Prime Minister’s plan to build an innovative economy

4 Jan 2023 06:05 PM

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to build an innovative economy delivering more jobs and higher pay.

In the short time I have been Prime Minister, we have made progress:

We’ve protected the most vulnerable and lowest paid with cost-of-living support worth £26 billion.

Stabilised the economy and people’s mortgage rates.

A better future is one where our economy is growing faster so that everybody, everywhere has new opportunities for better paying, good jobs.

The most powerful plan for sustainable growth is to position the UK to fully benefit from the incredible scientific and technological change the world is seeing.

That’s why we’re:

• Increasing public funding in R&D to £20bn to enhance our world leading strengths in AI, life sciences, quantum computing, financial services, and green technology.
• Seizing the opportunities of Brexit to ensure our regulatory system is agile and supports innovation.
• Making sure entrepreneurial and fast-growing companies get the finance they need to expand.
• Spreading a culture of creative thinking and doing things differently across every part of the UK.

If we’re going to deliver this better future, people will have to work hard.

I believe good, well-paid jobs are about more than just financial security.

They give people purpose, confidence, dignity – the chance to build a better life for themselves.

But I also believe that if you work hard and play by the rules - you should be rewarded.

Which is why as soon as we can, the Government will reduce the burden of taxation on working people.

And it is staggering that at a time when businesses are crying out for workers, and when so many people are working so hard, a quarter of our labour market is inactive.

So our growth plan will look again at how we can support those who can, to move back into work – including through the welfare system.

All of this innovation will make this country a beacon of science, technology, and enterprise and lift our productivity, raise our growth rate, create new jobs for decades to come.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Read the Prime Minister’s full speech here