Long term decisions for a brighter future, or short term jockeying for advantage . Rishi sunak sets out his stall for the coming election. The northern leg of h52 is cancelled. The Prime Minister insists that every penny of the £36 billion intended for that rail link will be spent on other projects. There were a raft of other announcements too, sold like this. Politics doesnt work the way it should. Weve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one. 30 years of vested interests standing in the way of change. 30 years of rhetorical ambition, which achieves little more than a short term headline. Weve gathered politicians to weigh up whether the reformist pitch is credible for a party already in government. Could it even be an election winner . And speaking of 30 years ago. Things can only get better now ive found you. With so many Big Government schemes especially in education and health reliant on private finance deals, we reveal the soaring costs of paying back the debt. If it wasnt for the contract, we would have more teachers in our schools, wed have more Support Staff in our schools, we would have more sen support for our most vulnerable. Werejoined Byjohn Mcternan tony blairs private secretary when pfis were all the rage, and labour Mp Stella Creasy whos not a fan. Good evening. Theres no doubting the political agility needed by a Prime Minister making a conference speech. Youve got to somehow balance slogans about making the tough decisions for the long term with that distinctly short term objective of winning a looming general election. And youve got to sell yourself as the person not afraid to change your mind when the facts change, while simultaneously lambasting sir keir starmer for changing his mind on brexit. 0n the Main Business of the day ditching the high speed rail link from birmingham to manchester mr Sunak Drew Fire from David Cameron, who wrote that his successor had thrown away 15 years of Cross Party Consensus. Well, there was a whole lot more to this speech than switching the h52 money elsewhere. Heres nick. Wave up at the cameras. And when the dust settles, as it will, and when the excitement of electioneering dies away, there is work to be done. An insurgent launching a mission to challenge the status quo from opposition. This Conservative Party the party of the grocer� s daughter and the pharmacist� s son will always be the party of enterprise, the party of small business. Applause a link to margaret thatcher, from a Prime Minister seeking to ape her insurgency from government. Politics doesnt work the way it should. Weve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one. 30 years. And so, three Big Decisions to challenge the status quo. Scrapping the birmingham to Manchester Leg of h52. The £36 billion budget for that will be reinvested in Transport Projects in the midlands, the north of england and other parts of the uk. A rolling smoking ban to ensure that no 14 year old today will ever be allowed to buy a cigarette. And the merging of a levels and t levels, to put academic and vocational qualifications on the same footing. And i will be straight with you we have mountains to overcome still. But today, we have made three huge decisions to change the direction of our country. If we commit, if we come together, we can achieve truly great things. Applause warmth in the hall, and Cabinet Ministers hailing their leader, who wants to be seen as an insurgent. How can you be the candidate for change when youre doing it from government, after 13 years . By doing exactly what hes just done, by setting out a really bold and Ambitious Programme for the country. I think what youve seen there are decisions that lots of people would shy away from but, actually, hes taking it on. Its a big ambition to end 30 years of status quo, but how can you be the insurgent when youre in power . Because what we are doingj is we are making the tough decisions for the future. The Prime Minister set out the really bold decisions. That he made when he was chancellor with furlough, keeping people in their homes, in theirjobs, keeping their families. So his credentials unwillingness to make tough, sometimes unpopular decisions, l for the long term has been proven by that. And what he has set out now is a set of really important, tough decisions. Rishi sunak came here to manchester with a plan, a plan to answer all those critics whod been saying, wheres the vision . Well, you couldnt really miss the vision today. Charting a new course, after 30 years of what he described as failure. There are lots of happy people in his party and lots of unhappy people, and the Prime Minister, well, hes just happy with that. For labour, this presents a challenge and also, potentially, an opportunity. The manchester terminus for the worlds first Intercity Railway to liverpool. Unity today, in opposition to the scrapping of hsz. And labours mayor dismissive of the Prime Ministers approach. Well, whos been in charge of hs2 as chancellor for a number of years . What government has overseen these spiralling costs over the last 13 years . You cantjust kind of turn up at a Party Conference and sort of rewrite the script and pretend all of that doesnt exist. Im afraid he has got to recall the fact that George Osborne came to this very place ten years ago and made huge promises, massive promises to the north of england. Promises that have not been kept. So when the Prime Minister stands up today and says this kind of era of politicians saying things and never delivering, well, im sorry, but there are many people in his party who have been doing precisely that over the last ten years and i think the Prime Minister himself is in that category, too. The legacy of an industrial giant which changed the world, and the setting today for a Prime Minister recasting himself as the agent of change. There was a lot of detail in todays speech. Quite a few of the announcements like replacing a levels in england, or banning someone now m from ever being able to smoke legally would, on another day, have attracted major media attention. But in the torrent of policies and ideas unleashed today, many didnt garner much attention. And all of this from a government that will be calling an election next year. Sojoe is here to separate the wheat from the chaff. Thanks, mark. If you had £36 billion to splash on public transport, where would you spend it . That is exactly how rishi sunak is attempting to frame this choice, and pose a challenge for labour. Using these maps. Do you shove those billions into one section of one high speed rail project, or spread the love across hundreds of projects in the midlands and north . Areas jam packed with constituencies the tories need to hold onto at the next election. Among the investment £8. 3 billion to fix potholes. And they call it Network North, but quite a lot of those savings are going south. Labour argue theyll need time to look at the numbers before working out their position, but say at least one of todays 100 plus projects an extension of the metrolink tram to Manchester Airport opened in 2014. And other investments like upgrading the a1 in northumberland have already been promised by previous pms. I think it will deliver jobs and prosperity here in the north east, and im delighted to give it the green light today. When did the government first promise to dual the a1 to scotland . Ill tell you, it was 1992. This government is going to get on and do it. Of course we need to get the a1 dualled, we need to get it dualled from top to bottom. 0ther eye catching announcements include Scrapping A Levels and t levels in england and replacing them with new qualifications called the advanced british standard. All 16 to 19 year olds will typically study five subjects, including some english and maths to 18. However, there will be a long wait. The first students to study them are currently five years old. Are currently six years old. And one veteran of the Department For Education is doubtful theyll ever reach reality. It could just not happen at all and we could end up sticking with a levels because there will be at least two more elections between now and when it was supposed to happen, and when it was supposed to happen, and this hitch history of Education Reform is littered with examples of qualifications that have been proposed and never happened this history. I think if it does happen in the politics does work out and the next government is able to take it forward in some way, then you have got a real challenge with implementation. And the Biggest Issue for me with this is the idea of combining vocational or academic courses together because they are very different in nature. If you think about trying to teach someone how to do construction or hairdressing or childcare, that is a very different type of thing to teaching them history of physics. Other new policies include toughening up restrictions on disposable vapes, and raising the smoking age in england, 18, up by one year, every year. The proportion of smokers aged 16 has been steadily dropping. But rishi sunak wants this line to eventually reach zero. Labour will vote for the policy, but liz truss wont. Her allies call the move hideously illiberal. And perhaps because of those concerns today, the pm offered some red meat rhetoric for the right, including terms for sexual and sadistic murderers. And benefit claimants. And this controversial statement about trans people. Because the clock is ticking towards a general election, some of what we heard in the speech were commitments, but others are reallyjust aspirations. There are three questions. The first, are there areas in which the Prime Minister might not need full legislation . Here, we know that the Prime Minister announced a free vote on those changes to the smoking age, but that might not require a full bill. It may be able to be examined through existing powers. The Second Question is whether the government could bring forward legislation in a single term, but might need further time for consultation. So, on issues such as regulation on vaping, that might be the approach the government takes there. And then, the third question is on those longer term policy issues. Here, thinking about some of those changes to education policy. Also, changes to transport policy and the replacement for hs2 which, while government might be able to deliver some of that in the next parliamentary session, ultimately, these are long term policy ambitions, which may take up to five or ten years to fully implement and deliver. The Prime Minister is attempting to position himself as the all change candidate and not the were on the right track, lets keep going one. But will voters at the ballot box associate rishi sunak with promises in the future, or the conservatives record of the past . In a moment, well be joined Henri Murrison chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse, Vaughan GethingEconomy Minister in the devolved Welsh Government, and lord marland who was a minister in the government of David Cameron. But first, lets go to chris loder conservative mp for west dorset and a supporter of the Prime Ministers decision to cancel the birmingham to Manchester Leg of hsz. Good evening, chris loder. New projects, every penny will go on new projects, every penny will go on new projects, but £8. 3 billion of that is on fixing potholes. Projects, but £8. 3 billion of that is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is aood is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is good to is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is good to speak is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is good to speak to is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is good to speak to you is on fixing potholes. Good evening, it is good to speak to you this it is good to speak to you this evening. What we have seen from the Prime Minister today is a very clear announcement to basically come to terms with the fact that the hs2 project was wildly over spending. It wasnt going to manchester for some 18 years from now. I know and i know many of the mps from around this area no that notjust the Greater Manchester area, area no that notjust the Greater Manchesterarea, but area no that notjust the Greater Manchester area, but the whole north of england wants to see significant transport improvements much more quickly. But transport improvements much more cuickl. � transport improvements much more cuickl. �. , , transport improvements much more cuickl. , ,. , quickly. But if the money is going on potholes quickly. But if the money is going on potholes and quickly. But if the money is going on potholes and some quickly. But if the money is going on potholes and some of quickly. But if the money is going on potholes and some of that quickly. But if the money is going on potholes and some of that in l quickly. But if the money is going i on potholes and some of that in the south of the country as well as some of those rail and other improvements in the south of the country, that is a negative for the north, isnt it . I dont think it has a net negative. It is nearly a quarter of the money on fixing potholes, that is not new Transport Projects for the north. What we are seeing clearly is the moving forward of significant sums of money which will benefit the north here and now whereas the previous plan before the announcement of today was that the benefits would not be felt here for another 18 years. I remember in transport select committee only last year, the labour mayor of the West Yorkshire area made her views very clear that actually around bradford and other places, needed attention. The mp for keighley and ilkley has passionately made his point that has area and indeed the bradford area needs investment. That is going to happen to the tune of more than 4 billion to get a metro to that area. People clearly want it but when is it going to be deliverable . That is surely the question and how many of these announcements have already been made . We heard in that piece that borisjohnson says dual carriageway all the way up the a1 was announced in 1992 so that is not really a new announcement. I am talkin really a new announcement. I am talking specifically really a new announcement. I am talking specifically about really a new announcement. I n talking specifically about the railways and connectivity around the bradford and leeds, but i have to say that today is a Turning Point as far as im concerned. There is a level of reality that has to come with the fact that when Infrastructure Projects authority says that a project like hs2 that has cost the country tens of billions and was projected to grow massively overspent, that level of Reality Check has had to come, and i am pleased the Prime Minister has brought that Reality Check today, because what actually the Prime Minister is doing is saying that people of the north and the midlands need to see real benefits to connectivity now and as soon as possible and thats what we are going to see. It possible and thats what we are going to see going to see. It is a different reality to going to see. It is a different reality to that going to see. It is a different reality to that of going to see. It is a different reality to that of david going to see. It is a different reality to that of David Cameron, who said that rishi sunak has thrown away 15 years of Cross Party Consensus. And indeed he has been retweeted in that sentiment by George Osborne and borisjohnson, so the Prime Ministers predecessors seem to think he has made the wrong call on this. Indie seem to think he has made the wrong call on this. ~. , seem to think he has made the wrong call on this call on this. We need to bear in mind that call on this. We need to bear in mind that they call on this. We need to bear in mind that they are call on this. We need to bear in mind that they are the call on this. We need to bear in mind that they are the prime. Mind that they are the Prime Ministers predecessors. I have great affection and huge admiration for David Cameron, he was the person who drew me to the Conservative Party in 2008, bu