Rishi Sunak talks about maths, but the real numbers to be concerned about are in the NHS

Rishi Sunak has announced plans for every pupil in England to study maths until the age of 18.

The Prime Minister says this will bring the nation up to speed with other major countries, and the "single most important reason" he entered politics was "to give every child the highest possible standard of education".

Downing Street officials said it was “the first time he has spoken about his priorities in an in-depth way”, with a focus on education.

The obvious issue for the Prime Minister is this is not the most important issue facing the country right now, and akin to vowing to blow out a candle while your house is on fire.

Rishi Sunak will use his speech to outline plans to reform education.

This week doctors claimed problems accessing NHS urgent and emergency services could be causing as many as 500 avoidable deaths a week, while patients are being told not to visit A&E if they can avoid it.

Some patients are waiting 11 hours for an ambulance – something entirely unrelated to strikes from a workforce feeling overworked and underpaid.

Despite this, as recently as this week Mr Sunak was insisting the NHS was not in crisis, but simply experiencing a “challenging winter”.

Having barely appeared in public for the past few months, this speech represented a reintroduction for Mr Sunak, and a chance for him to change the narrative.

Announcing five pledges, Mr Sunak insisted "it would not be right or responsible" to say when any of them would be achieved, with this speech more about stressing the “compassionate Conservatism” he advocated during his unsuccessful leadership bid.

He vowed to fix issues in NHS such as waiting times, but no timeframe or actual policy was announced.

Tory MPs are worried, with all polling showing not just a wipe-out in Scotland, but a bloodbath south of the border.

The Prime Minister needs to offer something positive to his party to be able to promise on the doorsteps, and better opportunity and education for all children meets that requirement.

This was a speech of deflection and delay, imploring voters to look not at what the UK Government is doing now, but what the Government may do eventually.

Selling a vision is easy. Announcing actual plans is much harder with an NHS Downing Street won’t admit needs saving.