RISHI Sunak has launched a last-ditch election pitch defending the Tory record ahead of the country going to the polls on Thursday.
The Prime Minister championed Brexit freedoms, savings for families on his Net Zero plans and hailing Britain’s place on the world stage.
PARishi Sunak speaking on the BBC this morning with just four days until the election[/caption]
He gave a defiant defence of 14 years in office hitting out at the “declinist narrative” saying countries are “queuing up” to work with the UK.
The PM accused Sir Keir Starmer of planning to reaccept EU laws when he was pressed on the BBC about Brexit.
He also spelled out how Britain’s trade has been boosted by a deal with countries such as Canada, Japan and Malaysia.
He told host Laura Kuenssberg: “You haven’t mentioned we’re the first European nation to join the CPTPP trade deal.
“We were negotiating very closely with India and I’m confident that we will be the first European country, again under a Conservative government if we’re re-elected, to negotiate the trade deal that steep with India, which again is one of the fastest growing parts of the world.
He added: “I don’t think it’s right for Labour to end up re-accepting EU rules that we have no say over.”
The Prime Minister used the last Sunday before polling day to try and cloaw back some of the 20-point poll lead that Labour have built up.
He also needs to win back support from Tory voters who have splintered off to back Nigel Farage’s Reform party.
The PM said the Tories offered a “sensible approach” or families face paying thousands of pounds extra under a Labour government.
He also hit back at any suggestion that Britain had lost it’s standing in the world saying it was “completely and utterly wrong”.
He cited Britain building new nuclear submarines with Australia and the US and EU and support for Ukraine.
Mr Sunak said that “people are queuing up to work with us because they respect what we do”.
“So I just completely reject that, it’s entirely wrong, this kind of declinist narrative that people have of the UK I wholeheartedly reject.”
He added: “Thanks to the reforms of the Conservative government, our schoolchildren are now the best readers in the Western world.
“Nine out of ten schools are good or outstanding – a huge improvement compared to what we inherited.”
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “It’s excruciating to watch Rishi Sunak just gloss over the concerns of ordinary working people.
“Rishi Sunak has no remorse for his record: prices are up in the shops, NHS waiting lists have rocketed, and mortgages have soared. He just doesn’t understand what the Conservatives have inflicted on voters over the past 14 years.
“Britain simply cannot afford five more years of the Tories. Their pie-in-the-sky, unfunded manifesto risks heaping £4,800 more onto family mortgages.
“The public has the chance for change. But change will only happen with a vote for Labour on 4 July.”