Rishi Sunak warned Keir Starmer ‘can’t be trusted’ to deal with the challenges Britain faces today.
In a speech drawing stark dividing lines ahead of the election, the PM pointed to the rise of AI, immigration and hostile states.
He insisted that Labour is not able to deal with the challenges that will overhaul ‘almost every aspect’ of our everyday lives in the next five years.
The general election will be a ‘choice between the future and the past’, Mr Sunak argued – saying he is still ‘confident’ of winning despite dire polls.
He said Sir Keir wanted to make people feel ‘so bad about your country’ that they hand him a huge majority, stressing that changing the government is not a cure for the country’s problems.
‘There are storms ahead… but we can and we will create a secure future,’ he said.
The intervention comes as the premier sharpens his attack lines with the ballot expected by the end of the year.
The Tories are struggling to get traction after a miserable round of council and mayoral elections earlier this month.
Rishi Sunak warned Keir Starmer ‘can’t be trusted’ to deal with the challenges Britain faces today
In a major speech, Rishi Sunak will say he feels a ‘profound sense of urgency’ to tackle the threats facing the nation while also seizing the opportunities to build a more secure future
Mr Sunak will set out ‘bold ideas’ for ‘solutions to mass immigration’. Pictured is group of people thought to be migrants nboard a Border Force vessel
Mr Sunak acknowledged Labour could win the general election but said Sir Keir Starmer’s party had ‘no plans’ despite ‘having 14 years with nothing to do but think about the future’.
He said: ‘I’m clear-eyed enough to admit that, yes, maybe they can depress their way to victory, with all their talk of doom loops and gaslighting and scaremongering about pensions. But I don’t think it will work, because at heart we are a nation of optimists.’
He accused Sir Keir of having ‘no principles’, saying he had ‘gone from embracing Jeremy Corbyn to Natalie Elphicke, all in the cynical pursuit of power at any price’.
‘Labour have no ideas. What they did have they’ve U-turned on. They have just one thing: a calculation that they can make you feel so bad about your country, that you won’t have the energy to ask what they might do with the incredible power that they seek to yield.’
Mr Sunak acknowledged ‘people are feeling anxious and uncertain, that their sense of confidence and pride in this country has been knocked’.
‘I understand that. I accept it, and I want to change it. But what I cannot accept is Labour’s idea that all the worries you have are because of 14 years of Conservative government, that all you need to do is change the people in office and these problems will magically disappear.’
Mr Sunak used the presidential-style address to say that Britain is at a ‘crossroads’ and ‘more will change in the next five years than in the last 30’.
He insisted he has a ‘profound sense of urgency’ about tackling the threats.
But the PM also struck a positive tone about the results of responding in the right way, saying he has ‘bold ideas’ to capitalise on the opportunities.
They include using advances in artificial intelligence and biotech and turning them a force for good, as well as looking outside the box for solutions to mass immigration – such as the Rwanda scheme.
Mr Sunak said: ‘I have bold ideas that can change our society for the better, and restore people’s confidence and pride in our country.
‘I feel a profound sense of urgency. Because more will change in the next five years than in the last 30.
‘I’m convinced that the next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet most transformational our country has ever known.’
He added: ‘Over the next few years, from our democracy to our economy to our society – to the hardest questions of war and peace – almost every aspect of our lives is going to change.
‘How we act in the face of these changes – not only to keep people safe and secure but to realise the opportunities too – will determine whether or not Britain will succeed in the years to come. And this is the choice facing the country.’
Mr Sunak has previously warned the UK is facing an ‘axis of authoritarian states with different values to ours’, including Russia, Iran, North Korea and China – with the countries showing a ‘new assertiveness’ and increasingly working together.
The PM said ‘at heart, we’re a nation of optimists’ and not ‘blind to the challenges or threats we face’.
‘We just have an innate belief that whatever they are, we can overcome them as we have done so many times in our history. And create a more secure future for you and your family.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a in Beijing last year
In a speech in Dover on Friday, Sir Keir vowed to axe the Rwanda deportations policy immediately if he becomes PM, despite signs it is already having a deterrent effect.
Instead he suggested that overhauling the asylum processing system could tackle the Channel migrant crisis.
However, he refused to say whether Labour would stop the boats altogether, or how much numbers would fall.
Labour MP Pat McFadden said tonight: ‘Nothing the Prime Minister says will change the fact that over the past 14 years, the Conservatives have brought costly chaos to the country. The Conservatives can’t fix the country’s problems because they are the problem.’
