Rishi Sunak Appeals To Voters To Trust Tories With UK Security

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that only the Conservatives can be trusted with the UK’s national, energy, and economic security in a new plea to keep his party in office.

Delivering a speech at Policy Exchange think tank on Monday, Sunak said the country was at a “crossroads” where the public would have to make a “choice between the future and the past” at the ballot box when the country goes to the polls later this year. Sunak must call an election before the end of 2024.

“The dangers that threaten our country are real,” Sunak said. 

“They're increasing in number and an axis of authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China is working together to undermine us and our values.”

In the broad speech that is being widely viewed as an unofficial election pitch, he went on to describe “gender activists hijacking children's sex education to cancel culture”, protesters “trying to impose their views on the rest of us”, and Scottish nationalists “trying to tear our United Kingdom apart”. 

Despite the Tories being well behind Labour in the national polls and huge Conservative losses in the recent local and mayoral elections, Sunak insisted he remained “confident that my party can prevail” in the upcoming general election.

“Not because of our record alone, but because we will be the only party really talking about the future and not with vague, lofty platitudes, but with bold ideas and a clear plan that can change our society for the better, and restore people's confidence and pride in our country,” he said.

Claiming that keeping the country safe was the “highest priority of a Conservative government”, Sunak pointed to the “generational decision” to increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2.5 per cent of GDP by