Transcript of Andrew Carter's speech to the Conservative Party conference, Bournemouth, Wednesday October 6th, 2010
I stand before you as leader of our party for the first time. I first of all wish to make it clear that I took no personnel pleasure in the events of May this year, but I believe that they where necessary not only for us a party but more importantly for our nation.
The leadership race showed with any doubt the depth and talent within this party. I am pleased to have Richard Samuels as my Deputy, and Ed Barker as Party Chairman. He ran an exceptional race to be leader. William Morgan showed what a man of honesty and talent he is, and what a great Foreign Secretary he will make.
This has been the best, and our most successful Conference in years. This week the people of Britain look to us to see if we are ready to be a Government. And with the policies we have presented and the purpose we have demonstrated, we have shown beyond doubt that we are ready for Government. This week the people of Britain look to us to see if we have the right team to run the country. And with brilliant platform speeches we have shown beyond doubt that this Shadow Cabinet, with its breadth of vision for our country and its depth of talent, is the best team to lead Britain into the second decade of the 21st century.
Our Conference has looked like a Conference for the future. Labour’s looked like a Conference from the past. The same failed ideas, the same excuses, the same predictable attacks on us. We have a Prime-Minister that looks like he belongs to a different age. A man that admits, he doesn't know how to send a e-mail or text message. He is not sure how to use the internet. He is a man out of touch and leads a government that has failed.
And throughout this week, we have shown the British people beyond doubt that we can win the next general election.
Let us be clear. The next government of this country will face a poisoned legacy. The economy has been badly mismanaged. The next government will be forced to make very difficult decisions and we must stand ready to make those tough choices. We will have to get spending under control. The leviathan that is the state in the United Kingdom simply has to be tamed.
We have spent years spending beyond our means. We have irresponsibly wagered our children’s inheritance and now we are faced with a stark choice. We tackle the staggering mess of our public finances or we put it off to our children and our grandchildren. I say that’s no choice, we must act now. We will act to cut the deficit within a parliament.
That presents us with two choices. We spend less or we raise more. As much as I wish I could stand here today and promise tax cuts I think we all know it would be irresponsible – I like many of the great Conservatives of the past believe that lowering the tax burden and freeing the people of this country is the only route to long term prosperity – but I know that increasing tax will choke of the recovery, it’ll stop business creating jobs and it’ll reduce the money people have in their pocket. That leaves us with the only option – tackle public spending.
Public spending in the UK accounts for 51% of GDP. Think about that. Half of the economy, half! It’s simply not sustainable, we need to grow the private sector, we need to free up the people of this country to start their own businesses and to drive the ones they already have. John Green tells us we need to keep spending to sustain growth – I say that recycling money may increase GDP in the short term but it doesn’t and it never will generate growth. Eventually the money runs out.
If we win the next election I promise the people of Great Britain that we will focus relentlessly on getting our public spending under control. It’s time to end the benefits culture that has been allowed to seep into this country, we must return to the entrepreneurial spirit that built this nation and start to lead the way in the industries of tomorrow.
I guarantee you that this is not what’s on the mind of the Prime Minister.
This week, and in the coming weeks, people want to know what the alternative will be. They look to us. They want to know if we’re ready. They want to know what drives us, what motivates us, what we would be like in office.
The people of Britain want a government that puts the country first, not the party first and they will get that with a Conservative government, for that is what this party wants. It wants our country rebuilt again, our country bold, audacious and just again. We will put the country first. We are ready, fit to serve and able to lead Britain to a better future. We have the policies that the people want. We have a fine team for government, indeed we have the best team for government, of that there is no doubt.
I want to make clear that this party under my leadership will always look to the future. I believe in the vast majority of reforms and policy reviews that James carried out as leader. I back 100% civil partnerships. There will be no return to clause 28, our nation has moved on. I fully support gay rights, because to me it is not about "gay rights" at all, it is freedom of choice, and that to me is a fundamental part of being Conservative. It's your choice to live your life in the way you wish. It is as simple as that.
The Prime-Minister may attack me for returning to the 1980's, I do, when we had a strong economy, and a strong Government, but also I understand that scoially that the country has moved on, it always does, it is called progress. It is a different generation. A baby that was born when Margaret Thatcher left office in March 1993, will be able to vote at the next election. Times change, they always do, and we as a party must always move with them.
I did not believe back in 1996 when Labour fought for the minimum wage, but I have been proved wrong, despite what Labour are saying, it will stay. I also ask this Prime-Minister and his party to stop smearing me and my party. A few weeks ago, a constituent called me, she was 77 years old. She said that a member of the Labour party had just been around her house to tell her that if I was elected Prime-Minister that I was "going to take away her fuel payment, her bus pass, close the local hospital, cut her pension" she was close to tears. This must stop. I want a honest debate about our future, but this scaremongering must stop now.
The Prime-Minister may think his made-up numbers about Tory cuts will win him back a few votes. He couldn'’t be more wrong. People don’t believe the phony statistics and falsehoods he tells about his own policies and so they certainly won’t believe the phony statistics and falsehoods he tells about ours. The British people know we can have lower taxes and better public services if we spend wisely. They know it can be done.
And we’re going to do it.
As Prime-Minister can I make it clear, I don't think I will solve every problem, I don't think I avoid every mistake, I won't try to start a new fad or a fashions, I won't claim to be starting an new era. What the British people will get with me, is honest, decent, low-cost Government. No spin, no paying attention more to the headlines than running the country. I want to lead a Government that the people can trust.
From this Conference we go out into battle. It has been made perfectly plain that the battle is not far away. We go out to fight for higher living standards for our people, to fight for a better deal for those in need, to fight for a strong Britain, to fight not for a narrow sectional or class interest but to fight for the interests of all the people in this country.
Let us be under no illusions. I have never been under any illusions since the moment I first spoke to you when you elected me Leader of this Party. It will be a hard battle to fight, and I hope that everybody realises that. Victory will not come easily. The message we send out to our party in the country and to the whole nation is this: We are ready; we are confident; we know that we are in the right; and when the challenge comes, victory will be won.
