'I love this country!' Rishi Sunak pledges West Midlands won't be left behind

And the former chancellor pledged that the West Midlands would not be left behind as he pursued the Conservative Party’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.

He told the Express & Star: “I love this country. My parents loved it so much they moved here to start a new life, and I was fortunate enough to call Britain home.

“That’s why I want to be the next Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party. I believe I have the answers we need to chart a course for a brighter future, to protect what it is that makes our country so great and to seize the opportunities that will take us to new heights.”

He said the top priority “from day one” will be to tackle the cost of living crisis, an issue he expects to dominate Tuesday night’s hustings debate at Birmingham’s NEC.

He said: “A government run by me would get our economy back on track after the pandemic. Energy bills are skyrocketing and inflation is destroying the value of the hard earned money of people, families and businesses.

“To deal with these challenges, we cannot cross our fingers and hope they’ll go away, kicking the can down the road. Nor should we make them worse with poorly timed tax cuts and excessive spending.

“It can be tempting to say we should cut all taxes now and put everything we want on the country’s credit card. But that’s not good economics. Thatcher’s economic advisers agree with my approach – they say she wouldn’t have contemplated tax cuts before she’d got inflation under control, either.

“Instead, we need a targeted approach to rebuild our economy and help the most vulnerable this winter, and to improve our energy security and grow our economy so we never face such challenges again. I have a credible plan to do that.”

Mr Sunak says he remains convinced he can win the leadership campaign despite trailing Liz Truss in polls of party members. He says he is aware of issues concerning people in the West Midlands

He said: “Having spoken to hundreds of Conservative voters and members as part of this campaign, I know that these are not the only issues concerning people in the West Midlands. There’s a growing concern that levelling up is about the north and north only, and that places such as Dudley, Sandwell, or Walsall will be left behind. I want to reassure people that this is categorically not true. The Midlands needs levelling up too and the Conservatives are the ones to do it.

“You need only look at what I’ve delivered for the Midlands to know that I mean what I say.

“As Chancellor, the furlough scheme protected over 1.5 million Midlands jobs over the course of the pandemic. Our Levelling Up Fund has delivered 21 transformative projects across the region, playing an essential role in boosting opportunity and reviving communities.

“And the Towns Deals we set up for places like Dudley and Walsall have provided over £1 billion to improve local transport networks across the West Midlands.

“As Prime Minister I will go further, working with Conservative leaders across the region to turbo-charge the levelling up agenda. After all, the West Midlands was the birthplace of the first industrial revolution. Today, it is a shining beacon of innovation, and under my plans I will build on this strength to create long-term economic growth for the area.”

Mr Sunak accused his Conservative leadership rival of “promising the earth to everybody” as he played down polling suggesting he is set to be defeated by Liz Truss.

It comes as the Foreign Secretary, who is the frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister, was urged to be more transparent with her plans for an emergency budget to address the cost of living crisis.

Mr Sunak insisted he is receiving a “warm reception” while campaigning, even as he acknowledged that some Tory Party members are still angry at him for quitting Mr Johnson’s government.

The former chancellor said: “If I actually spent all my time looking at the polls or reading newspapers, I probably wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning to do all these things.”

“There are a group of people among our members, and that is understandable, who are upset I resigned from government,” he admitted.

But he rejected suggestions that his campaign has not been “politically savvy”, as he said he just wants to be “honest” with voters about the state of the British economy.

Ms Truss has said she would bring forward urgent plans to address rising energy bills if elected as prime minister.

But Conservative MP Mel Stride, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee, called into question reports that she is not planning to ask the independent Office for Budget Responsibility for a forecast ahead of the measures she is planning for next month.

Mr Stride, a Sunak supporter, said: “At the moment the Liz camp are saying, I believe, that there will not be any OBR forecast produced at that time and that is kind of like flying blind.

“It means that you do all these dramatic things on tax etc but you don’t actually know what the independent forecaster believes the impact will be on the public finances, and I think that is quite a serious situation were that to come about.”

Asked if OBR scrutiny would be bureaucratic in a time of crisis, Mr Stride said: “No. We are asking for transparency and reassurance that whatever whoever wins this contest comes forward with is affordable and not reckless.”

Mr Sunak’s attacks on his opponent’s tax-cutting plans come as the race to succeed Mr Johnson enters its final fortnight.

The former chancellor’s campaign had earlier called on Ms Truss to “come clean”, and claimed her plans to borrow in order to fund tax cuts are “dangerous”.

He said: “Liz’s plans are promising the earth to everybody. I don’t think you can have your cake and eat it. I don’t think life is that simple, and I think her plan risks making everything worse.”

Mr Sunak, who according to reports might be offered the health portfolio, laughed off the suggestion when it was put to him during an interview.

He also appeared to allude to concerns over the potential for Cabinet clashes in such an administration.

“I am not focused on all of that and I doubt Liz is,” he said. “I am not thinking about jobs for me or anyone else. One thing I have reflected on as well a bit is, being in a government, in Cabinet, over the last couple of years, you really need to agree with the big things.

“Because it is tough, as I found, when you don’t. And I wouldn’t want to end up in a situation like that again.”