Conservative Campaign Event Election 2017

Thank you very much everybody, it's great to be here in the West

Midlands and great to be here in Wolverhampton.

I wonder how many of you saw the TV debate last night. I have to say, I

thought Jeremy was an impressive performer and a tough adversary.

Well prepared, on top of his brief, knew the party inside out,

consistent of the last, he never gave up. Jeremy Paxton definitely...

LAUGHTER The strange thing about election campaigns is you don't

often get to see your opponent close up but last night I did. I saw

Jeremy Corbyn close-up on television and what I saw those revealing.

Despite being a member of Parliament to 34 years and being the leader of

the Labour Party for the last two years, he is simply not ready to

govern and not prepared to lead. He's not prepared to use the nuclear

deterrent, not prepared to take action against terrorists, not

prepared to give the police powers they need to keep us safe. He's not

prepared to to take a single difficult decision for the good of

our economy. He is not prepared to answer questions about his long

track record of supporting people who want to harm and even attack our

country. And with the Brexit negotiations due to begin only 11

days after polling day, he's not prepared for those negotiations. But

I am prepared. Prepared to take the difficult decisions that leadership

demands. Prepared to do what is necessary to protect and defend our

country. Prepared to go into the negotiating chamber with the

European Union is just 11 days after polling day. I am prepared, I'm

ready to go. Jeremy Corbyn is not. Because last night confirmed that

only one of us has the determination to deliver the will of the people

and make Brexit happen, and only one of us has the planned to make Brexit

a success. Last night showed that Jeremy Corbyn's minders can put him

in a smart blue suit for an interview with Jeremy Paxman, but

with his position on Brexit he will find himself alone and naked in the

negotiating chamber of the European Union. I know that's an image that

doesn't bear thinking about... LAUGHTER But actually this is very

serious. We are approaching the end of a long campaign, but it is

crucial that everybody remembers this important fact. Britain is

about to enter into the most important negotiations of my

lifetime. They begin just 11 days after polling day, and the European

Union is already adopting an aggressive negotiating position.

That's why now more than ever Britain needs a strong government

and a strong Prime Minister is capable of standing up to Brussels.

Your vote is more important than ever because every vote for me in

this election will, if I'm returned as Prime Minister, strengthen my

hand in the negotiations that are about to start. But if you don't

vote at this election, and if you don't vote for me in this election,

you risk sleepwalking into the very real danger that Jeremy Corbyn will

find himself in the hot seat, in the negotiating chair on your behalf. I

only have to lose succeeds in this election for that to happen, and the

consequences for Britain if that did happen would be dire. A week and on

stable Prime Minister propped up by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.

The coalition of chaos is unable to get the best deal for Britain,

consisting of political parties who disagree with Brexit and want to

unpick the referendum result. Don't let them make a mess of these

negotiations, don't sleepwalk into that danger. Because what last

night's television debate brought home in Technicolor was that only we

have the will and the plan to make a success of Brexit. But it's

important too to understand that the referendum was not just a vote to

leave the European Union, it was also a vote to change the way the

country works and the people for whom it works for ever. It was a

quiet revolution, driven by all those who felt let down and left

behind for too long. A revolution in which millions of our fellow

citizens stood up and said they were not prepared to be ignored any more.

That's why since the first day I stepped through the door of Number

Ten as Prime Minister, I have been clear that the mission of the

Government side lead is not just to get the best deal for Britain in

Europe, but to shift the balance in Britain in favour of ordinary

working people here at home too. To fight for all those for whom life is

more difficult than many seem to think or realise. Those who are just

about managing to get by, people who are working around the clock giving

of the best but for whom life is still too often struggle. They don't

ask for much, they just want to get on with their lives and be able to

do their best for their children. Above all they just want to be given

a fair chance, because for too long, for too many people, life has not

seemed fair. If you can't afford to get onto the property ladder or your

child is stuck in a bad school. If you are one of the ordinary people

who made sacrifices after the financial crash but see no evidence

that the people better off than you did the same. If you are 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 someone who finds

themselves out of work because of low skilled immigration. Above all,

if you have been trying to say things need to change for years and

your complaints fall on deaf ears, if you're patria to some is deemed

somehow distasteful, your concerns about immigration dismissed as

parochial. Your desire for your country to make the decisions that

matter to Britain here in Britain ridiculed and ignored for too long.

Life simply doesn't seem fair. My plan response to the British

people's decision to leave the and it aims to shape a brighter and

their future of our country. A future in which everyone in every

part of this United Kingdom will enjoy their share. It will back

those who want to work hard by helping businesses create more and

better paid jobs with new rights and protections for workers. It will

help more people have a home of their own by building more

affordable houses and tackle the cost of living by capping rip-off

energy tariffs and keeping taxes low. My plan will make sure every

child gets the best start in life by increasing school funding every

year, provide real technical lead a quiche and for young people for the

first time and increase the NHS budget every year to ensure every

family has the care they need and we can pay for and provide care for the

elderly. And it will protect our national security and defences by

fighting terrorism and taking effective action against extremists.

It is a plan to make Britain's stronger, fairer and more prosperous

and to put government at the service of ordinary working people. So if

you have a job that but don't always have job security we will be backing

you. If you own your home but worry about paying mortgage we will be

backing you. If you can just about manage but worry about the cost of

living and getting your children into a good school we will be

backing you. If you just want to get on with your life to do your best

for your children and be given a fair chance to get on we will be

backing you. Because the government I lead will be the government at the

service of ordinary working people. That all of this depends on one

thing. Getting Brexit right. That is what is truly at the heart of this

election campaign. That is the one fundamental defining issue, the

choice upon which everything else will depend. The terms of the Brexit

deal we negotiate with the EU and the course we charted beers

afterwards truly will define our country for generations to come. Our

place in the world, our economic security, the vital public services

upon which we will rely, our future prosperity, everything depends on

and will be defined by the outcome of these next five years. If we

don't make a success of the next five years our economic prosperity

will suffer, jobs and livelihoods will be put at risk and with them

the security and peace of mind of working families. If we don't make a

success of Brexit we won't have the financial means to fund the public

services in which we will rely. Our NHS, the institution which is their

first at the most difficult times. It needs is to make a success of

Brexit to make sure we can afford to provide it with the resources it

needs in the future. Every school in every village, town or city needs is

to make a success of Brexit. If we want to continue to provide a

sustainable welfare system with help targeted at those whom needed most

we need to meet success of Brexit. If we want to invest in transport

infrastructure, our roads and bridges and railways, we need to

make a success of Brexit. If we want to continue our dash to play or part

on the world stage, standing up for our liberal values with strong

defences to protect this we need to make a success of Brexit. Everything

depends on getting Brexit right. So the central question in this

election is who has the will and crucially the plan to make a success

of Brexit? So that we can build the stronger and more prosperous Britain

we want and need. And on that central question I believe there is

only one choice. Because I am clear about the instruction I have been

given, clear about what needs to be done and ready to get on with the

job on day one. Jeremy Corbyn does not have the belief, the will or the

plan to deliver Brexit and he doesn't have the strength to do so

either. The only way he can get into number ten is by doing a deal with

the Scottish Nationalists and the Lib Dems who do not believe in

Brexit and who don't want it to succeed. We know this and the rest

of Europe knows it as well. They also know that a weak government in

a hung parliament here at home would be able to stand up for Britain in

Europe. They know British Government that has to give in to other

political parties so it can just hold onto power will be weak abroad

because it will be compromised at home. You don't negotiate the right

deal for Britain from the position of weakness. You do it from a

position of strength with a Prime Minister 100% committed to the cause

and a strong majority government with a clear plan to see it through.

You can't negotiate the right Brexit deal if you don't have confidence in

our strengths and in all that we have to offer either. You can only

deliver for Britain if you believe in Britain and I do. That is why I

have been cleared about my plan for Brexit at every stage. I said I

would trigger Article 50 before the end of March and they did. I said I

would set up my negotiating objectives before I did so and I

have. I said we would take back control of our borders and our money

and our laws and we will. And I have set out a clear and ambitious plan

for the negotiations ahead. It is a plan for a new deep and special

partnership between Britain and Europe. A partnership of interests

and values, partnership based on Corporation in areas such as

security and economic affairs and at the heart of that plan are 12

negotiating objectives that will guide us in the months ahead. We

will deliver certainty whenever possible so that everyone has as

much clarity as we can provide as we move through the process. As part of

that we have published a White Paper confirming our plans to convert what

is called their new key into British law so that everyone has a certainty

they need. At the same time I have been clear that the government I

lead will put the final deal between the UK and the EU to in both Houses

of Parliament before it comes into force. We will take control of our

own laws and bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court

of Justice in Britain. Leaving the European Union will mean our laws

will be made in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and

those laws will be interpreted by judges but in Luxembourg that in

courts across this country. We will strengthen the union of the four

nations that comprise our United Kingdom. We will negotiate as one

United Kingdom, taking into account the specific interests of every

nation of the UK. And we expect the devolved administrations in

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to see a significant interest in the

decision-making power at the end of the Brexit process. We want to make

-- maintain the Common travel area with the Republic of Ireland. We

will control immigration so that we continue to attract the brightest

and the best but manage the process properly so that our immigration

system serves the national interest. We seek to guarantee the rights of

EU a sense who are already living in Britain and the rights of British

nationals in other member states as early as we can. I set that I very

clearly in the letter I sent to President tusk in March. But I am

clear that this must be a reciprocal arrangement because it's my primary

job as Prime Minister to protect the rights and interests of this United

Kingdom. We will ensure that workers' rights are fully protected

and maintained. Not only will the government protect the rights of

workers, we will build on them. We will pursue a bold and ambitious

far-reaching agreement with the EU that allows for the freest possible

trade in goods and services between Britain and the EU's member states.

That gives British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and

operate within European markets and less European businesses do the same

in Britain. But we will not be members of the single market because

that would mean accepting the freedoms of the European union

considers sacrosanct including the free movement of people that means

he would not be able to control our borders. Membership of the single

market is incompatible with the democratically expressed will of the

British people so our membership will end but we will continue to

pursue the freest possible trade in goods and services in the interests

of both Britain and the EU. We are going to make sure that we can

strike trade agreements with countries from outside the European

Union because important to our trade with the ways and will remain, it is

clear that the UK needs to increase significantly its trade with the

fastest growing markets in the world. We will continue to

collaborate with our European partners in the years of science,

education, research and technology so that the UK is one of the best

places for science and innovation. We will continue to cooperate in

important areas such as crime, terrorism and foreign affairs and

with a clear plan and strong leadership we will deliver a smooth

and orderly Brexit, delivering the will of the British people while

minimising disruption to our economic security. That is my plan

for Brexit. 12 objectives that amount to one big goal. I knew the

band special partnership with the European Union that returns control

to Britain and allows us to stand tall in the world once again. That

is the clear and credible approach of a strong and stable government.

Just compare it to the alternative. Because the truth is that Jeremy

Corbyn has no plan for Brexit at all and when you think about it that is

incredible. The Brexit negotiations will begin just 11 days after the

election. They will be no time to waste, no way of stalling, now way

of asking Europe to hang on while we figure out what we want to do. The

Europeans are ready to go and are determined to fight for a deal that

works for them. This is no time through weak government and a weak

leader today making it up as they go along and particularly not when that

leader has shown poor judgment and weak leadership throughout the

process so far. Let's remember that on the day the referendum result was

declared Jeremy Corbyn thought we should trigger Article 50

straightaway. That reckless misjudgement would have immediately

handed the Europeans the advantage in the negotiations and seriously

curtailed the time we had to formally to loan negotiation

position. It would have cost our country dear. Let's remember that

while my team and I have put in the work to develop a coherent plan over

the last ten months Jeremy Corbyn has lurched chaotically from half

baked plan to half baked plan. He has had seven different Brexit plans

in the space of nine months, none of which added up to a coherent vision

for our country. And let's remember on the central issue what kind of

relationship the UK should have with the single market, Jeremy Corbyn

still cannot save a certain way he stands. He says he once to keep the

benefits of the single market but without saying how that will be

achieved or how it fits with ending the free movement of people. Let's

remember what we do know about his approach. With the negotiations due

to begin just 11 days after the election the first thing Jeremy

Corbyn would do is scrap the plan for Brexit we set out in our White

Paper and start all over again. Leaving the UK naked in the

negotiating chamber. With negotiations about to begin the next

thing he would do is drop our Great Repeal Bill that offers the

certainty of the country needs. Yet he has no plan to replace it. With

the negotiations about to start his priority would be to reject the no

deal as an option for Britain. The consequences of that are simple. It

means being willing to accept any deal however bad, signing up to any

bill however vast, accepting any terms however unreasonable. It means

signing up to Britain being given by EU laws for you to come so that we

have no control over our laws. To free movement continuing

indefinitely and paying whatever your bosses to pay so we have no

control over our money either. As always with Jeremy Corbyn and labour

the shambles and responsibility would be this but the consequences

and the bill would be ours. So the prospect of him and his political

associates leading our country into the Brexit associations should worry

us all. That's why a vote for Labour the

Liberal Democrats or SNP is a risk too big to take. In an age of shock

election results, and minor parties queueing up to do a deal with Jeremy

Corbyn, that risk is Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister in a hung

parliament in ten days' time. If that were to happen then, just as we

need to be at our strongest, our government would be in chaos. Jeremy

Corbyn would be in Number Ten, John McDonnell would be in the Treasury

and Diane Abbott would be in the Home Office. Just as we should be

negotiating a deal for Britain in Europe, Jeremy Corbyn would be

stitching up a deal with Nicola Sturgeon and the Liberal Democrats,

a deal that means they would be pulling the strings. Just 11 days

after polling day the Brexit negotiations begin. Yesterday the

European Commission showed the importance of who you choose to face

them, they are strong opposition. Jeremy Corbyn has no plan to deliver

Brexit and has already admitted he would give control of our borders

and laws back to Brussels. But if I lose just six seats, Jeremy Corbyn

could become Prime Minister at the head of a coalition of chaos with

the parties still arguing among themselves rather than negotiating

for Britain when the Brexit negotiations begin just those 11

days after polling day. So as we get back to focusing on the task in

hand, and turn towards the home straight in this campaign, this is

the time to choose. If you don't want Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime

Minister of this country, if you don't believe he's equipped to

negotiate Brexit, keep our economy strong or our nation secure, there

is no safe way to vote Labour wherever you live. There is only one

party in this election that respects the people's decision and is

passionate about delivering on it. One party that can provide the

strong majority government the country needs to see Brexit through.

Every vote for me and my local candidates in this election will

strengthen my hand when I negotiate for Britain in Europe. Every vote

for me and my local candidates will be a vote for five years of strong

and stable leadership to see us through Brexit and beyond. Every

vote for me and my local candidates will be a vote for strong and stable

leadership in the national interest, leadership that's ready to get the

right deal for Britain abroad and a better deal for ordinary working

people at home. Leadership that's ready to make the most of the

opportunity ahead to build a stronger, fairer, better Britain.

Thank you. APPLAUSE

Thank you very much, thank you. Now I see we have some members of the

media here. Laura. Prime Minister, election campaigns test our leaders,

don't they? Isn't the emerging truth of this campaign that it's showing

you as a leader to be weaker rather than stronger? Don't you think the

voters want more from you then attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and reheat

of the speech you made when you moved into Number Ten? Strong and

stable leadership is about being open with the British people about

the challenges we face and that's what we have done in the manifesto

we have set out. Strong and stable leadership is about being open about

the hard choices that lie ahead in order to build that stronger

Britain, and strong and stable leadership is about having a plan to

take into those Brexit negotiations and a plan to take Britain beyond

those negotiations and build that stronger, fairer country. That's

what I have and that's why I have strong and stable leadership.

APPLAUSE Beth. Prime Minister, you say you will be

a difficult woman when it comes to the Brexit negotiations but isn't it

true you have also had a difficult election of your social care policy?

It has worried voters and polling suggests female voters are turning

away from you. Are you a female Prime Minister with a woman problem?

Let's be clear about what we are doing in relation to social care.

Right now if you look at the situation for social care, if you

have more than ?23,000 of savings you pay for your care and if its

residential care your house is taken into account. So what we see is

people paying for their care, many people finding they have to sell

their house in order to pay that bill, and some people seeing that

what they have built up over their lives is virtually wiped out

altogether. What we as a party are proposing on social care reduces and

takes away those risks because what we are saying to people is you won't

have to sell your home in your lifetime to pay for those care

bills. You will be able to quadruple the level of savings you can have

and keep to pass on to your families to ?100,000, and we will have a cap

on the absolute amount people pay for care. But crucially this is a

social care policy that ensures we have a long-term, stable social and

sustainable social care system in this country, and a policy that is

fair across the generations. Gary?

APPLAUSE You said again last night that no deal is better than a bad

deal. Do you disagree with the experts

that say actually no deal would mean increased tariffs, perhaps all

sectors of the British economy that couldn't export to Europe because

they didn't fit the guidelines? Maybe the plane is not being able to

fly to Europe. The possibility of a serious recession. What on earth

could be anything other than catastrophic for just about managing

families than that? I do believe no deal would be better than a bad

deal, and let's look at what a bad deal would be. You have people in

Europe who want to punish the UK and I think the implications of that

would be a bad deal, and you have people here in the UK in other

political parties who seem willing to give anything away to get a deal

whatever it is, and that would be bad for the UK. I think what we have

seen today from Jeremy Corbyn is that he would be willing to do a

deal at any price. He wants to get the worst deal for Britain at the

highest possible price. That's not what we are about, I'm about going

in there and fighting for Britain, getting the best possible deal,

making a success of Brexit. Isn't it the truth that you are so worried

about recent polls and the fall out from your manifesto launch that you

are resorting to scaring voters about Brexit negotiations in order

to get the vote? What I'm doing is actually setting out what the

position is for this country. The position for this country is that 11

days after election day. The Prime Minister who has been elected on

June the apes will have to go into those negotiations with the European

Union -- on June the 8th. We need to be ready for those negotiations, we

need to have the strength to going to those negotiations and we need to

be able to fight up and stand for Britain in those negotiations. I

have the plant, the will and the determination to do that. It would

only be 11 days after polling day. The Prime Minister has to be

prepared. I am prepared, nobody else is.

APPLAUSE. You say you want to build

partnerships with European allies but Angela Merkel said at the

weekend Europe can no longer rely on Britain as an ally. What is your

response to that and do you think it is fair? Labour have described you

as an ogre when it comes to negotiating Brexit, is that a badge

of honour? Who described me as a no-go? INAUDIBLE.

We want to build that partnership because we are leaving the EU but we

are not leaving Europe and we will be able to cooperate on issues like

security and defence because that is important for us all. Last week I

was with Angela Merkel and others at the Nato leaders meeting where we

were showing support for each of the together with the United States and

others to protect our security. Nato has been the bedrock of UK defence.

The next day at the G7 we were together, Angela Merkel and myself

and others making us statement about our collective commitment to work

together to deal with extremism, extremism that can fuel the

terrorism that leads to the horrific attacks that sadly we have suffered

from only to recently in this country. John Stevens from The Mail.

Are you disappointed by the way British Airways handled its IT

crisis at the weekend and do you think the airline is still worthy of

being the country's flag carrier? The crisis that hit British Airways

is predominantly a matter for British airways. I acknowledge the

problems it caused to all the individuals hoping to get away for

the break and found themselves unable to travel. I think we all

feel for those people, and it is important that of course British

Airways has a compensation scheme, but it is up to them to sort out the

IT and ensure they are able to provide the services people expect

them to provide as British Airways. And you're increasingly personal

attacks on Jeremy Corbyn and this image of him naked in a negotiating

room in Brussels a sign of your increasing desperation? No, if you

look at what I have been saying throughout this election, there is

one very simple message which has been the same from the beginning and

the same now, that when people go to vote on June the 8th they have a

simple choice to make. There is only one of two people who will be Prime

Minister after this election, either me or Jeremy Corbyn and that Prime

Minister 11 days afterwards has to start those Brexit negotiations so

people have to make a choice as to who they think has the leadership

and strong government to do that and to get the best possible deal for

Britain. As I have said before, strong and stable leadership working

to get the best deal in Europe or a coalition of chaos propped up by the

Liberal Democrats and Scottish Nationalists.

APPLAUSE I will just take these last two.

Prime Minister, you have said everything depends on getting Brexit

right but you spent the last few weeks on the campaign trail rather

than preparing for the negotiations so how much time have you been able

to spend getting ready for the talks and what do you say to those who say

it was irresponsible to call an election so close to the

negotiations? I called this election because I saw the other parties were

intent on trying to disrupt our negotiations and if you look at what

we hear from the other parties, the policies they are talking about, a

free movement to continue, allowing the European Court of Justice to

continue having that dream it over laws in the UK, or wanting to have a

second referendum which is what the Liberal Democrats want on whether we

should be in the European Union. They were going to disrupt our

Brexit negotiations and I thought it was important to go to the country

and ask people for the mandate to take into those Brexit negotiations

on behalf of the people because it was the decision of the British

people to leave the European Union, and I think it is up to the

Government to deliver that for them. And the last question here.

APPLAUSE. You said Jeremy Corbyn wants to keep

the benefits of single market membership without saying how that

would be achieved. Isn't that what you are doing by telling the British

public they can have tariff-free access, frictionless trade and

controls on migration? The things you mention about the freedom of

movement, they are things Labour might be able to say it could trade

off for the great benefits you have talked about on the single market.

Aren't the voters soon going to discover they can one have

everything you have promised them? It is precisely things like that

that people voted about when they voted in the referendum. When people

voted to leave the European Union they wanted us to take control of

our money, our borders, our laws. That is what our plan for Brexit

will deliver. It's not what Labour will deliver. They would be happy to

give that controls straight at the Brussels. That is why I say it's

important we need strength in those negotiations and the mandate from

people and every vote for me and my local candidates will strengthen my

hand in those negotiations and it will be a vote for the strong and

stable leadership we need to get through Brexit and make a success of

it. In nine days' time my next guest

Jeremy Corbyn is hoping to become this country's seventh Labour Prime

Minister. In the run-up to polling day we have invited leaders hour to

tell us about themselves and why we should vote for them. Good morning.

The last time we met you were trying to become the Labour leader for the

first time. No pink buses on this general election. You probably want

to talk about childcare. Your party announced this morning about

extending childcare for all to to