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| Theresa May: I will build a fairer Britain | Theresa May: I will build a fairer Britain |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Only the Conservatives can build a "united Britain" in which "fairness is restored" and opportunities are shared more equally, Theresa May has said. | Only the Conservatives can build a "united Britain" in which "fairness is restored" and opportunities are shared more equally, Theresa May has said. |
| The prime minister told the party's conference the UK must change after the "quiet revolution" of the Brexit vote, urging people to "seize the day". | |
| Labour were now seen as the "nasty party" and only the Tories would "stand up for the weak... up to the powerful". | |
| Government should be a "force for good" to help working people, she argued. | Government should be a "force for good" to help working people, she argued. |
| In her set-piece speech in Birmingham, less than three months after she became prime minister, Mrs May said her vision was of a country "where everyone plays by the same rules and where every single person, regardless of their background or that of their parents, is given the chance to be all they want to be". | |
| The vote to leave the EU, she said, was a "once-in-a-generation chance to change the country for good" and write a new page in its history. | |
| Pledging to build a "stronger, fairer and brighter future", she urged people whichever way they had voted in the referendum "to come with me as we rise to meet this moment, come with me and together let's seize the day". | |
| The vote to leave the EU, she said, demonstrated not only a desire for greater control but also reflected the deep divisions that had built up in the country over generations, with working people too often ignored by the "privileged and powerful". | |
| "It was not the wealthy who made the biggest sacrifices after the financial crisis, it was ordinary working class families," she said. | "It was not the wealthy who made the biggest sacrifices after the financial crisis, it was ordinary working class families," she said. |
| "If you're one of those people who lost their job, who stayed in work but on reduced hours, took a pay cut as household bills rocketed, or - and I know a lot of people don't like to admit this - someone who finds themselves out of work or on lower wages because of low-skilled immigration, life simply doesn't seem fair. | |
| "It feels like your dreams have been sacrificed in the service of others." | |
| Promising to build a "united Britain rooted in a centre ground", she said her government would protect jobs and "repair" free markets when they did not work properly. | Promising to build a "united Britain rooted in a centre ground", she said her government would protect jobs and "repair" free markets when they did not work properly. |
| Setting out a "responsible capitalism" agenda, she said the government would "go after" businesses that regarded paying tax as "an optional extra", challenge those which recruited "cheap foreign labour" at the expense of British workers and, in a reference to the collapse of BHS, condemn those who "take out massive dividends while knowing that the company pension is about to go bust". | |
| Previous Tory leaders have sought to reduce state intervention, but Mrs May said her government would take action to identify injustice, find solutions and drive change. | |
| In a speech in which there were no new policy announcements Mrs May talked extensively about the values which would shape her premiership with the PM saying Labour did not have "a monopoly on compassion", criticising the party's "sanctimonious pretence of moral superiority". | |
| "Let's make clear that they have given up the right to call themselves the party of the NHS, the party of the workers, the party of public servants." | |
| And, to huge applause from the hall, she flipped the "nasty party" tag - which was how she famously said some saw the Conservatives back in 2002 - on to the Labour Party following their recent acrimonious leadership contest. | |
| She restated her support for extending selective education in the state sector and expanding grammar schools, saying they had a role to play "where parents want them and where they will improve educational standards". | |
| Making a pitch for the Tories to be the party of "ordinary working-class people", she said: "Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public. | Making a pitch for the Tories to be the party of "ordinary working-class people", she said: "Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public. |
| "They find their patriotism distasteful, their concerns about immigration parochial, their views about crime illiberal, their attachment to their job security inconvenient. | "They find their patriotism distasteful, their concerns about immigration parochial, their views about crime illiberal, their attachment to their job security inconvenient. |
| "They find the fact that more than 17m people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering." | "They find the fact that more than 17m people voted to leave the European Union simply bewildering." |
| Dismissing the labels of the "socialist left and the libertarian right", she told Tory supporters: "It's time to remember the good that government can do. | Dismissing the labels of the "socialist left and the libertarian right", she told Tory supporters: "It's time to remember the good that government can do. |
| Brexit questions | Brexit questions |
| "Where many see government as a problem, I want to show it can be part of the solution." | |
| "While government does not have all the answers, government can and should be a force for good; that the state exists to provide what individual people, communities and markets cannot; and that we should employ the power of government for the good of the people." | |
| BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said in endorsing an activist state, Mrs May was making a "bold bid for disaffected Labour supporters". | BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said in endorsing an activist state, Mrs May was making a "bold bid for disaffected Labour supporters". |
| But she said the prime minister would ultimately be judged on her actions - in areas like education and health - in terms of whether people would "buy into her vision". | But she said the prime minister would ultimately be judged on her actions - in areas like education and health - in terms of whether people would "buy into her vision". |
| The closing speech in Birmingham was Mrs May's second conference address this year, after she spoke about Brexit on day one. | The closing speech in Birmingham was Mrs May's second conference address this year, after she spoke about Brexit on day one. |
| The UK's exit from the EU has loomed large over the four-day conference, which began with Mrs May confirming the timing of the UK's formal Brexit trigger, which will happen before March 2017. | The UK's exit from the EU has loomed large over the four-day conference, which began with Mrs May confirming the timing of the UK's formal Brexit trigger, which will happen before March 2017. |
| On Tuesday she faced questions about the falling pound and reduced growth forecasts, promising to make the Brexit process as "smooth as possible", but acknowledging there would be "bumps in the road". | On Tuesday she faced questions about the falling pound and reduced growth forecasts, promising to make the Brexit process as "smooth as possible", but acknowledging there would be "bumps in the road". |