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Brexit: Boris Johnson warns of 'grave consequences for trust in democracy' in conference speech – live news Brexit: Boris Johnson warns of 'grave consequences for trust in democracy' in conference speech – live news
(32 minutes later)
Boris Johnson is now leaving the conference hall. He is shaking hands on the way out. Carrie Symonds, his partner, joined him on the way out, but she did not take to the stage.
Johnson is now on his peroration.
This country has long been a pioneer. We inaugurated the steam age, the atomic age, the age of the genome. We led the way in parliamentary democracy, in female emancipation. And when the whole world had succumbed to a different fashion, this country and this party pioneered ideas of free markets and privatisation that spread across the planet.
Every one of them was controversial, every one of them was difficult, but we have always had the courage to be original, to do things differently, and now we are about to take another giant step to do something no one thought we could do.
To reboot our politics, to relaunch ourselves into the world, and to dedicate ourselves again to that simple proposition that we are here to serve the democratic will of the British people.
And if we do that with optimism and confidence then I tell you we will not go wrong. Let’s get on with sensible moderate one nation but tax-cutting Tory government, and figuratively if not literally, let us send Jeremy Corbyn into orbit where he belongs.
Let’s get Brexit done. Let’s bring our country together.
Johnson repeats his attack on Corbyn for wanting to delay Brexit.
It has become absolutely clear that he is determined now to frustrate Brexit
What do we want and need? Do we want more dither and delay
Do we want to spend another billion pounds a month that could be going on the NHS?
Let’s get Brexit done
Johnson is setting out the choice facing the country at the election.
When the chlorinated chickens waddle from the hencoop where they are hiding, that is the vision of the country that we will put to the people. And the choice is clear.
We put up wages – with the biggest expansion of the living wage for a generation; Corbyn would put up taxes for everyone.
We back our superb armed forces around the world; Corbyn has said he wants them disbanded.
We want an Australian-style points based system for immigration; Corbyn says he doesn’t even believe in immigration controls.
If Jeremy Corbyn were allowed into Downing Street, he would whack up your taxes, he would foul up the economy, he would rip up the alliance between Britain and the USA, and he would break up the UK.
We cannot allow it to happen.
Johnson turns to life after Brexit.
We can ban the shipment of live animals. And yes, we will have those free trade deals. We already have some astonishing exports. Just in the last few months I have seen an Isle of Wight shipbuilder that exports vast leisure catamarans to Mexico. We export Jason Donovan CDs to North Korea. We exported Nigel Farage to America – though he seems to have come back.
And across the world there are countries that are yearning to engage with us.
Johnson jokes about the SNP too.
We will take back control of our fisheries and the extraordinary marine wealth of Scotland.
And it is one of the many bizarre features of the SNP that in spite of being called names like Salmond and Sturgeon they are committed to handing back those fish to the control of the EU.
We want to turbo-charge the Scottish fishing sector; they would allow Brussels to charge for our turbot.
This leads to a joke about Jeremy Corbyn
We are building two space ports, one in Sutherland and one in Newquay. Soon we will be sending missions to the heavens – geostationary satellites.
Conference, can you think of anyone who could trial the next mission?
Can you think which communist cosmonaut to coax into the cockpit?
Johnson turns this into an argument about confidence.Johnson turns this into an argument about confidence.
I do not for one moment doubt the patriotism of people on all sides of this Brexit argument but I am fed up with being told that our country can’t do something I do not for one moment doubt the patriotism of people on all sides of this Brexit argument but I am fed up with being told that our country can’t do something when I believe passionately that it can.
when I believe passionately that it can Thanks to British technology there is a place in Oxfordshire that could soon be the hottest place in the solar system – the tokamak fusion reactor in Culham – and if you go there you will learn that this country has a global lead in fusion research.
thanks to British technology there is a place in Oxfordshire that could soon be the hottest place in the solar system And that they are on the verge of creating commercially viable miniature fusion reactors for sale around the world, delivering virtually unlimited zero-carbon power.
the tokamak fusion reactor in Culham Now I know they have been on the verge for some time. It is a pretty spacious kind of verge. But remember, it was only a few years ago when people were saying that solar power would never work in cloudy old Britain. And that wind turbines would not pull the skin off a rice pudding.
and if you go there you will learn that this country has a global lead in fusion research Well, there are some days when wind and solar are delivering more than half our energy needs.
and that they are on the verge of creating commercially viable miniature fusion reactors for sale around the world We can do it. We can beat the sceptics.
delivering virtually unlimited zero-carbon power
now I know they have been on the verge for some time
it is a pretty spacious kind of verge
but remember it was only a few years ago when people were saying that solar power would never work in cloudy old Britain
and that wind turbines would not pull the skin off a rice pudding
well there are some days when wind and solar are delivering more than half our energy needs
we can do it
we can beat the sceptics
Johnson says he wants to get more young people on the housing ladder. He urges Tories to back Shaun Bailey, the party’s candidate for London mayor.Johnson says he wants to get more young people on the housing ladder. He urges Tories to back Shaun Bailey, the party’s candidate for London mayor.
And he turns to technology.And he turns to technology.
In the West Midlands we are seeing a 21st-century industrial revolution in battery technology. One in five of the electric cars sold in Europe is now made in the UK and that is before we have begun Andy Street’s vision of a West Midlands metro.In the West Midlands we are seeing a 21st-century industrial revolution in battery technology. One in five of the electric cars sold in Europe is now made in the UK and that is before we have begun Andy Street’s vision of a West Midlands metro.
With infrastructure education and technology we will drive up the productivity of this country and bring it together.With infrastructure education and technology we will drive up the productivity of this country and bring it together.
Johnson says he wants to expand superfast broadband for the same reason.Johnson says he wants to expand superfast broadband for the same reason.
And it is for exactly the same reason – to increase connectivity and liveability - that we are putting in gigabit broadband, spreading across the country like tendrils of superinformative vermicelli.And it is for exactly the same reason – to increase connectivity and liveability - that we are putting in gigabit broadband, spreading across the country like tendrils of superinformative vermicelli.
Because that is the way to unite the country, to spread opportunity, to bring the country together.Because that is the way to unite the country, to spread opportunity, to bring the country together.
Johnson says the government will invest in youth services and in education. Education funding is being levelled up.Johnson says the government will invest in youth services and in education. Education funding is being levelled up.
The government will invest in transport, he says. And he turns to buses. (See 8.46am.)The government will invest in transport, he says. And he turns to buses. (See 8.46am.)
And yes I admit I am a bit of a bus nut. I confess that I like to make and paint inexact models of buses with happy passengers inside.And yes I admit I am a bit of a bus nut. I confess that I like to make and paint inexact models of buses with happy passengers inside.
But it is not just because i am a bus nut that we want to expand bus transport with clean, green buses and contactless payment by card or phone.But it is not just because i am a bus nut that we want to expand bus transport with clean, green buses and contactless payment by card or phone.
a good bus service can make all the difference to your job. To your life. To your ability to get to the doctor. To the liveability of your town or your village. And to your ability to stay there and have a family there and start a business there.a good bus service can make all the difference to your job. To your life. To your ability to get to the doctor. To the liveability of your town or your village. And to your ability to stay there and have a family there and start a business there.
Back in Manchester, Johnson says to spread opportunity the government must keep people safe.Back in Manchester, Johnson says to spread opportunity the government must keep people safe.
We are committing now to rolling up the evil county lines drugs gangs that predate on young kids and send them to die in the streets to feed the cocaine habits of the bourgeoisie and we will succeed.We are committing now to rolling up the evil county lines drugs gangs that predate on young kids and send them to die in the streets to feed the cocaine habits of the bourgeoisie and we will succeed.
And yes, we will be tough on crime. We will make sure that the police have the legal powers and the political backing to use stop and search because it may be controversial. But believe me that when a young man is going equipped with a bladed weapon there is nothing kinder or more loving or more life-saving you can do than ask him to turn out his pockets.And yes, we will be tough on crime. We will make sure that the police have the legal powers and the political backing to use stop and search because it may be controversial. But believe me that when a young man is going equipped with a bladed weapon there is nothing kinder or more loving or more life-saving you can do than ask him to turn out his pockets.
If you want to watch PMQs, there is a live feed here:If you want to watch PMQs, there is a live feed here:
Johnson says London is a model for a place with “dynamic enterprise culture and great public services”.Johnson says London is a model for a place with “dynamic enterprise culture and great public services”.
Johnson says the Tories must speak up for capitalism.
How we are going to grow the UK economy. I will tell you that it is by raising the productivity of the whole of the UK not with socialism, not with deranged and ruinous plans borrowed from the playbook of Bolivarian revolutionary Venezuela, but by creating the economic platform for dynamic free-market capitalism.
Yes, you heard it right – capitalism – and when did you last hear a Tory leader talk about capitalism?
We are the party of the NHS precisely because we are the party of capitalism.
Johnson says the Tories “are the party of the NHS”.
In the next 10 years we will build 40 new hospitals in the biggest investment in hospital infrastructure for a generation. Because after 70 years of the existence of the NHS – 44 of them under a Conservative government – it is time for us to say loud and clear …
We are the party of the NHS.
Johnson makes the case for building and refurbishing hospitals.
On Monday I went to the North Manchester general hospital and I saw the incredible work they are doing with reconstructive maxillo-facial surgery on people who only a decade ago would have been permanently disfigured by their traumas and for whom hope and confidence is so important.
I talked to the patients and every one of them was bursting with praise for the staff and their energy and devotion, but, conference, that fantastic hospital was built in 1876 to serve the workhouse.
We were walking down long, narrow Nightingale wards that were designed by the pioneer of nursing, and, as one of the managers told me, that asking those professionals to work in that environment is like asking a Premiership footballer to play on a ploughed field.
And so I was proud to tell them under this government we will totally rebuild that hospital.
Johnson says the values he learned from his mother are embodied in the NHS.
The NHS is holy to the people of this country because of the simple beauty of its principle that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, but when you are sick the whole country figuratively gathers at your bedside and does everything it can to make you well again and everybody pays to ensure that you have the best doctors and the best nurses and the most effective treatments known to medical science.
And after 70 years the results are – on the whole –amazing. When I was a kid the word cancer was a death knell and heart attack was a terrifying thought. Well, we are slowly defeating the legions of disease.
This country has seen the fastest falls in breast cancer in Europe
Johnson turns to his family.
You are entitled to ask yourselves about my core principles and the ideals that drive me and are going to drive me as your prime minister.
I am going to follow the example of my friend Saj. I am going to quote that supreme authority in my family -– my mother (and by the way for keen students of the divisions in my family you might know that I have kept the ace up my sleeve – my mother voted leave).
He says he learnt important lessons from his mother.
My mother taught me to believe strongly in the equal importance, the equal dignity, the equal worth of every human being on the planet and that may sound banal but it is not.
Johnson says if the EU does not accept his offer, the alternative will be a no-deal Brexit.
And I hope very much that our friends understand that and compromise in their turn. Because if we fail to get an agreement because of what is essentially a technical discussion of the exact nature of future customs checks, when that technology is improving the whole time, then let us be in no doubt that the alternative is no deal.
That is not an outcome we want. It is not an outcome we seek at all. But let me tell you this, conference, it is an outcome for which we are ready.
Johnson says he is tabling Brexit plans in Brussels.
Today in Brussels we are tabling what I believe are constructive and reasonable proposals
Which provide a compromise for both sides
We will under no circumstances have checks at or near the border in Northern Ireland
We will respect the peace process and the Good Friday agreement
And by a process of renewable democratic consent by the executive and assembly of Northern ireland
we will go further and protect the existing regulatory arrangements for farmers and other businesses on both sides of the border
And at the same time we will allow the UK - whole and entire - to withdraw from the EU, with control of our own trade policy from the start.
And to protect the union
And yes this is a compromise by the UK
Johnson claims that the Tories, and the British, are pro-European.
It cannot be stressed too much that this is not an anti-European party and it is not an anti-European country.
We love Europe. We are European. At least, “I love Europe,” Johnson says.
After what seems like a moment’s hesitation, the audience applaud.
Johnson is back to the case for getting Brexit done.
I am afraid that after three and a half years people are beginning to feel that they are being taken for fools. They are beginning to suspect that there are forces in this country that simply don’t want Brexit delivered at all.
And if they turn out to be right in that suspicion then I believe there will be grave consequences for trust in democracy. Let’s get Brexit done on 31 October.
Let’s get it done because of the opportunities that Brexit will bring, not just to take back control of our money and our borders and our laws. To regulate differently and better, and to take our place as a proud and independent global campaigner for free trade.
Let’s get it done because delay is so pointless and expensive. Let’s get it done because we need to build our positive new partnership with the EU.
Johnson uses the pre-briefed passage about how 2020 would be a year of chaos under Labour. (See 11.33am.)