Rishi Sunak Conservative Conference: PM claims to be change candidate as he bans smoking and scraps A-levels

Rishi Sunak painted himself as the change candidate in the next election saying Labour represents the status quo, as he banned cigarettes, scrapped A-levels and axed the northern leg of HS2.

In a speech, after being introduced by his wife Akshata Murthy, the Prime Minister spoke about his family's personal story, major policy decisions on healthcare, justice and transport, and attacked transgender rights.

Despite the Tories having been in charge for the majority of the last three decades, Sunak pitched himself as the man to “fundamentally change our country” ahead of an election expected next year. He said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is the "continuity candidate".

Sunak asked activists at next election if they want a government “committed to taking long-term decisions” or, after 13 years of Tory rule, “do you want to stand still and accept more of the same” with Labour. He ended the speech: “Be in no doubt, it is time for a change, and we are it.”

Labour's Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator, said: "After 13 years and five Tory Prime Ministers, Rishi Sunak’s latest desperate attempt to reset his weak leadership and divided government won’t fool the British public who are looking at Tory failures all around them."

The main announcement of the speech - which had hung over the Prime Minister for weeks - was the decision to scrap the HS2 leg between Birmingham and Manchester. He said: "I’m ending this long running saga, I’m cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. I’m putting £36billion of new transport projects in the North and Midlands."

Sunak announced a new rail project called Network North, which he said would connect up Hull, Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool - which appeared to be a new name for a programme announced in 2014 called Northern Powerhouse Rail, which was also known as HS3. In the Autumn Statement, Jeremy Hunt said he was scaling back the project, which was predicated on HS2 track between Manchester Airport and Piccadilly.

The Prime Minister said that transport policy had for too long been focused on London, "cities, not towns" and "north to south, instead of east to west". He claimed his Network North project, was the most ambitious transport ever in the North of England. Sunak unveiled a raft of other funding for bus services and roads.

However Zoë Billingham, director of IPPR North, said this was a "betrayal". She commented: “The government has played fast and loose with HS2 and scrapping the Manchester leg is a betrayal of the North.

“Transport is the backbone of rebalancing our regions. New promises heard today to redeploy HS2 funding – across the whole country – not only undermines levelling up but also lacks credibility."

NationalWorld reported that Northern Powerhouse Partnership chief executive Henri Murison accused the Prime Minister of "dishonesty" and "lies" over his implication that the east to west line could be built without HS2. He explained there would be a £15billion hole in the NRP budget without the HS2 track between Manchester Airport and Piccadilly.

While the Tory mayor for the West Midlands, Andy Street, earlier said axing HS2 to Manchester would be “an incredible political gaffe” allowing opponents to accuse Sunak of having decided to “shaft the North” while in Manchester. Street put off a trip to Munich to drum up investment for his region, instead choosing to stay in Manchester.

Sunak made major health announcements including an incremental ban on smoking, so those aged 14 and under will never legally be able to buy a cigarette. He said: "We know that smoking is such a big killer, it’s so hard once you start smoking, once you become addicted, to stop.

"So a much better way is to stop people smoking in the first place. And I think this will be a really generational shift.” He said a vote on smoking would be a free vote for MPs.

Sunak also announced plans to tackle children vaping “before it becomes endemic”. He explained the government will “restrict the availability of vapes for our children” and look at packaging and flavours.

And the announcement, which got the most attention from Tory MPs and activists afterwards, was a new Advanced British Standard qualification to replace A-levels and T-levels. This will mean students will study five subjects until the age of 18, including maths and English.

Sunak said: “Our 16 to 19-year-olds spend around a third less time in the classroom than some of our competitors. We must change this, so with our Advanced British Standard, students will spend at least 195 hours more with a teacher.”

He added: “A-level students generally only do three subjects compared to the seven studied by our economic competitors.

“The Advanced British Standard will change that too, with students typically studying five subjects and thanks to the extra teaching time we are introducing, the great breadth won’t come at the expense of depth which is such a strength of our system.” He said that new teachers will receive bonuses of up to £30,000 in the first five years of their career.

Laura Farris, MP for Newbury, told NationalWorld afterwards: "I thought it was a very direct statement, not just his ambition for the country, but some things he wanted to say that he thinks the country needs to hear."

And on education, she said: "I do think it’s an anomaly with international counterparts that we reduce to three subjects when you’re 16 years old. That’s really important, I think that will have a big impact on our workforce and long-term productivity."

Sunak spent part of the speech talking about his personal story. To rapt cheers, he said: “I’m proud to be the first British Asian, but I’m even prouder it’s just not a big deal.” He added that the people of North Yorkshire “we’re interested not in my colour but my character”.

But he came down firmly on trans rights, as many speeches as the conference have, saying: "No one should be bullied into allowing anyone can be whatever sex they want to be. A man is a man and a woman is a woman.”