to 30 hours a week; in effect, full time. <\/p>\n

And that will be a real help to many, many families.<\/p>\n

So, fixing the economy, backing business, boosting skills, supporting working people; this is our plan for supporting you at every stage of your life. <\/p>\n

And I also want it to be part of a plan that puts power back into the hands of the people of the south-west. <\/p>\n

The old model of trying to run everything in our country from the centre of London is clearly broken; it\u2019s led to an unbalanced economy, it\u2019s made people feel remote from the decisions that affect their lives. <\/p>\n

And you, the people who live and work in the south-west, know far better than I do what\u2019s right for your local area.<\/p>\n

So my door is open to the towns and the cities and the counties of the south-west who want to take more control over their own affairs; from giving you more control over local taxes like business rates, to new enterprise zones that will encourage local businesses to start up here, to new city mayors for the cities here that want them. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019ll consider all the proposals that people have to hand power back to the people of the south-west.<\/p>\n

So, two weeks ago the people of the south-west put your trust in us to deliver for a part of the country that has lacked the strong voice 200 miles away in the centre of Whitehall. <\/p>\n

Now, the Prime Minister and I promise to be part of that strong voice here, because we know that working people here in the south-west have exactly the same aspirations as those everywhere else in the country: to be able to get a good job, to buy your first home, to make sure your children get a great education, to make sure your family has great healthcare, to have a decent retirement, and perhaps to leave something at the end of it to your children. <\/p>\n

And we\u2019re absolutely determined you have the same chance to achieve these aspirations as anyone else. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re one nation, and we\u2019ve got a plan to back the people of the south-west at every stage of your lives. <\/p>\n

Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a speech to Babcock employees in Appledore the Chancellor sets out the government’s plan to back the working people of the south-west at every stage of their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}