Rishi Sunak to tour the UK with ‘town hall’ meetings to declare his progress on the economy and stopping the boats in New Year fightback

• PM will declare next week that he is making ‘good progress’ on his targets

Rishi Sunak will declare next week that he is making ‘good progress’ on turning round the economy and stopping the boats.

In a new year fightback, he is planning a series of ‘town hall’ meetings across the country to hammer home his success in meeting a self-imposed target to halve inflation this year.

The Prime Minister will also point to a 2p cut in National Insurance, which takes effect next week, as evidence that the Tories are finally returning to their tax-cutting approach.

And he will highlight figures showing that illegal Channel crossings are down by more than a third in a year when illegal migration has risen across Europe.

Ministers are increasingly optimistic that Mr Sunak will also hit his target of clearing the ‘legacy backlog’ of 92,000 unresolved asylum cases by the end of this year.

The PM, who watched Southampton host Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Championship today, will also repeat this month’s pledge of a ‘gear shift’ on cutting taxes at the Budget.

A Tory source said: ‘We need to keep recovering the economy so that we can cut taxes not just now but in the future – that is the aim.

‘We have made progress in controlling inflation which has given us the space to cut the size of the state. But we need to keep going.

‘You will hear more and more from the PM about the contrast between what we are doing and what you would get from the Labour Party, who would saddle us with higher taxes, more immigration and a bigger welfare bill.’

New polls suggest Mr Sunak still has a mountain to climb to restore Tory fortunes in what looks certain to be an election year.

A People Polling survey for GB News last night showed Labour would enter 2024 with a 22-point lead. 

The survey of almost 2,000 voters put Labour on 45 per cent, with the Conservatives on 23 and the Liberal Democrats and Reform on 10 per cent each.

The strong showing for Reform will alarm Tory MPs concerned that Mr Sunak is doing too little to shore up support on the Right.

Ominously for Mr Sunak, two-thirds of those polled agreed it was ‘time for a change at Westminster’. 

In a further blow, the PM’s personal rating fell to a record low among Tory activists.

A survey by the grassroots website Conservative Home gave the PM a net satisfaction rating of minus 26.5, the lowest in the Cabinet apart from new immigration minister Michael Tomlinson.

Mr Sunak has shelved plans to start the year with a major speech. Instead he will take part in the low-key sessions with the public.