Key takeaways from Rishi Sunak’s Tory conference speech - HS2, smoking ban and A-levels axe

PM was hoping to brush off days of party infighting and speculation about the future of HS2 with a pitch to fix Britain’s ‘broken’ politics

Rishi Sunak’s conference speech was a major opportunity to reset his premiership after a tumultuous first year.

The prime minister was hoping to brush off days of party infighting and speculation about the future of HS2 with a pitch to fix Britain’s “broken” politics.

In his first party conference speech as Tory leader on Wednesday, he hit out at politicians who “spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it”.

And, heading a Tory party that has been running the country for 13 years, he came armed with a slew of policies to set himself apart from predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Below we look at the key announcements in Mr Sunak’s speech.

Future of HS2

The biggest announcement came when the PM finally confirmed weeks of speculation that HS2’s northern leg, between Birmingham and Manchester, would be scrapped.

The Independent last month revealed secret talks between Mr Sunak and his chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, about the future of the high speed rail project.

Taking to the stage with a promise to make “long term decisions for a brighter future”, the PM junked the northern part of the project.

Announcing the change, Mr Sunak said the project’s costs had “more than doubled”.

He said: “I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed.

“And the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.”

Conservative grandees Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron, George Osborne have previously criticised plans to scale back the project, while London mayor Sadiq Khan warned it would make Britain a “laughing stock”.

The most senior Tory outside London, West Midlands mayor Andy Street, was considering quitting over the decision.

“I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change. is to have the courage to change direction,” he said.

Mr Sunak promised to reinvest the savings, amounting to £36bn, in “hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the Midlands across the country”.

Smoking ban

In a major shakeup, Mr Sunak announced a ban on smoking for future generations.

The policy will see the legal age of buying cigarettes gradually increased every year, effectively banning their sale to people under a certain age.

Similar measures were approved in New Zealand last December meaning tobacco could never be sold to anyone born after 1 January 2009.

The measure will mean a 14-year-old today will never be able to legally buy cigarettes in Britain.

Mr Sunak said without change thousands of children would take up smoking in the coming years and have their lives “cut short”.

The prime minister promised to end “the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in our country”.

The PM also promised to bring forward laws to restrict the availability of vapes to children, hinting at rules on flavours, packaging, displays and disposable vapes.

A-levels axed

The PM also laid out plans to reform A-levels by increasing the number of subjects pupils can take and their teaching hours.

The PM rolled out the “Advanced British Standard”, which will fold A levels and T levels into a single qualification for school leavers.

Mr Sunak said the plans would “deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education”.

Under the Advanced British Standard, Mr Sunak said pupils will study some form of maths and english until the age of 18.

Students will study five subjects as opposed to three currently at A-level, while 16 to 19-year-olds will spend more time in classrooms with teachers.

Alongside the Advanced British Standard, Mr Sunak said teachers will receive bonuses to increase attraction and retention of staff.

Full life prison term for heinous crimes

Mr Sunak said some crimes are “so heinous” that those who commit them should spend the rest of their lives in prison.

“I can confirm that we will legislate for sexual and sadistic murderers to carry a full life term with no prospect of release,” he said.

The government in August announced that society’s “most depraved killers” will face life behind bars with no chance of being released.

Under the proposals, judges will be required to hand down mandatory whole life orders to the monsters who commit the most horrific types of murder.

Benefits changes

Mr Sunak railed against the more than 2 million people of working age deemed “incapable of actually doing any”, promising to change the rules to ensure that “those who can work, do work”.

“It’s not fair on taxpayers who have to pick up the bill and it’s a tragedy for those 2 million people being written off,” Mr Sunak said.

He confirmed plans announced by the Department for Work and Pensions in September to change the Work Capability Assessment. Ministers are looking for ways to help sick and disabled people get back into work such as by finding jobs that can be done remotely.