Sunak ends Tory Conference (and HS2 to Manchester)
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In his first Conservative conference speech as prime minister, Rishi Sunak confirms the Manchester leg of HS2 is to be scrapped. In its place, a range of new transport projects for the Midlands and the North are to be put forward.
Aside from HS2, he also proposes raising the age that people can buy tobacco and cigarettes in England every year to create a "smoke-free generation.” Alongside the smoking changes, Sunak also wants to clamp down on vaping among children.
He also announced a new educational qualification for England combining A-Levels and T-levels that he proposes all students would sit.
Adam’s been at conference all week and caught up with some Conservative cabinet ministers after the speech - and he chats with Chris Mason to reflect on the speech and the last few days.
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Today's Newscast was hosted by Adam Fleming. It was made by George Dabby with Sam McLaren and Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The senior news editors are Jonathan Aspinwall and Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | We will be bold, we will be radical, we will face resistance and we will meet it. |
| 0:11.0 | We will give the country what it so sorely needs and yet too often has been denied. |
| 0:16.7 | A government prepared to make long-term decisions so that we can build a brighter future for |
| 0:23.0 | everyone. |
| 0:24.0 | Be in no doubt, it is time for a change and we are it. |
| 0:29.7 | Thank you. |
| 0:34.7 | It's Wednesday lunchtime, Rishi Sunax just been doing his first party conference speech |
| 0:39.1 | as Prime Minister in Manchester, he spoke for just over an hour and I watched it in the |
| 0:44.4 | overflow room next door with the people who couldn't get tickets, a bit like watching |
| 0:48.3 | the Taylor Swift concert at the cinema rather than in a stadium but good way to actually |
| 0:53.7 | soak up the content rather than just all the pizzazzi atmosphere that they try to conjure |
| 0:58.6 | for these things. |
| 0:59.8 | So the big presentational surprise was right at the start when he was introduced by his |
| 1:03.6 | wife, Akshata Murthy, talked about his love of rom-coms. |
| 1:07.3 | I'm afraid he does love a good rom-com, the cheese here, the better even. |
| 1:13.2 | So obviously trying to kind of humanise him a little bit there, then he started talking, |
| 1:18.5 | take lots of boxes that you expect from this kind of speech and there were three big news |
| 1:23.7 | stories. |
| 1:24.7 | One of the cancellation of the Northern leg of high speed two to Manchester and instead |
| 1:29.0 | that 36 billion pounds he says will be freed up, will be spent on other transport projects |
| 1:33.7 | to create a network north. |
... |
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