That's it for our UK politics live coverage today - thanks for following along.

Today's page was written by Aoife Walsh, Emily McGarvey, Sam Hancock, Laura Gozzi and Gem O'Reilly.

It was edited by Andrew Humphrey, James FitzGerald and Sam Horti.

Image source, Reuters

We'll be closing this page soon but before then, here's a rundown of the main events from today.

New Year speech

In his first address of the year - a wide-ranging speech - PM Rishi Sunak set out five goals that he insisted voters should hold him to account on. He said he wants to:

• Halve inflation to ease the cost of living and give people financial security
• Grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity across the country
• Decrease national debt to secure the future of public services
• Cut NHS waiting times to improve patient care
• Stop small boats crossing the Channel - detaining and removing those who reach the UK illegally

Less than impressed

Sunak was quizzed on the detail of his plans - and opposition parties criticised his speech:

• Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner described Sunak as a "do-nothing prime minister" and said the country would be left asking "is that it?" after his speech
• The SNP's Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said Sunak's pledges were nothing more than "flimsy promises" - and an "advert for why Scotland needs independence"
• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey accused the PM of being "asleep at the wheel" while the health service was "stretched to breaking point"
• Meanwhile Carla Denyer, the Green Party's co-leader, tweeted to say Sunak's growth plan was "unsustainable" and warned of an "austerity 2.0"

Back to strikes

While Sunak promoted his vision for 2023, strike action continues to affect most of the UK.

Just 10% of England's normal rail services are due to run on Thursday, when 12,500 train drivers in the Aslef union stage walkouts.

In Scotland, nurses have confirmed they won't go on strike at the same time as nurses in England on 18 and 19 January.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Political leaders will often use the first week of any new year to try to tap into that early January sentiment of reflection and renewal. Today it was Rishi Sunak’s turn. Tomorrow it’ll be Keir Starmer’s for Labour.

Sunak’s address had the feel of the party conference speech he never gave. He was cast briefly last autumn towards political oblivion — before the implosion of Liz Truss’s premiership.

His five promises are an attempt to provide structure and accountability to his next 12 months of governing. Some look eminently achievable, others rather vague. Some in their very formulation underline the gravity of the current situation.

Promising the economy will grow by the end of the year still means months and months of recession beforehand.

Sunak sought – even beyond those promises – to set out what drives him. His passion for education. An aspiration all young people in England study maths in some form until they’re 18. His anger at antisocial behaviour, albeit without new specific ideas to tackle it.

Amid what many see as the multiple crises now, this broad vision might appear jarring to some. This is a man who became prime minister in the blink of an eye, still attempting to introduce himself to the country.

But his political and economic inheritance - and the ticking clock of an election within two years - mean that his challenge is delivering enough, quickly enough.

For tomorrow, it’ll be his opponent’s turn – Keir Starmer setting out his alternative vision, as each man grapples to be seen as the most competent and inspiring manager of a rather bleak era.

Daniel Sandford
Home affairs correspondent

Twice in Rishi Sunak’s speech, he pledged to “stop the boats”.

The prime minister did qualify this, saying: “We will pass new laws to stop small boats, making sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are detained and swiftly removed.”

So what exactly is the prime minster promising? To “stop the boats”? Or to “pass new laws to stop small boats”?

He was asked about this in the Q&A, and he conceded that “this is not an easy problem to fix and it’s not one we can fix overnight and requires lots of different things to be changed.”

“The most important thing we need to do is pass new legislation,” he said. “And we want to make sure that that new legislation means that if you come here illegally to our country you will not be able to stay. You will be detained and swiftly removed back to a safe country or your own home if that is appropriate.”

So this is a case of reading the small print. What Rishi Sunak has actually promised is to pass new laws that would mean people entering the UK illegally would be detained and removed.

That is not the same as “stopping the boats.” What’s more, this new legislation may well get bogged down in the courts as a potential breach of the UK’s refugee obligations. And if it is going to work, it will have to be better than the laws passed only last year.

Reality Check

Talking about his promise to make NHS waiting lists fall, Rishi Sunak claimed the government has “practically eliminated [the number of] people waiting over two years” for treatment.

This is correct. In August 2022, NHS England, external announced that fewer than 200 people were waiting this long, down from 22,500 people at the start of 2022. This number excludes complex cases as well as people who chose to defer treatment.

Sunak also said the government was on track to eliminate 18-month waits by April 2023. In November 2022, NHS England reported, external that the number of people on this list had fallen by 60%.

The government has a further target, external to reduce the year-long waiting list by March 2025.

Data compiled by the British Medical Association (BMA), external shows that the total number of people waiting for specialist NHS treatment in England has increased every month since January 2022. It currently stands at a record number of 7.21 million people as of October 2022.

Not every comment we have received has blamed the government for the state of the NHS.

Some readers have expressed the view that the problems stem from decades of the health service being poorly run, while others have praised Rishi Sunak for seeking to be transparent and accountable.

More reaction to Rishi Sunak's speech - this time from the SNP's leader at Westminster, who has branded it "an advert for why Scotland needs independence".

Stephen Flynn MP criticised Sunak for speaking at length about "improving numeracy", yet offering "no hope to those weighed down by the harsh figures that are preventing them from heating their homes, putting food on the table or paying their mortgages".

Flynn added that the speech offered the prime minister a chance to fix "broken Britain", to "pay public sector workers what they are worth" and to protect the most vulnerable in society - but "he did none of these things".

Instead, Flynn said, Sunak made "five flimsy promises" - like the pledges of his prime ministerial predecessors.

Image source, UK Parliament

Image source, Getty Images

Let's continue our look at how opposition parties have responded to Rishi Sunak's speech, in which he made five key pledges on the NHS, the economy and migrants.

The Green Party's co-leader Carla Denyer has tweeted to say Sunak is trying to "undo the Tories' own economic mess".

She attacked his growth plan as being "unsustainable" and warned of an "austerity 2.0".

Image source, Getty Images

The Liberal Democrats have offered their own comments on what we heard from the PM.

Party leader Sir Ed Davey said people would be "dismayed that Rishi Sunak still doesn’t have a proper plan to deal with the crisis raging in the NHS".

His statement also accused the PM of being "asleep at the wheel" while the health service was "stretched to breaking point".

He continued: "Families up and down the country are facing personal tragedies every day and this Conservative government either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care."

Image source, PA Media

Opposition parties have been reacting to the prime minister's speech a little earlier.

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy hit out at the prime minster's plan to ensure all pupils in England study maths in some form until the age of 18 - saying this "lecture on the importance of maths rings hollow".

In a tweet, Lammy accuses the government of missing its target for new maths teachers "every year since 2012".

He continues: "Our children need more teachers, not just words. That’s what Labour’s plan to end tax breaks on private schools will deliver."

Gem O'Reilly
BBC News

Laura, an ears, nose and throat surgeon, gave me her opinion of Rishi Sunak's speech after he pledged to reduce NHS waiting times.

She said: "This shows just how out of touch the prime minister is with the NHS. Waiting times cannot be reduced if we cannot even serve people coming through the doors.

"That's like saying you'll build a new house while the house is on fire. You have to put the fire out.

Laura added: "The only way to reduce wait times are by outsourcing services, which could result in the NHS becoming even more fragmented and privatised."

Laura reflected on the last 15 years and how ear and eyes tests have fallen to private companies. She said the resources needed to remain within the NHS, to improve patient care.

I asked Laura about Sunak's strike comments and she explained: "The reason we are striking is because right now in the NHS services are dangerous, we cannot deliver the care we want to.

"The public are getting to the NHS on death’s door. You can’t start from the back by reducing waiting times, you've got to start on the front line."

Laura Foster
Health correspondent

An update for you now on strike action by NHS staff, which is one of the topics Sunak was pressed on by journalists a little earlier.

NHS nurses in Scotland have confirmed they won’t go on strike at the same time as nurses in England.

On 18 and 19 January, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members at 55 health trusts in England are set to take part in two 12 hour walkouts.

But RCN Scotland is still deciding when its own industrial action should happen and isn’t expected to announce a date, or maybe even dates, until next week.

That means it would be too late to arrange anything for the 18th or 19th as health boards need to be given at least two weeks’ notice.

The Scottish government has previously said it has made its "best and final pay offer" to NHS staff.

Meanwhile, the prime minister says the UK government, which is responsible for healthcare in England, will set out next steps "in the coming days" about planned strike action by NHS workers there.

We have received a large amount of comments about Rishi Sunak's speech, very few of which have been supportive. Here's a sample of what some of you had to say.

Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent

Education is "the closest thing to a silver bullet there is", the prime minister said. In other words, he sees it as a solution to some of the UK's most pressing challenges.

Rishi Sunak's proposals included better attainment at primary schools, more technical education, and - as we heard earlier - a new approach to numeracy.

All of those will require time and money.

The injection of extra cash for schools over the next two years has eased some financial pressures - but teachers are still considering strike action over pay.

And the impact of school closures in the pandemic remains a huge challenge. Last year, 59% of children leaving primary school reached the expected standards in reading, writing and maths.

Sunak is clearly keen on training up skilled employees - yet there was no extra funding for colleges in the Autumn Statement.

And, despite the emphasis on the importance of family, Sunak's speech was light on plans for early years education.

Reality Check

During his speech, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to ensure all pupils in England study maths in some form until they turn 18.

But critics have said that maths teacher shortages may complicate this plan.

In 2021, there were 35,771 maths teachers , externalin state secondary schools in England. There were more English teachers (39,000) and science teachers (45,000).

Maths teacher numbers are 9% higher than they were in 2012, but staffing problems have been reported across the country.

A survey of secondary schools in England, external by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that 45% of respondents used non-specialist teachers to deliver some maths lessons in 2021.

Many of the surveyed schools reported that the initial teacher training recruitment target for maths had not been met.

Challenges to recruit and retain maths teachers have also been shared by schools in Scotland, external and Wales., external

While taking reporter questions following his speech, Sunak was asked at one point to clarify what he meant when he said he'd stop small boats crossing the Channel.

Did he mean there would be no boats - or fewer boats - by the time of the next general election, The Times' political editor Steve Swinford probed.

Sunak admitted it was a tough issue to fix, but said a deal made with France last year meant 40% more patrols were happening on the Channel. There was also a deal with Albania which, he said, would make it easier to return migrants who've come to the UK from there.

Sunak finished his response by saying that the kind of system he "believes makes sense" was one in which legislation allows for the UK to send illegal arrivals back to where they're from - or to another safe country, presumably referring to the government's Rwanda policy.

"What I want the country to know is I'm working day and night to deliver that system," he concluded.

Stopping migrant boats - a concern among Conservative constituentspublished at 15:26 GMT 4 January 2023

15:26 GMT 4 January 2023

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

“Fifth, we will pass new laws to stop small boats, making sure that if you come to this country illegally, you are detained and swiftly removed.”

This is something Sunak has already said is a priority; he announced back in December that the government would be bringing forward new legislation this year.

It’s something many Conservative MPs have repeatedly raised as a point of concern among their constituents, which is why it’s high up the to-do list.

He’s already set targets to reduce the backlog of asylum cases this year - something that can be directly measured.

Today the prime minister was asked by journalists to put a clear target on stopping or reducing the number of small boats attempting to cross the Channel - he didn’t, opting instead to outline the steps the government was taking to tackle the problem and stressing it’s a priority. Proof, if you needed it, that setting measurable targets is always a political risk.

Cutting NHS waiting lists - a tough target to achievepublished at 15:21 GMT 4 January 2023

15:21 GMT 4 January 2023

Hugh Pym
Health Editor

“Fourth, NHS waiting lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly.”

Rishi Sunak has made reducing NHS waiting lists in England one of his five key promises for this Parliament. In reality that will be a tough target to hit.

In early 2022 the then Health Secretary Sajid Javid conceded that waiting lists for non-urgent treatment and appointments would only start falling in March 2024. Continued increases, he suggested, were likely as more patients came forward having missed treatment during lockdowns.

But since then Covid has continued to have an impact on hospitals, reducing bed numbers for those needing routine care. Flu cases this winter have also hit hospitals hard. Strikes will affect some activity.

So if the plan is to hold a general election in 2024, it will be touch and go whether reducing waiting lists by then is achievable. Those monthly statistics from NHS England will be watched closely in Downing Street as well as by the media.

Cutting national debt - key to Sunak's economic credibilitypublished at 15:17 GMT 4 January 2023

15:17 GMT 4 January 2023

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

“Third, we will make sure our national debt is falling so that we can secure the future of public services.”

Rishi Sunak has made getting control of the public finances one of his priorities since he took office - his first big economic statement alongside his Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in the autumn made a big play of tough spending decisions and difficult choices.

However, huge government interventions during the height of the Covid pandemic and subsequent support with energy bills hasn’t left a very rosy picture.

The thinking behind this pledge is likely to be the fact that Sunak wants to have a reputation for economic credibility, particularly after the turmoil of the Liz Truss government, in the belief that that’s important to voters - not least Conservatives.

Whether he can deliver, and by when, is another matter.

Growth - a promise often made but harder to achievepublished at 15:13 GMT 4 January 2023

15:13 GMT 4 January 2023

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

“Second, we will grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country.”

Growth - remember that word from Liz Truss’ time in office? Growing the economy is something successive governments have sought to do - and made promises about.

There’s not huge detail on how this might be measured or by when, though when questioned the PM said he hoped to see the economy growing by the end of this year.

Politically it boils down to one thing. Will people feel better or worse off at the time of the next election?

The government’s hope is that the country might be through the worst of any recession and feel like it’s on the up again, but after such a tough economic time for so many that’s not going to be easy to achieve.