The National:

AS the UK faces strikes across the rail and health industries and with the NHS in crisis, the public has been bursting with anticipation to see how Rishi Sunak plans to save the day.

It came as a shock to many then that, in his first speech of 2023, the PM’s grand plan involves ensuring all pupils in England study some form of maths until aged 18.

Just the news the kids wanted to hear. 

Several people took to Twitter to mock Sunak for the announcement as the country faces many other crises.

One user described it as a “terrible idea” and said that they “wouldn’t have bothered going to college” if they had been made to study it until a certain age.

Another compared the current situation to beloved sitcom The Office. “Rishi Sunak arriving in the middle of the NHS crisis like ‘this’ll cheer you up! I’m extending mandatory maths’ is like when everyone got told they were losing their jobs on The Office and David Brent tells them all that he has some good news & it’s that he’s been promoted.”

In his first speech of the new year, Sunak is expected to say he has the “right plan” to drive education reform.

This comes just days after a new poll showed Tory voters had completely lost faith with the party, believing that education reform had flopped.

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Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre described the PM as “pitching for popularity but inadvertently betraying a cringe-inducing lack of vision”.

Another said the PM was “living on a different planet”.

As is the norm with this Tory government, something just doesn’t quite add up.