The 42-year-old Indian-origin British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in his first New Year message on Saturday said that “UK’s problem won’t go away in 2023,” at the end of “tough” 12 months. The year 2022 has been tough for the UK in economic and political aspects.
In the video, Sunak said, “I’m not going to pretend that all our problems will go away in the New Year.” But promised to work ‘relentlessly’ to bring out the “very best of Britain” in the coming months, reported PTI.
“But 2023 will give us the opportunity to showcase the very best of Britain on the world stage, defending freedom and democracy wherever we find it under threat,” Sunak said.
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Sunak, who took charge at the end of October, promised to work to bring things back on track including its stance on NHS and plans to tackle the backlog with more funding, more doctors and more nurses. He also said that the government is working to stop illegal immigration and stop criminals from abusing UK’s asylum system.
He also highlighted the global challenges, the ongoing “barbaric” Russia-Ukraine war” led to. “This has had a profound economic impact around the world, which the UK is not immune to. Now, I know many of you have felt that impact at home. That’s why this government has taken difficult but fair decisions to get borrowing and debt under control. And it’s because of those decisions that we’ve been able to help the most vulnerable with the rising cost of energy bills,” Sunak said.
“Three months ago, I stood at the steps of Downing Street and promised I would work relentlessly on the things that matter most to you.”
Acknowledging hardships that the UK faced, Sunak said that “it’s been a very tough year for the UK” and that it needs to change its way of politics to be a fairer, greener and more dynamic country.
(With inputs from agencies)
