The United Kingdom prime minister is looking at plans to ensure all pupils in England study maths in some form until the age of 18.

In his first speech of 2023, Rishi Sunak will also set out the priorities for his premiership, including tackling backlogs in the health service.

The government is facing a wave of strikes, a cost-of-living crisis and huge pressures on the NHS.

Mr Sunak will be keen to use his speech to prove competence and set out ideas after last year’s political turmoil.

During his speech, Mr Sunak is expected to expand on his vision for the UK, and revisit comments made in December about giving people “peace of mind”.

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Sunak will take “personal charge of tackling the NHS crisis”.

Problems getting an ambulance, waiting times for planned operations and social care in England are all likely to be referred to in his speech later, as critics demand immediate answers to what is widely seen as a crisis in the NHS this winter.

Those around Mr Sunak say his instinct is that to have more than a few priorities at any one time is to have no priorities at all, and the situation in the NHS is uppermost in his mind, according to BBC political editor Chris Mason.

On Tuesday, No 10 said the government was “confident” it was “providing the NHS with the funding it needs”.

But opposition parties have accused the prime minister of being “missing in action”, as senior doctors warn some accident and emergency units are in a “complete state of crisis”.

With the Conservatives trailing in the polls, Mr Sunak will also be keen to set out the aims of his premiership beyond crisis management.

-BBC News