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Below is the text of the speech made by Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to 11th November 2010.

Introduction

Welcome to the Arlington Centre where Broadway provides its key services – projects like this change lives and transform communities long forgotten by others – they prove a better future is possible for people on the margins of society.

My contract

Several weeks ago I set out my contract with the British people.

In the clearest possible terms it says:

If you are vulnerable and unable to work we will support you.  This is our fundamental responsibility in office.

It says this Government is unashamedly ‘pro-work’.  We believe in work and its wider benefits.  We recognise it is the best route out of poverty, and we should always reward those who seek a job.

Thirdly, it was a pledge to deliver fairness for those who fund the system: taxpayers.

So today, based on my contract, this vision and our consultation, I am delighted to publish “Universal Credit: welfare that works”.

The vision: understanding poverty

For me, this programme represents much more than a Ministerial brief or initiative.

My passion for welfare reform, and my desire to fight poverty within Government, has been driven by the stark reality of what I’ve encountered.

As I travelled to many of Britain’s poorest communities I concluded that tackling poverty had to be about much more than handing out money. It was bigger than that.

I could see we were dealing with a part of society that had become detached from the rest of us.

People who suffer high levels of family breakdown, educational failure, personal debt, addiction – and at the heart of all of this is intergenerational worklessness.

Only in understanding this can poverty be defeated.

A Coalition Government for Social Justice

Let me explain why I believe the Coalition can be different.

We recognise both the symptoms and the causes of poverty.

We have Frank Field’s review – let me here pay tribute to Frank’s tireless efforts on poverty throughout his time in Parliament.

We recognise there is no better shield from child poverty than strong and stable families.

And we know that our poorest children should be inspired and equipped to secure a better future.  And here I also want to thank Nick Clegg for his work championing this issue through Government.

As a result of this work we have announced £7 billion targeted early years support for two year olds, and the pupil premium to help the most disadvantaged school children.

We will help people out of debt and utilise the brilliance of the voluntary sector to move addicts into recovery.

And, crucially, we will ensure that welfare works.

Reforming welfare to secure economic growth

To achieve all of this we need fundamental welfare reform.

Some have said recently that it is jobs not reform which is important. But in doing so they miss the point.

Let us take the last 16 years, a period of sustained growth.

63 consecutive quarters, passed from one Government to another.

Around 4 million jobs were created in the UK during this period, and yet some 4.5 million people remained on out of work benefits before the recession had even started.

So inactivity was persistent, despite the unprecedented level of job creation.

That is one of the reasons why around 70% of the net rise in employment under the previous Government was accounted for by workers from abroad.

Businesses had to bring people in from overseas because our welfare system did not encourage people to work.

And there is a deeper tragedy – almost 1.5 million people have been on out of work benefits for nine of the past ten years – during the longest sustained period of economic growth this group of people never worked at all.

So it is not just jobs – something else is wrong.

Our reforms are about reconnecting with that group.

We want them to be able to seize the opportunities of work as the economy grows – even today there are around 450,000 vacancies in the economy, and I want everyone to have the opportunity and support to fill these roles.

In prosperous times this dependency culture would be unsustainable.  Today, it is a national crisis.

The working-age welfare budget has risen by 40 per cent in real terms during the last decade – the decade of growth.

Therefore, I hope the publication of this White Paper sends an unequivocal message that this Government will not back away from necessary reform.

Reforms – headlines messages

I will outline the specifics of our White Paper to Parliament later, but this morning I want to draw out some key ways in which it will deliver the change we urgently need.

First, to those who are vulnerable and unable to work, this White Paper proves we remain absolutely committed to supporting you.

We will continue to provide extra support for those with disabilities, caring responsibilities and children.

Second, for those out of work who are capable of working, our reforms mean it will always pay for you to take a job.

And by unifying out-of-work benefits, Housing Benefit and Tax Credits into a simplified single Universal Credit, we will end the risk and fear associated with moving in and out of work.

But this is a two way street.  We expect people to play their part too. Under this Government choosing not to work if you can work is no longer an option.

That is our contract – we will make work pay and support you, through the Work Programme, to find a job, but in return we expect you to cooperate.

That is why we are developing sanctions for those who refuse to play by the rules, as well as targeted work activity for those who need to get used to the habits of work.

Impacts of reform

These reforms will transform lives.

Some 2.5 million households will get higher entitlements as a result of the move to Universal Credit.

We expect to lift 350,000 children and 500,000 working-age adults out of poverty by the standard measure.

This is just our analysis of the static effects of reform.

Analysing the dynamic effects isn’t easy, but we estimate that the reforms could reduce the number of workless households by around 300,000.

And around 700,000 low-earning workers will be able to keep more of their earnings as they increase their hours.

Third, this White Paper delivers a fair deal for the taxpayer.

We expect to reduce administrative costs by more than half a billion pounds a year, and to reduce levels of fraud and error by £1 billion a year.

And clearly everyone will benefit if we move people off welfare and into work.

Conclusion

These announcements are an important step towards reform.

They aren’t driven by a desire to moralise or lecture.

Instead, they begin with recognition that as a political class we have got this wrong for too long.

Our antiquated welfare system has become a complicated and inflexible mess.  It has been unable to respond to our evolving job market and the changing nature of our workforce.

Society has changed but the benefits system has failed to change with it.

So it is time to bring welfare into the 21st Century.  We want a system which isn’t seen as a doorway to hopelessness and despair but instead as a doorway to real aspiration and achievement.

I don’t say our programme is a panacea.

I can’t say it will change everything.

But I do say it’s a start.

Below is the text of the speech made by Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in London on 27th May 2010.

Introduction

Good morning.

I am pleased to be here as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, heading a strong and committed team of Ministers – Lord Freud, Chris Grayling, Steve Webb and Maria Miller.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Permanent Secretary, Leigh Lewis, and his staff for the hard work and dedication they have shown over many years.

Walking around the building I have got some idea of the depth of enthusiasm of the staff who work here. People are keen to be involved in our programme of reform.

In fact, some of the people I have talked to – while in no way commenting on the previous government – have told me that the system they administer with such dedication is indeed breaking and in need of urgent attention.

But then, that is why I took this job.

Poverty Pathways

Six years ago, I launched the Centre for Social Justice, determined to deliver on a promise that I made to a number of people in some of the most deprived areas, that I would work to improve the quality of life of the worst off in Britain.

I had a vision that if people of good will and determination could come together – ignoring party labels and rooted in the most difficult communities in Britain – we could find a way to deliver on that promise.

We wanted to understand the root causes of poverty.

From this starting point, the team refined the work into five pathways to poverty – family breakdown, educational failure, addiction, debt, and the fifth, worklessness and economic dependency.

This, it was agreed, was what drives poverty.

Yet far too often, these pathways have not been reflected in the priorities of successive governments.

You can see that every day right here in London – one of the richest cities in the world where great wealth lives in close proximity to the harsh realities of poverty.

What, perhaps, is most remarkable is the degree of consensus among academics and, most importantly, inspirational leaders and community charities, that we need a new approach to tackling persistent poverty.

How, they asked, can it be right for generations in families to live and die without ever holding down a regular job?

How can it be right that we ask the unemployed to take the greatest risk for the least reward?

And how can we find new ways of breaking the cycle of dependency and re-discover social mobility?

The Problem

I want this Department to be at the forefront of strategy to improve the quality of life for the worst off.

But this will be no easy task. As last week’s poverty statistics showed, the challenge we face is huge.

Income inequality is at its highest since records began.

Working age poverty, after flat-lining until 2004, has risen sharply and now stands at the highest level seen since 1961.

There are more working age adults living in relative poverty than ever before.

Some 5.3 million people in the UK suffer from multiple disadvantages.

And today, 1.4 million people in the UK have been on out of work benefits for nine or more of the last 10 years.

Crucially, this picture is set against a backdrop of 13 years of continuously increasing expenditure, which has outstripped inflation.

The figures show that at current prices, we spent £28bn in 1978/79, excluding pensions.

By 1996/97, the figure was £62bn.

And today (2009/2010), it stands at £87bn, including tax credits, which takes the overall bill to £185bn once pensions are added.

Worse than the growing expense, though, is the fact that the money is not even making the impact we want it to.

A system that was originally designed to support the poorest in society is now trapping them in very condition it was supposed to alleviate.

Instead of helping, a deeply unfair benefits system too often writes people off.

The proportion of people parked on inactive benefits has almost tripled in the past 30 years to 41% of the inactive working age population.

Some of these people haven’t been employed for years.

Indeed, as John Hutton pointed out when he had this job, “Nine out of 10 people who came on to incapacity benefit expect to get back into work. Yet if you have been on incapacity benefit for more than two years, you are more likely to retire or die than ever get another job.”

That is a tragedy. We must be here to help people improve their lives – not just park them on long-term benefits.

Aspiration, it seems, is in danger of becoming the preserve of the wealthy.

The legacy of the system we have today stands at more than 1.5 million people on Jobseeker’s Allowance; almost 5 million out-of-work benefit claimants; and 1.4 million under-25s who are not working or in full-time education. Nearly 700,000 of those young people are looking for a role in life, but cannot find one.

The Economy

We literally cannot afford to go on like this.

The need to reduce costs is shared across the government, but here in DWP we always have to be conscious that we are often dealing with some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

That is why I will be guided throughout this process by this question – does what we are doing result in a positive Social Return on Investment?

In short, does this investment decision mean a real life change that will improve outcomes and allow an individual’s life to become more positive and productive?

That is how we will be guided on every decision.

We have to constantly remind ourselves that we are here to help the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

So we will require that when we implement a programme it has a clear and evidence-based outcome.

We will also discipline ourselves and ensure that we are not tempted to alter it according to which way the political wind is blowing that day.

Fidelity to the original objective is vital in getting the best value for money for the taxpayer. And if a programme is not cost-effective against that criteria, then we must look at a better way to deliver.

Making Work Pay

To do all this, there are a number of key problems we must address.

One of the first is that for too many people work simply does not pay.

Let’s say someone on benefits is offered a relatively low-paid job.

If you factor in the withdrawal of, say, JSA, plus Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit – all at different rates – it means that for too many people they are left with little more income in work than they received on benefits.

Add to that normal costs of travelling to work and the loss of any passported benefits, and you soon start to see why work may not be the most financially sensible option.

For a young person, the situation is even worse since they are usually ineligible for Working Tax Credits.

Worse again for some people, the move from welfare into work means they face losing more than 95 pence for every additional £1 they earn.

As a result, the poor are in effect being taxed at an effective rate that far exceeds the wealthy.

The system has become regressive.

Extremely high effective tax rates also impact lone parents who want to work more than 16 hours a week.

So our current benefits system is actually disinincentivising people from work.

These prohibitive marginal tax rates mean that for some people, work simply does not pay.

We have in effect taken away the reward and left people with the risk.

It is no wonder they are so resistant to finger wagging lectures from government.

I have always believed that choice in life is about that balance and the ratio between risk and reward.

Get that ratio right and positive decision making will become the norm. Life chances will improve considerably and cost savings will follow as well.

The Work Programme

There has been much talk about sanctions. But I believe it is only right that if we are helping people to get back into work, then we also have a right to expect that those we support are ready and willing to take on work if it is offered.

That is why reform of the Back to Work programme is so important.

We will create a Work Programme which will move toward a single scheme that will offer targeted, personalised help for those who need it most, sooner rather than later.

My Ministerial team is working on the details and we’ll be hearing more about the Work Programme in the coming weeks.

But it seems obvious to me that if we know a particular older worker is going to struggle to get back into employment, it is only fair that we try to get them on to a welfare-to-work programme immediately, rather than pausing for 12 months as is currently the case.

A greater level of personalised support also means more people will be work-ready as the jobs market picks up, so over time we will get a higher return on investment, as well as producing greater life changes for the individual.

To make sure we get the best value for money, we will also be changing the framework to bring the ideas and energy of the third sector and the private sector to the forefront of the process.

We will reform the regime so that we properly reward the providers who do best at creating sustainable jobs that help people move out of benefits and into work. But we are not prepared to pay for anything less.

At the same time, we will also make sure the system is fair by ensuring that receipt of benefits for those able to work is conditional on their willingness to work.

So to be fair to the taxpayer, we will cut payments if they don’t do the right thing.

In addition, we will re-assess all current claimants of Incapacity Benefit on their readiness to work.

If people genuinely cannot work, then we will make sure they get the unconditional support they need.

However, those assessed as immediately capable of work will be moved on to Jobseeker’s Allowance straight away.

At the same time, those who have the potential to return to work will receive the enhanced support they need through ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) and the Work Programme.

Again, this is about fairness in the same way as ensuring that we get rid of the jobs tax so that employers are not penalised for giving people a chance to get back to work.

Pensions

The principles of fairness, responsibility and social justice also inform our agenda for pensions.

For example, we are phasing out the default retirement age so that we are not penalising perfectly healthy people who want to keep working and keep contributing.

The idea of someone being fired just because they turned 65 is nonsense.

People who are good at their job and want to work for longer should be able to do so.

In my view, that’s only fair. But of course this policy area rests with BIS, so the detail of how we do this is really their decision.

However, one of the big issues we have to face up to as a society is that we are all living longer and healthier lives.

That has huge implications for the pensions regime.

When the contributory state pension was first introduced in 1926, men were not really expected to live much past their pension age.

In fact, average life expectancy for a boy born in 1926 was just 64 years and 4 months.

By contrast, one in four babies born today will live to 100.

Shifting demographics means that the pensions landscape has changed massively.

That is why we have to make sure that pensions are affordable for the country and that is why we have to increase the pension age.

Another thing we are doing on pensions is to end the rules requiring compulsory annuitisation at 75.

This will simplify some of the rules and regulations around pensions. But it also means we will have a fairer system where people take proper responsibility for the decisions that make best financial sense for them.

And, of course, from April 2011 we are triple-locking the value of the Basic State Pension so that it will rise by the minimum of prices, earnings or 2.5%, whichever is higher.

So if earnings are going up fast, the pension will increase in line with earnings. If prices are going up fast, it will increase in line with prices. And if neither is going up fast, it will go up at least 2.5%.

Next, we also have to find ways to encourage greater personal saving. That means we need a vibrant private system too.

We want to encourage employers to provide high quality pensions for all their employees, and I look forward to working with employers, consumers and the industry to make automatic enrolment and increased pension saving a reality.

Real freedom in retirement comes from planning ahead for the future.

It would be one of the most positive changes we could make in office.

Welfare Reform

The third strand of reform we have set out covers the welfare system and it reflects my determination to make it simpler and more transparent so that work always pays.

We know that work provides the most sustainable route out of poverty, so it is absolutely vital that we get this right and people see a clear link between work and reward.

Less complexity in the system will also save money in administration costs, as well as cutting back on the opportunities for fraud and error.

However, the biggest savings of all will come from putting clear incentives in place to get people back into work and off benefits altogether.

By putting a dynamic approach to benefits in place, we will make sure that individuals and households are always better off in work so that they can take a sustainable path out of poverty.

Challenges Ahead

However, none of this will be easy.

There are major challenges ahead.

Some are technical – for example, how do we link all the various benefit systems that generate such complexity and confusion?

Some are practical – such as working out how we get the best out of the third sector and private sector providers on the Work Programme.

Some of the most difficult challenges will be cultural though. Because for too long, we have discouraged people from taking up their responsibilities as the Welfare State has pushed in to fill the gap where family and society used to function far more effectively.

Conclusion

Social Justice will define my role as Secretary of State at this Department…from jobseekers in our agencies, to families, carers and pensioners.

Indeed, I am pleased to announce today that I will chair a Cabinet Committee on Social Justice with the cooperation of my Coalition colleagues.

My drive is for social justice to run through the fabric of our government, in all that we do.

I also want to reinforce my personal determination to remove the barriers to social mobility and equal opportunity.

And I wish to set out my determination to build a fairer society.

In doing so, let me underline my personal commitment to equal opportunities for all.

This is my commitment to social justice and a welfare system that is fit for the 21st Century.

And I hope that by working together, we can make social justice a reality for Britain long into the future.

The prize is a welfare system that is simple, more efficient and one that helps to restore the social mobility that should be at the heart of British society.

A welfare system that is fit for the 21st Century.

Below is the text of the speech made by Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on 7th December 2010.

Introduction

I’d like to thank IPPR for the invitation to speak to you about welfare reform.

It’s important that we have a debate about this.

We currently have:

5 million people on out of work benefits

one of the highest numbers of children in workless households in the whole of Europe

and 2.6 million individuals on incapacity benefits, of which around 1.6 million have been in receipt of benefits for more than 5 years.

And the costs of welfare dependency are unsustainable – the welfare bill has risen by over 40% in the last decade or so.

Complexity

So let me start with an analysis of why we’re in this situation.

First, the system is immensely complex.

A host of benefits, premiums, and allowances interact with each other in a myriad of ways.

And different benefits are delivered by different agencies, making it difficult for people to know who to contact and when.

It’s no wonder the guidance manuals for advisors run to thousands of pages.

Even my officials debate the exact number of benefits – it depends on whether you are counting premiums, additions and so on or not.

Disincentives to work

Once they are on benefits, one of the first questions people ask is whether they will be better off in work.

Too often they find that the answer is no, or only just.

This is because, after a small disregard, benefits are tapered away at a very high rate.

For example, certain lone parents can lose 96 pence of every pound they earn.

Currently around 130,000 people face a marginal deduction rate of more than 90%.

Even worse, around 600,000 individuals face a Participation Tax Rate of over 90%.

For some people choosing not to work is a rational choice.

Long term dependency

And then there is the challenge of long-term dependency.

Many people on Incapacity Benefit suffer from temporary conditions, and could be supported to return to work.

But instead many have remained on the benefit for years, self-esteem often damaged and skills often rendered obsolete.

And we shouldn’t forget that, in 2007/2008, almost half of all claimants who underwent a Personal Capability Assessment for Incapacity Benefit did so by paper-based assessment – they remained on benefit without their condition being assessed in person.

This isn’t about being ‘tough’ on claimants by making them attend face-to-face interviews.

It’s about helping them to keep in touch with the labour market and access the support they need.

And there’s another issue we need to tackle back along the line – we need to do more to stop people falling out of work in the first place and on to sickness benefits.

Principles of reform

So we needed to take a fundamental look at the support being provided – and that is what we have done.

In a sense this is about creating a contract with people.

We have to make the system simple.

We have to make work pay.

We have to help the most disadvantaged to find and take work.

And in return, we expect them to take the work when it is available.

Universal Credit

First, make the system simple and make work pay.

The Universal Credit is at the heart of this.

The Universal Credit will be tapered away at a clear and consistent rate – around 65% before tax – making it easier for people to see how their earnings will change as they move into work.

Clarifying the taper rate will mean that in the future politicians will have to have a more open debate about where they believe the taper level should be set.

Bear in mind that, right now, some people currently lose 96p in every pound they earn.

The Universal Credit will also use variable disregards to allow for different groups, such as lone parents and those with disabilities.

We estimate that the Universal Credit will improve work incentives for around 700,000 people currently in low-paid work, and will pull around 850,000 children and working-age adults out of poverty.

We are now developing our delivery plan for the Universal Credit.

We expect to start introducing the Universal Credit from 2013, testing the system in the Spring before beginning roll-out in October.

From October 2013 all new claims for out-of-work support will be treated as claims for Universal Credit.

And from April 2014 to October 2017 we will work through existing cases.

This will be given the highest priority in my Department, and we are already deploying a strong management team and our most capable and experienced people onto the programme.

There has been speculation about the IT which will be used to deliver this programme.

But the fact is the scale of the IT delivery is similar to that for Employment Support Allowance, which was successfully delivered on time and within budget.

DWP and HMRC are working closely together to ensure the IT required to support Universal Credit is delivered on time, and that customers and employers are transitioned to the new systems in a co-ordinated way.

The timescales we are working to were endorsed by a number of leading IT practitioners at a recent workshop, where the overwhelming view was that with appropriate governance the IT is deliverable in 2013.

The Work Programme

Tackling incentives is important, but it is only one part of the story – we must also offer appropriate work support.

That is where the Work Programme comes in.

We are creating an integrated programme, making the best use of the private and voluntary sectors.

Providers will be paid an attachment fee when a claimant starts on the programme.

Thereafter, they will be paid by results.

We will pay a job outcome fee, rewarding those who manage to get claimants into work.

And, perhaps most importantly, we will pay a sustainment fee, paid to a provider for managing to keep someone in work.

Too often we’ve seen too much churn of people in and out of work. We need to support people as they develop the work habit.

Claimants will be referred to the Work Programme at different times according to the level of support needed.

For example, we expect the majority of customers to be referred after a year, but to make sure we limit wage scarring in the young those aged 18-24 will be referred after 9 months.

Those most in need of support, for example ex-offenders, will be offered early access to the Work Programme to ensure they receive it within a timescale that is most appropriate to them – this could be as early as three months.

IB reassessment

We are also continuing with the previous Government’s plans to reassess those on Incapacity Benefit.

This process is already underway with trial reassessments in Burnley and Aberdeen, and we plan to have reassessed 1.5 million claimants by 2014.

But we know that the Work Capability Assessment isn’t perfect, and that’s why we asked Professor Malcolm Harrington to recommend reforms.

Professor Harrington’s report made a number of helpful recommendations, including proposals for the provision of mental health champions in medical examination centres to help better account for mental and cognitive conditions.

We have accepted all of his recommendations, and will be working closely with his team going forward.

We are also looking to intervene earlier, to stop people falling out of work and on to sickness benefits in the first place.

This is being driven by the Fit for Work Service Pilots, which provide return-to-work services aimed at employees who have been absent from work through ill health for 4-6 weeks.

And when employers need it, they can access professional occupational health advice from national telephone helplines.

Housing Benefit

I know that there will be debates as we take these reforms forward – we’ve already seen that with our changes to Housing Benefit.

But we can’t avoid the facts.

Since 2000, private sector Housing Benefit awards have grown by between 70% and 80%, while average earnings have grown by only 30% to 40%, and expenditure has nearly doubled in cash terms in the last decade.

Without reform expenditure is expected to rise to £24bn by 2014/15.

So taxpayers are increasingly seeing people on benefits living in houses they couldn’t hope to afford themselves.

And, most importantly, there is a growing dependency trap, with people on benefits stuck in housing which they would struggle to afford in work.

So we’ve had to make changes.

But we’ve also made sure the most vulnerable are protected:

We’ve introduced a transitional period for those already on Housing Benefit

We’ve made extra money available for Discretionary Housing Payments

And we have a strategy to drive rents down by temporarily widening discretion for payments to be made direct to landlords.

This isn’t just about creating jobs.

The claim made in response to our reforms is that they won’t work because there aren’t enough jobs for people to move into.

In fact there are jobs even now, in difficult times – Jobcentre Plus alone took around one million new vacancies over the last quarter.

And the Office for Budget Responsibility recently forecast that employment in the whole economy will rise by 1.1m between 2010 and 2015.

But creating jobs isn’t the whole story.

From 1992 to 2008 this country saw 63 consecutive quarters of growth, across two governments, with 4 million more people in employment by the end of that period.

And yet before the recession had even started we had around 4.5 million people on out of work benefits – up to around 5 million today.

But we know that for much of this period of growth the majority of the rise in employment was accounted for by foreign nationals.

This isn’t about pointing the finger – it’s a simple question of supply and demand.

The demand for workers was there, but not the supply.

This is, in a sense, an indictment of our country’s ability to prepare its own citizens for the world of work, or to make work worthwhile.

Our reforms are about reaching the residual unemployed and helping to make sure they are available for work.

Conclusion

These are difficult times, but my concern is that unless we make these changes now, when the economy grows again we will see a repeat story of too many British people written off.

Too many people unable or unwilling to take the work that is on offer, with businesses unable to find what they need in this country and so having to look overseas.

We have to break into this residual group, and start to give them the hope and opportunity that we would all expect.

As I said last night, out there in Smith Square, it has been an immense honour to have led the Conservative party for the last two years.

I very much hope that – as tonight seems likely – my successor is chosen quickly, so that we can all get behind the leader.

The new leader will have my absolute loyalty.

And I encourage all those members of the voluntary party who made me the first leader of the party elected by the grass roots, to also give that leader their whole-hearted support.

From this moment onwards, we must never again allow our own private interests and squabbles to distract us from the task of opposition – the task of exposing this government’s manifold failures and defeating them at the next election.

This speech was planned a little time ago, as the beginning of our great push to communicate the policies we announced at Blackpool.

I decided I wanted to make the speech here at the CPS.

This think-tank has always performed the role of intellectual pioneer for the Conservative Party, and, indeed, for the country…and I could think of a no better place to set out the programme for the first Conservative government of the 21st century – the government I hoped to lead.

Events, you might have noticed, have somewhat overtaken me.

But last night, after hearing the result of the confidence vote, I decided that I would still make this speech.

Because although I will not lead the first Conservative government of this century, I believe I have provided its manifesto, its policy prospectus.

I believe our Party now has an agenda as radical and attractive as that drawn up by Keith Joseph at the dawn of the Thatcher era.

I’d like to take this opportunity to pay particular tribute to Greg Clark and his team in the Policy Unit.

I know Greg has worked closely with the CPS in recent years and I am sorry he isn’t here tonight.

He wisely went on holiday to Mexico at the end of last week!

But he and his team – some of whom I see here – deserve the thanks of the entire party for what they have done.

It is my deepest wish that the policies they have worked on for so long will form the programme of the next Conservative government.

It is a settlement which, after much hard work, has won the support of all wings of the party – but which has lost none of its radicalism in the process.

Tonight I want to talk about four inter-linked principles which I hope Conservatives will continue to stand for, whoever is elected leader – …the principles which will be my legacy to this Party.

The first is the need for a complete renewal of our public services.

The second is the need to place social justice, and concern for the plight of the vulnerable, at the very core of Conservative thinking.

The third is the need for freedom, the rule of law and a strong and competitive economy.

And the fourth is the need to defend the state itself, and the constitutional arrangements of the United Kingdom.

The first task of the next Conservative government must be public service renewal.

Of course, Conservatives were the joint authors of the welfare state.

It was the Conservative health minister in Churchill’s wartime government who drew up the first plans for the NHS.

It was Rab Butler who passed the great Education Act of 1944, ensuring mass education for Britain’s children.

It was Harold Macmillan who, as housing minister in the early 50s, built up the public housing stock.

Conservatives can share the credit for the creation and maintenance of the welfare state… …but we must also take our share of the blame for its failures – and commit ourselves to its renewal.

The era of uniform, comprehensive, state-run services is over.

Consumers are no longer prepared to be told to get what they’re given and be grateful.

The professionals who deliver public services are no longer prepared to be treated like cogs in the machine.

Taxpayers are no longer prepared to be billed, again and again, to pay for the ever-rising cost of a failed system.

If the plans I have laid down are followed by my successor…the next Conservative government will make a real and immediate difference to people’s lives.

Every parent in England and Wales will have a Better Schools Passport, giving them total control over the education of their child.

Every citizen will have a Patient’s Passport, entitling them to free care anywhere in the NHS. And if, for whatever reason, they have to go private, they will get help to do so.

The right-to-buy programme will be extended…so that housing association tenants can also experience the satisfaction and responsibility of home ownership.

We will scrap Labour’s tuition fees for students and stopped their plans for extra top-up fees.

And we will work to end the means test for pensioners and improve and incentivise saving for retirement.

We will begin this process by raising the basic state pension in line with earnings.

All these are radical, feasible, Conservative policies.

They are based on the simple principle of trust.

The welfare state was founded in a period when people were expected to trust the government – not government to trust the people.

We’ll reverse that relationship.

Under the first Conservative government of the 21st century, the state will not be a monopoly provider of education and healthcare.

It will primarily be a funder, and a regulator.

Government will trust teachers and doctors, managers and ministers, to make the decisions about how they work.

Politicians often talk about how much we value our public service professionals. Conservative policies prove we mean it.

Second is my commitment to one nation Conservatism.

A child born into poverty in the first decade of the 21st century is more likely to stay poor than a child born into poverty in the 1950s.

This is a shameful fact.

Sadly, this Labour government – despite its best intentions – has not succeeded in reversing the trend.

Inequality has actually widened under Tony Blair.

Gordon Brown’s notional target of lifting a million children out of poverty has only been met by lifting families from just below the poverty line to just above it.

Persistent poverty – real, grinding hardship – has often got worse under Labour.

For too long the Labour Party have abused a monopoly position on these issues.

Labour have failed to address the material roots of poverty and haven’t even begun to address the relational and spiritual dimensions of deprivation.

But if Conservatives are to become an effective party of social justice we must not just oppose the worn-out approach of the liberal left…

We must also oppose the nihilistic individualism of the libertarian right.

One nation will never be built if public policy ignores some of the leading causes of poverty… Causes like family breakdown and drug addiction.

There is nothing compassionate about weakness in the face of the drug menace.

Social justice will never be achieved if government undermines society’s most basic institution – …the marriage-centred family and the many people of all backgrounds who benefit from its care.

The poverty and crime killing so many communities won’t be defeated if we don’t help young people stay off drugs and recover from their addictions.

That much was made clear to me when I met with a support group for the parents and grandparents of drug addicts in Glasgow.

The faith and courage of the Gallowgate Family Support Group also taught me that drugs can be defeated.

As Jim Doherty of that support group told me – “just give us hope and we will do the rest.” If the Conservative Party has half as much courage as those parents and grandparents, …then we will go forward to the next election with a policy on drugs that does – indeed – bring hope to Britain’s hard-pressed communities.

We will also need courage if we are to do the right thing by Britain’s hard-pressed families. Those who believe that family breakdown is a purely private matter are blind to the enormous public consequences – …as well as the personal consequences for the children to which we all owe a duty of care.

I am personally determined that a hard-headed and open-hearted approach to questions of poverty becomes a central theme of conversation and debate within the Conservative Party.

An effective approach to drugs.

Help for families to stay together.

And a renewal of very local forms of voluntary activity and social entrepreneurship that often succeed where the centralised state fails.

These should be the leading ingredients of one nation Conservatism in the twenty-first century.

My social justice agenda springs from my visit to Easterhouse in February 2002.

That was dismissed by many as a media stunt.

But that visit – and many more to hard-pressed neighbourhoods since – have had a profound impact on me.

If my main legacy to the Conservative Party is a body of policy……my commitment to fight poverty is that body’s beating heart.

In the coming weeks I intend to think carefully about how I, personally, will take that commitment forward.

The third principle I wish to leave my successor is the enduring Conservative commitment to freedom.

Not a freedom that cuts people off from one another…but build communities where no one is held back by a lack of opportunity, and no one is left behind by a lack of compassion.

Today, Britain feels like a place where you need a license to live your life.

Taxes have risen by a half since 1997 – regulations rule every aspect of our lives.

We must cut taxes and red tape.

The next Conservative government must be a low tax government.

It was John Stuart Mill who said: ‘a state that dwarfs its citizens, will find that with small men, no great things can be accomplished’.

Today we are too afraid of risk…the risks that bring reward.

Everything I have been talking about tonight tends to this: we must unleash the creative energies of the British people…to serve themselves, their families and their communities far more effectively than the state ever will.

But there is another freedom – the freedom from fear.

You can’t have a free people without order.

That’s why the fight against crime is a fight for freedom.

Conservative proposals will deliver 40,000 extra policemen and give every local community real control of their local force.

I now come to my third principle of my legacy to the Conservative Party.

Labour has not only undermined the cultural defences of civilisation.

It has undermined the state itself.

It has politicised the civil service.

Eroded civil liberties.

Suborned our once-independent intelligence services.

Neglected the armed forces.

And held in Parliament in contempt.

I have talked about a Government that trusts people.

We also need a Government that people can trust.

Conservatives must restore the integrity of our national institutions – and restore integrity to public life.

Most of all, we must have some honesty about Europe.

Because we are now, truly, at a fork in the road.

It has been the genius of our evolving Constitution that every step forward has been the continuation of an older tradition.

But this is different.

The proposed EU Constitution represents an explicit and total break with the past.

The Constitution gives EU law primacy over UK law, and creates the European Court of Justice as the sovereign legal authority of the United Kingdom …the position previously held by the Queen in Parliament.

This Treaty is something no Government can accept on the authority of its own elected mandate.

The British Constitution is not the property of Tony Blair, to do with as he will.

It is the property of the British people, held by the Government only in trust.

No Prime Minister or Member of Parliament can vote away the basis on which he holds his office or his seat.

So I have established the Conservative Party policy on this question: we are against the European constitution in principle.

Three months ago, in Prague, I set out Conservative policy clearly and simply – and with the support of all wings of the party.

Under the Conservatives, Britain will reclaim exclusive control of agriculture, fisheries and foreign aid.

We will stem the tide of European regulation, and refuse to be part of a common foreign policy or a European army.

And we will retain control of our borders and of our economy.

This is not a blueprint for withdrawal from the EU.

It is a positive step towards the sort of EU which most Europeans want: diverse, flexible, comprising independent states.

We must build a new Europe.

Not a single, unitary and unaccountable super-state …but a loose association of independent democracies, co-operating as they see fit but retaining their sovereign right to run their own affairs.

We must take this vision forward.

A great deal has changed for me over the past two years.

Serving as leader of the opposition meant challenges on a scale that no one who hasn’t done the job can appreciate.

There have been some privileges – but many more problems!

All of this – from the sweet moments of victory to the bitter moments of defeat – have changed me.

I’m still stubborn, and self-opinionated – and I’m still almost always right!

But anyone with a modicum of sensitivity and insight – and I hope I’ve got at least a bit of both – …couldn’t help but be changed by what I’ve seen and done since 2001.

So I’ve got an admission.

I’ve been on a journey.

A political journey as well as one all around this country.

I’ve been appalled by much of what I’ve seen.

In 21st century Britain, children dying of drugs that their parents died of too.

In 21st century Britain, poverty still real.

In 21st century Britain, pensioners trapped in their homes by fear of crime.

On this journey, I’ve been reminded of something that lies deep in the Conservative conscience… …buried too deep for too long……that our party fulfils its greatest purpose when we bring social solidarity by delivering social justice.

The people who taught me this lesson weren’t academics.

They certainly weren’t the national media.

Our party is sometimes accused by the media of being out of touch with modern Britain.

In truth, the whole political class has lost touch with those in greatest need.

Can we wonder that millions despair of politicians – and so opt out of the political process?

My teachers were those often patronisingly described by those on the Westminster scene as ‘ordinary people’.

In Gallowgate and Easterhouse, Hackney and Handsworth…I’ve met extra-ordinary people who fight for the poorest Britons, in communities ruined by drugs and crime.

These remarkable men and women taught me more about leadership than any politician could have.

They are real leaders.

Their strength is their certain belief in the most profound of human qualities – hope, compassion, and a sense of fairness …beliefs derived from real lives, lived on the front line.

The only meaningful freedoms for them are the freedom from fear and want, crime and addiction – they yearn not for license, but for order.

My journey is not a trip to an uncertain future – but the journey home.

To a Conservative home, where the security of family and community bring hope and fairness.

My journey is not over.

My mission will continue.

It is the Conservative mission for fairness…

…true to our inheritance…

…vital for our people…

…worthy of our nation.

Below is the speech made by Iain Duncan Smith, the then Leader of the Opposition, at the Conservative Spring Conference on 16th March 2003.

We are holding this conference with our country on the brink of war.

In the twelve years from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the fall of the World Trade towers, a dangerous idea took hold.

People came to believe that a new world order of peace and security had begun.

They were wrong.

Today, the stakes are high.

Not just for Britain and the United States but for the whole world.

The credibility of the United Nations and the Security Council are at stake.

The relationship between America and Europe is at stake.

Britain’s security is at stake.

Difficult decisions are necessary.

This is not a time to play party politics and I will not do so.

That’s why I’ve backed those who are ready to take on that tyrant Saddam Hussein.

I know some people have doubts;

Of course, no decent man or woman ever welcomes war.

But Saddam Hussein is a real menace to world peace.

He is a monster to his own people.

He has not disarmed despite twelve full years of second chances.

And he’s not disarming now.

John F Kennedy – at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis – said, “Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right.

Not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom”.

He warned: “The greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.”

That warning echoes across the decades.

It calls us to duty.

No one understands duty more than those who serve in our armed forces.

I had the privilege to visit them in Kuwait a fortnight ago.

They are the finest troops in the world.

I am so proud of them.

As they wait, think also of their families whose wait will be even longer.

I send them all our thoughts and prayers, as I say, God speed and come home safely.

As perilous as the international situation is – it would be wrong to be distracted from Britain’s domestic challenges.

For we have another duty.

To hold this government to account.

To provide effective opposition.

To build the alternative government this country so desperately needs.

Not since the 1970s – when the Conservatives last rescued Britain from Labour’s mess – has this country needed our party more.

Our party’s duty is clear.

It is to serve and to succeed.

That success will depend on all of us…

Working together; campaigning together…arguing together!

Well perhaps, not arguing together too much!

I’d like to pay tribute to each and every one of our Party members; our Association officers and our councillors up and down the land.

I thank all of you.

I know you fight hard for our cause.

I know you work selflessly for your communities, and for your country.

You work for the moment when Conservatives will restore hope and pride to Britain.

Today I want to talk about the opportunity before our party.

An opportunity to serve this country again.

Because – and let me give you a headline here – the new Labour project is dead.

Mr. Blair may stay in Downing Street for a couple more years but his mission is over.

His Third Way has reached the end of the road.

Just think, for a moment, about this government’s record:

Higher taxes.

But poorer public services.

More laws.

But less order.

Bigger promises.

But shrinking hope.

For six long years the British people gave Tony Blair the benefit of the doubt.

But there is no doubt now.

Tony Blair’s day of reckoning is fast approaching.

The British people are ready for change.

They want change founded on fairness.

Fairness for vulnerable people and fairness for the backbone of this country.

We need to reassure them that Conservatives can deliver that fairness because we build on success.

Our successes at home – in Conservative councils throughout Britain.

And on what is already working in other countries.

Let me begin by recording the significance of Labour’s latest failures and broken promises.

More and more people are having what you might call ‘wake up moments.’

They are moments triggered by yet more news of this Government’s failure, incompetence and dishonesty.

In pubs…

At the school gates…

On the factory floor…

People are talking about the moment they realised that this government was conning them.

For some the wake-up moment came last summer during the ‘A’ levels fiasco.

Never again will those people trust Mr. Blair’s promises on education.

For some the wake up moment came a few months ago when Labour stopped sending burglars to prison.

Never again will those people trust Mr. Blair’s promises on crime.

For some, the wake up moment came when their council tax went through the roof and for others it will come when Labour’s National Insurance Jobs Tax takes yet more pounds from their wage packet.

Never again will those people trust Mr. Blair’s promises on tax.

For some, that wake up moment will come when Labour attempts to sign up Britain to a European Constitution and a European single currency.

Never again will the people trust Mr. Blair’s promises on Europe.

No Mr. Blair – we’re not going to let you sell the birthright of the British people.

In 1997 Mr. Blair led people to believe that things could only get better.

Many people had such high hopes of him.

In 2001 they heard another set of promises and – although doubtful – gave Mr. Blair one last chance.

Remember those promises?

Remember that grin?

There isn’t so much to smile about now.

Mr. Blair has squandered a golden economic inheritance, and two large parliamentary majorities.

Every year he’s taken an extra one hundred billion pounds of tax from you… and all for nothing.

This Labour government is a one hundred billion pound a year failure and history will not judge it kindly.

Not least because history will be written by people who have to pay Labour’s frightening top-up fees.

It will by read by people who have to face up to the consequences of Labour’s cynical raid on pensions.

Labour isn’t just hurting people now; it’s stealing their futures.

Many British people feel that they’ve been taken for a ride.

You’ve saved for years for your retirement but your pension is dropping in value by the day.

You’re working longer hours and paying more tax than ever before.

And despite the tax you’re paying, the schools, hospitals and trains you depend on – still aren’t working.

You respect the law but get no protection from those who don’t.

You do your bit for others and just get hassle in return.

It’s no surprise that some people are asking themselves:

What’s the point?

What’s the point of doing everything you can; when it feels like the system is stacked against you?

The people who work in Britain’s public services feel this more than most.

Professional initiative and independence have been ripped out of our public services.

Ripped out by a Government that thinks it always knows best.

A government that prescribes to our doctors and nurses, that lectures our teachers, and that handcuffs our police officers.

Let’s not forget, it’s doctors and nurses who take life and death decisions.

It’s teachers who are trusted with our children’s schooling.

It’s police officers who protect our homes and our families.

We rely on them all.

They shoulder huge responsibilities on our behalf.

They are the real heroes of our communities.

Yet this Government doesn’t trust them.

Instead it hands over your money to a million bureaucrats who are miles from the frontline of our public services.

The British soldiers of the First World War were described as lions led by donkeys.

Today our public services are staffed by doctors and nurses, led by number-crunchers.

Teachers led by target-setters.

Police officers led by pen-pushers.

That is why the tax you are paying is not giving you the better healthcare or the better education or the better policing that you need.

It’s being wasted in a system that insults and undermines the dedication and professionalism of the people who really do know best – the people at the sharp end.

So: what’s missing in Blair’s Britain?

I’ll tell you what I think it is.

It’s fairness.

The British people don’t expect the earth.

They – just – want – a fair – deal.

Labour preaches fairness;

The Conservative Party practises fairness.

We believe in a special obligation to the young and to the old.

We believe in helping people who are least able to help themselves.

We believe in giving a youngster in trouble a chance to go straight.

We believe in opportunity for people of every background.

And we reject the lonely individualism of those who would allow everything – and stand up for nothing.

Crucially, we understand that fairness cuts two ways.

Conservatives appreciate you have to be fair to the people who pay for the public services and for society’s other responsibilities.

People who build and run businesses.

People who provide for their families and their futures.

People who play by the rules and aren’t a burden to the police or courts.

People who are patriotic.

People who advance social justice by giving to their communities.

These people don’t belong to a special interest group.

Theirs is not a trendy cause.

And they are forgotten by this government… except, of course, when Gordon Brown wants their money.

But they are the quiet strength of our nation and, yes, they are getting angry.

These people are the backbone of our country and this Government has ripped them off.

Voters are deserting this failing government.

But the Liberal Democrats are not an alternative to Labour.

They are its dark shadow.

If Tony Blair is new Labour.

Charles Kennedy is old Labour.

But, have I got news for you, Mr Kennedy;

By the next General Election we will make sure that every voter knows what your party really stands for.

Before May’s elections, Liberal Democrat Candidates will cynically attempt to distance themselves from Charles Kennedy’s policies.

But Liberal Democrat councils are just like Labour councils.

And in the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament, it’s impossible to tell the difference between Labour and the Liberals.

They both tax more.

They both waste more.

And they both deliver less.

Why vote for more of the same – only worse?

Labour and the Liberal Democrats are both in thrall to a culture of despair.

The cynical despair of politicians who’ve lost the will to make a difference.

They have always been content to manage decline.

Conservatives never have and Conservatives never will.

People no longer believe Labour’s promises.

They’ve watched Labour fail.

They don’t want their hopes dashed again.

But they need proof that the Conservative Party is different.

And that means we have to be straightforward.

We must promise only what we can deliver.

There’s an urgent job that needs to be done and we have to show that we’re up to it.

Labour, like a cowboy builder, promised perfection, charged the earth and built something that’s falling apart.

Well, enough is enough.

They build on sand.

But we’ll build on rock.

At home, we’re already building on a very strong record in local government.

The independent Audit Commission has proved that Conservative councils provide better quality services at a lower cost than Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Conservative councils are led by people who’ve run businesses, worked in the public services and given to their communities.

They don’t waste council taxpayers’ money.

They don’t wrap projects up in red tape.

They get the job done.

That’s why we need more Conservative councillors elected in May.

That’s why we need more Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament and in the Welsh Assembly.

And our programme at the next General Election will be built on what’s already working in other countries.

There’s New York’s successful war on crime.

Australia’s tough but fair asylum policy.

Holland’s rich mix of high-achieving, local schools.

France and Germany’s hospitals where the sick do not have to wait.

We’re learning from what works elsewhere in the world and we’re going to make it work for Britain, too.

So, I can say with confidence:

The next Conservative Government will put 40,000 extra police officers on Britain’s streets.

And this will be funded by our quota system which will restore order to Labour’s asylum chaos.

So chaotic that – on Friday – Labour’s system was judged the weakest in Europe.

By reforming Britain’s public services Conservatives will stop the waste of taxpayers’ hard-won earnings.

We will give headteachers authority over their schools.

They will have effective powers to restore discipline in the classroom.

State scholarships will open the door of opportunity for children in failing schools.

We will put clinical priorities first by scrapping Labour’s politically-motivated targets for the NHS.

And because Conservatives trust nurses and doctors, we will create foundation hospitals with real freedoms to serve local communities.

These freedoms will stop the suffering caused by the current system’s failings.

Just think of people who’ve waited months for a desperately needed operation.

So desperate for treatment that they use their life savings to pay for it outside the NHS.

Labour won’t face up to the fact: the system fails these people.

Labour always defend the system against the patients.

Conservatives always put patients first.

That’s why we’ll help people who’ve paid their taxes, and can wait no longer, to get care faster in a private, public or voluntary run hospital of their choice.

We call that our Patient Passport.

And it’s not just patients that deserve fairness.

Conservatives know that parents, students, passengers and victims of crime deserve fairness, too.

That’s the difference between us and Labour.

Conservative policies will help everyone in Britain.

They will help everyone who is worn down by failing schools, rising crime, substandard healthcare, child poverty and insecurity in old age.

Our agenda is so vital for people in vulnerable communities like Easterhouse, Glasgow.

I will never forget my visits to them and to Gallowgate and Moss Side and Hackney and Grangetown and all the many other places where hope is in retreat.

These are the people in Labour’s heartlands that Tony Blair has forgotten.

The Conservative Party will not forget them.

Some say: ‘they’re not Conservative – and never will be’.

They said the same 25 years ago when Conservatives introduced the right-to-buy – giving council tenants the opportunity to own their own home.

Now we plan to extend the right to buy to housing association tenants, too.

Much, much more still needs to be done today for people unfairly excluded from all that Britain has to offer.

Our party – the party of Burke, Disraeli and Shaftesbury – fulfils its greatest purpose when it upholds fairness for every person in Britain.

Not only for the disadvantaged but for the hard-working, law-abiding, patriotic majority who deserve a fair deal, too.

So, when you’re next asked why vote Conservative? say this:

One:

Conservatives in local government already spend taxpayers’ money more carefully and get the job done.

Two:

Conservatives want a fair deal for everyone.

For those who rely on public services;

For those who work in them; and for those who pay for them.

And three:

Conservatives are passionate about making Britain’s economy and public services work again.

We will deliver because our programme is built on what already works at home and elsewhere in the world.

All of our efforts; all of our energy – will be devoted to the urgent tasks facing the British people.

Devoted to getting on with the job…

Not Mr Blair, just to getting on TV.

In the last eighteen months the mission and purpose of our party has been renewed.

This party is now – and always will be – the party of enterprise and prosperity…

But we are also a party committed to better public services.

This party is now – and always will be – a party that keeps taxes low and gives people power over their own lives.

This party is now – and always will be – a party of freedom, tradition and national pride…

But we are just as much a party of fairness.

We are a party committed to those who need society’s help and to those who provide it.

We stand for justice for the victim and justice for those who need help to mend their ways.

We believe in compassion that helps vulnerable people and compassion that rewards responsibility.

In practical terms:

Fairness requires us to help people fleeing from persecution and to stop the scandalous abuse of Britain’s asylum system.

Fairness demands that we properly punish criminals and that we help young people to escape the conveyor belt to crime.

Fairness leads a Conservative government to always appreciate the dedication of single parents and to reward marriage for the dedication and stability it provides children.

This is my agenda.

An agenda for fairness.

It’s Conservative.

Conservative in heart and mind.

In idealism and practicality.

In vision and reality.

If ever there was a common ground of British politics then this is it.

It’s where the British people stand.

It’s where we stand.

My mission – a mission for the whole Conservative party – is to safeguard our prosperity and to improve our public services.

To build one nation.

To create a Britain that is fair for all its people.

We will not be distracted from this mission.

Ours is a great party.

And sometimes, great parties are tough to lead.

So, I took on this job thinking it would be hard.

And, you know what?

It is!

It is hard.

But it’s not as hard as bringing up a child on an inner city estate.

It’s not as hard as saving all your life and seeing your pension fund plundered by the government.

It’s not as hard as watching your mother wait and wait for an operation she desperately needs.

It’s not as hard as seeing the country you love divided and demoralised.

I didn’t seek the leadership of this party for its own sake.

I sought it so that we could give back hope to our country and to all its people.

People who are sick and tired of Labour’s broken promises.

Sick of a failing health service.

Tired of taxes… raised and wasted.

Sick of the drug epidemic.

Tired of government spin and lies.

People don’t expect the earth.

But they want a fair deal.

And they deserve a fair government.

From Easterhouse to Hackney, amongst pensioners and the young, you can hear the beating heart of a discontented Britain.

Discontented and dismissed – they’ve lost faith that things could change.

It is our challenge to re-unite this country and to restore fairness.

This is a challenge worthy of us – we must respond.

Our country is waiting.

Our party is ready.

Ready to build a Britain to be proud of;

For a people that deserve the very best.