18/03/2017 Welsh Conservative Party Conference

The Conservatives have been in power at Westminster for seven years and

their next target here in Wales making games at the local elections

in May. Welcome to Conference 2017. Good afternoon.

Welcome to the third of our Spring party political conference

programmes. We have already heard from Plaid Cymru and the Welsh

Liberal Democrats but over the last couple of days it is the Welsh

Conservatives who have been getting together in Cardiff and you can see

the latest developments and comment on Twitter. As always our Welsh

affairs editor is here to guide us through the afternoon. What will the

party be looking to get out of this conference? There are a number of

things. This is a combined conference, it is the Welsh spring

conference and also the UK party's spring Forum and it is a platform

for UK issues as well as Welsh issues but the main thing they will

be hoping for is to turn the page on what has been an awful week for the

Conservatives, with Nicola Sturgeon really outmanoeuvring the government

at the beginning of the week by announcing a second independence

referendum, that you turn from Phillip Hammond over the National

Insurance contributions in the budget and that fine from the

Electoral Commission about the election expenses. A grim week that

they will want to forget about and get on to different subjects. A lot

of what was said was seen through the prism of the developments

regarding a second referendum on independence. The government agenda

was way off course this week. There is no doubt that the plan for this

conference was the plan you will see on the slogan behind the Prime

Minister in a little while, a plan for Britain. It was going to be

about a plan for Britain after the moving of Article 50, instead they

have had to scramble and respond to what the British Government has been

doing. Plenty more from Vaughan later. Now the main event was the

Prime Minister's speech, it has been a challenging week for Theresa May,

the second referendum on independence for Scotland, the

U-turn in her own government over National Insurance but this was a

speech to the party faithful. Theresa May began her speech by

referring to this. Bringing these two events together reminds us once

again that we are and always will be the Conservative and Unionist party.

APPLAUSE. The only party today that represents and delivers for every

part of this precious United Kingdom. I would like to thank Alun

Cairns for that introduction. He is a determined and passionate

campaigner for Wales is interest in Whitehall, always standing up for a

Welsh interesting government and speaking up for this great nation at

the Cabinet table. I would also like to pay tribute to the work of the

Conservative group in the National Assembly, particularly to its leader

Andrew R T Davies. APPLAUSE. The clearest and without

doubt the loudest voice at Cardiff Bay, doing the important work of

holding the Labour government to account. And thank you, to you,

also, for all the work that you do for our party here in Wales. Thanks

to you, some of our party 's best result at the last General Election

were achieved right here. In the north, James Davies taking the seat

from Labour. In mid Wales, Chris Davies taking the seat from the

Liberal Democrats. In this city, Craig Williams holding Cardiff North

with a majority more than ten times greater than we achieved in 2010.

And in the South West, Byron Davies becoming the first Conservative MP

for Gower in its 100 of history. APPLAUSE.

130 year history. People said we could not win here again. But you

prove them wrong. And today we are winning in Wales once again. And

people said the same elsewhere as well. They said we could not win in

the north of England, but tell that to the voters of Copeland and there

are new brilliant member of Parliament, Trudy Harris!

APPLAUSE. This is the modern Conservative Party. Reaching out to

all parts of the country and winning in all parts of the country. A party

that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. And right across

Great Britain, on the 4th of May, people will go to the polls to

decide who they want to run their local services, care for the local

environment and said the council tax they pay. In Scotland and here in

Wales, there will be all out collections in every single local

authority. In England, as well as County Council and unitary authority

elections, some of our great cities of the areas around them will choose

a powerful new Mayers. As a party. We go into these important

elections, confident about the job we can do to serve local people and

local communities. From Cardiff to the Cairngorms, from Dover to

Darren, people are looking for a party with a plan to secure a better

future, a better future for their town or city, their county and their

country. And our task as Conservatives is clear. We must work

to be that party. In local elections across Great Britain, that means

being the party that sets out the credible and compelling case to keep

council tax low, for a more effective and efficient local

services and for more responsive representation. In the elections for

new Mayors, our candidates, James Palmer in the Cambridge and

Petersburg, to go cold air in Liverpool city region, and Tim Veldt

in the West of England, they must be the candidate pointing the way for a

better quality of life, greater social, cultural and economic

opportunities and a more prosperous future for local people with a plan

to deliver. And as Her Majesty's government of the UK, responding to

and delivering on the decision of the British people to leave the

European Union and embark on a new global role, our task is clearer

still. It is to use this moment of opportunity to shape a brighter

future for Britain. It is to use this period of change to step back

and ask ourselves what kind of country we want to be. And it is to

use the years ahead to deliver an ambitious programme of economic and

social reform that prepares Britain for the brighter future and ensures

we emerge stronger, fairer, more united and more outward looking than

ever before. And that is why, today, I want to talk to you about this

government's plan for Britain. A plan for Britain that will guide our

policies and actions, a plan for Britain that will deliver a

stronger, fairer country, for we stand on the threshold of one of the

most significant moments Britain has known for many years. During the

next two weeks, we will trigger Article 50 and begin negotiations to

secure the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union.

APPLAUSE. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

And it is at such moments, great national moments that define the

character of a nation, we have a choice. We can look forward with

optimism and hope or give in to the politics of fear and despair. I

choose to believe in Britain and that our best days lie ahead.

Because while the road before us may be uncertain at times, I believe,

with the British people, that it leads towards a brighter future for

our nation's children and grandchildren. That brighter future

will not just happened. The stronger fairer country we want will not just

emerge, it will take effort and focus, discipline and hard work. And

above all, it requires that we set out and deliver on a plan. So our

plan for Britain is a plan for a brighter future, a plan to make the

most of the opportunities ahead and to build a stronger, fairer Britain

that is more united and more outward looking, a plan to get the right

deal for Britain abroad, yes, but also a better deal for ordinary

working people here at home. That is crucial. For the referendum result

is not just a vote to leave the European Union, it was an

instruction, to change the way our country works and the people for

whom it works, for ever. It was a call to change the balance of

Britain, to make this great United Kingdom a country that works for

everyone, not just the privileged few. We, the Conservative Party

understand that and we, the Conservative Party, will respond. We

will get the right deal for Britain abroad, forging a new partnership

with our friends and allies in Europe but looking beyond Europe, to

build relationships with the new friends and new allies and old

friends around the world as well. At the same time, we will pursuit the

ambitious economic and social reforms we need to make Britain work

for working people. That means building a stronger economy and

investing in the things that will deliver for Britain in the long

term. Tackling the problem of low productivity and helping to secure

the high-paid, high skilled jobs of the future. It means creating a

fairer society, as we break down the barriers of privilege and spread

opportunity and prosperity around the country. It means forging Aomori

United Nations as we put the values of fairness, responsibility and

citizenship at the heart of everything we do. It means building

a stronger, fairer Britain that our children and grandchildren will be

proud to call home. From the start, the Britain we build as we leave the

EU must be a truly global Britain. A Britain that is outward looking and

embraces the world. Because the vote to leave the European Union was not

about to turn our backs on our international role or abandon our

international outlook, Britain at its best has always been a great,

global trading nation. We have always been shaped by and have

helped to shape global events. We are one of the world's largest

economies with strong and fruitful relationships with countries around

the world. Those cooperative and open-hearted relationships are vital

to our future success as we leave the EU, we will embrace the world

and build a global outward looking Britain, that is a confident, and

responsible player on the world stage. Of course that means getting

on with the job of delivering Brexit, striking the right deal for

Britain or that build a new partnership with Europe and we have

been clear about our negotiating objectives, certainty, wherever

possible, control of our own laws, strengthening the United Kingdom,

maintaining the Common travel area with Ireland, control of

immigration, writes for EU nationals in Britain and it is nationals in

the EU, enhancing rights for workers, free trade with European

markets, new trade agreements with other countries, a leading role in

science and innovation, co-operation on crime, terrorism and other

affairs and a phased approach, delivering a smooth and orderly

Brexit. 12 objectives, that amount to one big goal, a new positive and

constructive partnership between Britain and the European Union. But

a global Britain, also means making the Britain that emerges from the

EU, the leading advocate of global free trade and promoting and

defending the forces of economic liberalism which have such an

overwhelmingly positive impact on our world. It means, as I say,

building and strengthening our relationships with old friends and

new allies, getting out and doing business right across the globe. And

that is what the Department for International Trade has been doing

since it was set up last summer, building up our capability and

readiness for that new global role and promoting British goods and

services around the globe. It means continuing to attract the brightest

and the best to work or study in Britain but ensuring that process is

managed properly so that our immigration system serves the

national interest. Continuing to meet our commitments

to the world's poor and support developing countries, making the

world a safer place for everyone, and supporting our armed forces as

they keep our country safe and secure. Britain is one of the few

nations anywhere in the world to meet its UN aid target and Nato

defence target. That is a global Britain of which we can all be

proud. Our success as a global Britain will be underpinned by the

second objective of our plan for Britain, a stronger economy where

everyone plays by the same rules. We have achieved a lot of the last six

years to fix the economic mess left by labour and restore our public

finances. The deficit has been reduced and the economy has grown.

In 2010 the UK borrowed ?1 in ?5. This year it will be ?1 in every

play ?15. Working with business leaders across the country we have

delivered a record number of jobs giving more people in our country

economic security and peace of mind for their families. We have taken

the lowest paid out of tax altogether and put on the national

Living Wage so that people who work hard every day and often arduous

jobs can enjoy a better standard of living. There is still so much more

to do. Our plan for Britain will continue to bring the deficit down

so the country lives within its means. We will take a balanced

approach a loving us to invest where it is needed, like the ?2 billion of

additional money for adult social care we announced last week. Whether

it will make the difference for Britain in the long-term, like the

?500 million a year we committed in the budget to bring genuinely

world-class technical education to Britain for the first time. This

funding will help to increase the amount of technical training by 50%

and includes a high-quality three month work placement for every

student. It means that when they qualify they will be genuinely work

ready. It means we will be taking technical education seriously and

giving at the parity of esteem it deserves as we roll out our

industrial strategy towards all parts of the country. That strategy

will encourage and support the key sectors of our economy, provide more

opportunities for young people to find high-quality high skilled work

and spread opportunity and prosperity around the whole of the

country. This approach has been welcomed by sectors across the

economy and I look forward to publishing our White Paper later

this year. To build a stronger economy that works for everyone

government must support competitive markets and an open economy. That

means recognising where markets are not working for customers and being

ready to step in on their behalf so that consumers get a fair deal. One

market that is manifestly not working for all consumers of the

energy market. Energy is not a luxury, it is a necessity of life,

and it is clear to me and anyone that looks at it that the market is

not working as it should. Prices have risen by 150% of the last 15

years and ordinary working families are finding they are spending more

of their take-home pay on heating and lighting needs month. The vast

majority of consumers, especially those with the lowest incomes, are

on the most expensive tariffs. Relying on switching alone to keep

prices down is clearly not working. Our party did not end the unjust and

inefficient monopolies of the energy corporations to replace it with a

system that traps the poorest customers on the worst deals. We are

looking closely at how we can address this problem and ensure a

fair deal for everyone and we will set out plans very soon. This is the

government on the side of working people, acting to repair a broken

consumer markets to improve the spending power of people who are

just about managing with everyday costs and bills. It is the job of

government to act in the national interest and to protect the people.

To crack down on individuals and businesses that abuse the system so

that everyone, however big or small, plays by the same rules, and that is

the fairer Britain we are building. A Britain where worker's rights are

enhanced. Under this government they will be extended and never

diminished insuring that in a modern flexible economy people are properly

protected at work will also be a priority and that is why we have

commissioned Matthew Taylor to lead a review into the rights and

protections bebop having worked in the new modern economy so we can be

certain employment regulation and practices are keeping pace with the

changing world of work. The Conservative Party is the party of

workers, consumers, responsible businesses, with a plan to build a

stronger economy for all. The third objective of our plan is to build a

fairer society where success is based on merit not privilege. We

have started to rebalance our society in favour of ordinary

working people. Our plans for housing will deliver 1 million more

homes so more people can afford their own home while ensuring the

housing market is fear to those who own their home and those who do not.

Action to help those renting as well as buying. We will continue to be

rigged investment into the NHS, to help people at every stage of their

life. We will help people who can work get back into employment so

that they can benefit from a happier healthier and more productive life.

Our welfare system is fear to those who need it and fear to those who

pay for it -- fair. We need to go further than trying Britain into a

great meritocracy where success is defined by work and talent not birth

or circumstance. Our plan for Britain mould provide a good school

place for every child. That allows them to reach their full potential

eye. We will support existing state schools to do even better through

sponsorship of universities in collaboration with the independent

sector we will help schools to expand and do something else no

government has done for generations. We will extend to the children of

working class families the same opportunities enjoyed by the

children of the well-off by ending the ban on new academically

selective schools in England. These new schools will face rigorous

requirements to ensure that as well as giving greater opportunities to

their students they support their neighbouring nonselective schools to

do the best buy beers. There will be no return to the binary model of the

past but moving into an egalitarian future where the opportunity to

receive the education that suits a child best is within reach of every

one of our society and not just the privileged few. Being a government

at the service of the people means taking action on the issues that

concern them. Not thinking we know best and turning a blind eye to

their concerns but listening and responding to what people want. So

we will take control of immigration and make sure the immigration system

works in the national interest. We will welcome immigrants to make a

valued the necessary contribution to our economy and society but we will

once again have control of the system and manage it according to

our needs. At the same time we take action to address people's

legitimate concerns about immigration we will be understanding

and our determination to tackle the historic injustices like racial and

gender discrimination that hold too many people in our society back.

The Britain we will build must be country where everyone has an equal

chance to succeed and we're getting on in life is dependent on talent

and hard work, not background or connections. Our party should aspire

to be the servant and voice of hard-working and patriotically urges

people of every social class and race, any religion and nine, women

and men, gay and straight, young and old, we are union of people bound

together by injuring common interests and all are respected and

welcome in our party -- enduring. Because everything I have been

talking about today adds up to the overarching goal of our plan for

Britain, the creation of a more United Nations that our children and

grandchildren a protocol home. Our party believes heart and soul in our

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The pressures bond

between four nations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern

Ireland. That union is more than just a constitutional artefact. It

is a union between all of our citizens whoever we are and wherever

we are from. So our plan for Britain will put strengthening and

sustaining that union at its heart. It means taking the big decisions

when they are the right one for Britain in the long term. The team

national interest above any other consideration. And ensuring that we

act in the interests of the whole country creating jobs and supporting

communities across our United Kingdom. It has always been the

special mission of our Conservative Party to be the true National Party

in Britain, to aspire to represent all of the country and all of the

people and today our goal must be nothing less because we are the

party of the new centre ground of British politics, rejecting the

extremes of Labour's socialist left, Ukip's libertarian right and the

divisive and obsessive nationalisms of Plaid Cymru and the SNP. We have

seen that tunnel vision on display again this week. The SNP argue that

we should break up the UK because we are leaving the EU. But three years

ago they campaigned on a result that would have taken Scotland out of the

EU altogether. They are happy to see power rests in Brussels but if those

powers come back to London they want them given to Edinburgh so they can

try to give them back to Brussels. They apparently see an independent

Scotland would no longer seek to become a member of the EU after a

vote. The fact that more Scottish voters backed Scotland staying in

the UK in 2014 than supported the UK staying in the EU in 2016 and that

almost half a million independent supporters backed Brexit last year

seems to count for nothing. It is clear that using Brexit is the

pretext of engineer and a second independence referendum has been the

SNP's sole objective of since last June. It would be bad for Scotland,

bad for the United Kingdom and bad for us all. The coming negotiations

with the EU will be vital for everyone in the United Kingdom.

Every person, every family, business, community, the length and

breadth of the UK, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.

It is essential we get the right deal and all of our efforts and

energies of the country are focused on that outcome. We can only get

that deal if we are united as one United Kingdom, all pulling together

to get the best outcome. That is what we have always done when faced

with challenges, we have pulled together as one and succeeded

together. We are four nations but at heart we are one people. As the

Prime Minister of this United Kingdom I will always ensure the

voices and interests of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

are represented as we negotiate to leave the EU and I will always fight

to strengthen and sustain this precious union.

A great leader of our party once said that the Tory party, unless it

is a national party, is nothing. Our party, he went on to say, is a party

formed from all the numerous classes in the realm, classes alike and

equal before the law but whose different conditions and different

aims give vigour and variety to our national life. At its best, it has

always been the mission of our party to serve all of the people, to be

the truly national party, to act always in the national interest and

never in a sectional interest, to encourage the strong and to protect

the vulnerable, to enable success and to use the fruits of our

collective success to advance the common good. In the years ahead,

these are the values that should light our path. With our vision of a

better future for our country, a plan for a stronger, fairer Britain

and the determination to see it through. We will achieve that

mission and be worthy of that better future.

APPLAUSE. Thank you. The obligatory standing ovation for the Prime

Minister's speech, much of the focus on this page has been that defence

of the UK, that precious union as she calls it. She talked about

another familiar theme, fairer, stronger Britain. What did you make

of what the Prime Minister had to say? Often it is more interesting

what is left out of a speech than what is put in. You will remember

the fact that Phillip Hammond did not mention Brexit in the budget.

The first striking thing there was how little there was attacking the

Labour Party. That gives you some indication of how great a danger the

Conservatives regard Labour as being, they virtually did not

feature in the script. Instead she homed in on the SNP and that was in

direct response to the outflanking of the Westminster government by the

Hollywood government earlier in the week, trying to justify this

decision which he has reached to refuse to enter into talks with the

Scottish Government about the timing of a second independence referendum.

What we have seen is that issue zooming up the agenda this week and

that is no doubt having to be quite substantially rewritten because of

that. Jeremy Corbyn's name was not mentioned at all. Quite incredible

that in a speech that log the Prime Minister did not mention the Leader

of the Opposition but back to the SNP, you say that you think the

Prime Minister has been outflanked by the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon. She

was caught off-guard on Monday and that is not to say that Nicola

Sturgeon will end up as the victor, I am not saying that at all, but I

think that the timing of the SNP, the announcement took the government

unawares and they have been scrambling to catch up during the

course of the week. This is not the way they had this week planned. It

has been a grim week for them on a number of fronts and it started with

that announcement by Nicola Sturgeon. Do you think that is

reflected in the sort of language used about nationalism? She was

quite forceful in her language and, talking about obsessive and divisive

nationalism. Maybe it is the strongest we have heard her

attacking them? Plaid Cymru was only added in there because she was in

Cardiff, it was the SNP she was attacking. The problem she has is

this, many of the arguments that were used against independence in

the first independence referendum could equally be used against

Brexit. It is difficult for her to talk about how ridiculous it would

be for Scotland to turn its back on its largest market when she is doing

exactly that in terms of the European Union. You cannot talk

about putting up barriers when Britain is putting up barriers

against the rest of the European Union. In a sense, she is a little

bit hamstrung along the lines of attack she can take on the SNP, she

talks about narrow divisive nationalism, but the SNP I think

would point back at her and say, what are your immigration policies?

Although she was suggesting in the speech that they were in total

inconsistencies in the argument of the SNP on wanting to stay in the

European Union but leave the United Kingdom. You can argue it anyway. Of

course you can. They are arguing it on a basis of a quality, those

accusations can fly either way and I think that the Westminster

government will need to come up with a more subtle approach than less.

That approach went down very well in the hall and the people in the hall

are Conservative and Unionist, or if you put it another way, British

nationalists. Equally, the nationalism of the Nicola Sturgeon

goes down well in front of an audience of Scottish Nationalists,

it is how you get those two people to reach across the aisle to the

other audience that is the problem. That speech will have done nothing

to help Theresa May in terms of Nationalists Scotland, there is a

union of Scotland as well, it may have gone down well there. Thank you

for now. Our political correspondent has been our eyes and ears at the

conference and after the Prime Minister spoke, he asked to MPs for

their reaction to the speech. I am joined by two Conservative MPs,

Craig Williams and David Davies. Craig Williams, what did you make of

Theresa May's plan for Britain, is it an attempt to draw a line under

the difficult week they have had? It is great to see the Prime Minister

in Cardiff. It is great to have that concentration on the union and a

plan to save the union. We get the economic arguments but I have not

heard the hard yet and she started to address that today. She is

passionate about the United Kingdom and keeping us together and that

plan is a great concentration for me. Isn't the truth of it that

Nicola Sturgeon has bounced into making these kinds of speech is?

Nicola Sturgeon calling for another referendum is not new news, we were

expecting it. She is always looking for an excuse to call for a

referendum on independence. I think the response from the Prime Minister

was mature, thought through and it is that plan and saving the union is

something that is Welsh, we passionately care about it and it is

great to see the Prime Minister saying it in Cardiff. Again and

again Theresa May talked about the case for the union, a more united

country, how does the Tory government deliver on that? What

Theresa May said, which was very important, as well as stressing the

union, we have always been a party that is there for anyone, we believe

in meritocracy, it does not matter if you're black, white, gay,

straight, we are there for everyone who wants to work hard and get on

and I think we will see that in the way we support businesses, that we

get the debt down and bring down taxes and take people out of the tax

system altogether if they are low paid and gave everyone a boost of

encouragement to get out there and make the most of the opportunities

that exist. That means no special favours for Wales or Scotland or any

other region or a nation? Wales has always done well at being part of

the union and we have made a huge contribution, not only in terms of

finances, but look at the contribution to the Armed Forces

that has come out of Wales, that is very important. We are the

Conservative and Unionist party and we will be talking about the union,

we always have done and I think we have not been bounced by Nicola

Sturgeon at all but it is important to say, she cannot have another

referendum, we always expected that she would keep calling referendums

until she got the answer she wanted, but there is no point in having a

referendum until we know what the final deal will look like when we

have pulled out of the European Union. Isn't that a risky tactic for

the Prime Minister, to say you can have a referendum but not on your

terms and not when you wanted, it will be up to me to decide, is on

that plane into the hands of the SNP? I think it is being reasonable.

Nicola Sturgeon said the last referendum was going to be once in a

generation, for her to demand another referendum and she wants to

dictate the time and question, I think it is ludicrous. I am certain

that the government will listen to what she has to say and she insists

on, they will allow her to have some sort of referendum, but doing right

now in the middle of a complicated negotiation over our future in

Europe, and does not make any sense. You were a Remain voter, do you have

sympathy with Scottish people, the majority of whom voted to Remain,

who now want to go independent as a way to get back into the EU, do you

not have sympathy? I was a Remainer, I campaigned for that position but

they said throughout it, this was a referendum that the United Kingdom,

the member states of the European Union, not any other nation, it was

the UK, we have the referendum on that basis and as a Remainer, we

lost. Now we go to our new relationship with the EU, we are not

leaving Europe, we will still be there and be good neighbours and we

need a good relationship with them, which I hope keeps the best bits of

the current EU but there is going to be compromise. David Davies, you

voted Leave, very strongly worded favour of Leave, there will be

divisions of the party, have those divisions now healed? There were

never any divisions in the first place, differences of opinion which

were expressed in a mature fashion. Is it realistic to disagree so

vociferously and then say it is all behind us? With all due respect to

the media, they were predicting the demise of the Conservatives, how we

would be lunged into confusion, look at the reality. The reality is that

Conservative MPs and assembly members and councillors, all are

united behind our Prime Minister. We have had a referendum, there were

differences of opinion, but we recognise the result. 20 I was

against the Welsh assembly, I recognise the result, that is

democracy. We disagree on a lot more than the EU. What about the first

budget, there has been a U-turn on National Insurance contributions for

the self-employed, how much damage has that done to the government? I

have been out on the doorsteps and I have taken this head on. We change,

we put a proposition forward, we agreed that the substance of this

but it was against the spirit of the manifesto. We talked about it for a

week and we made a U-turn. Does that wrecked your credibility? We

listened and change something and that is now seen as Saturday! I

believe in a government that listens and changes and that the Chancellor

can take as many questions as the opposition or as many statements of

the opposition want to put forward about that and that was mature and

their politics. You do not think it has a whiff of arrogance that the

government will try and do whatever it wants because it is faced by a

weak opposition? Absolutely not. We have got a good relationship, we are

the only real centre party left in UK politics and a good relationship,

I am out on the doors, David is out on the door is talking to our

electorate and we listen. We do not get elected once every five years

and ignore the elector, it is a conversation and we build on it. The

other way of seeing it is that the government is overwhelmed by Brexit

and as a result, the Chancellor makes these kind of guards, he has

taken his eyes from the ball. We cannot be described as being

arrogant and the next minute as weak. The reality is, there is a

strong argument for equalising, it needs to be done in a careful

fashion and with a proper debate and perhaps we had not quite manage that

and we have listened and changed our approach to it. The Conservative

Party is very united. I have been an activist since the 1980s and have

never known anything like this. This is a very good moment for us as a

party. It is not as you ought to be putting questions about division and

weakness too, it is the opposition, they have a problem. On Brexit,

isn't it the case that frankly, the workload is just overwhelming

Whitehall, the government has not really come up with a fully detailed

plan, there is still a huge amount of uncertainty about where it is

heading. There will always be uncertainty, this deal needs to be

agreed with the other EU states and until they have sat down and had a

negotiation, we will not know exactly what is going to happen. You

cannot go into a negotiation knowing the outcome but we know broadly what

it is and we know the government are looking for free trade arrangement

with the rest of Europe and they will expect the ability to control

immigration and set up their own free-trade arrangements around the

world, especially with America, so that is how it is going to look. If

we do not get a deal, we will go back to WTO rules. Do you being

going back to the situation that already exist but the rest of the

world, with whom we do more trade? That is what it will be. It will be

the situation we have with America at the moment. Let me put it, it may

be where you end up. Liam Fox, the trade Secretary was here today

talking about how Britain it needs to be in the vanguard of free trade.

We already doing that by being part of this huge single market in Europe

that you want to take us out of? We have not started yet. Article 50

has not been initiated and we have not started the negotiations. I do

not want that and the Prime Minister has set out she wants that access,

the best access to the single market as possible. We want to be there and

this power over trade has been given to the EU. We have not done trade

for a long time so we have not been in the vanguard and we are going

back. Local elections in May. How important is that you bounce back

from assembly elections last year when you lost seats? Incredibly

important. We did not lose any first past the post seats and this is the

first past the post election. I was a councillor for eight years and I

massively value that. That is how we built our party from the grassroots

up. These elections are important. The choice people have on the

doorstep whether to elect your competent Conservative councillor is

an extremely important one and it is important for us to get as many

councillors and local authorities in Conservative control. Thank you.

Our reporter talking to David Davis and click Williams. The conference

also heard from the Welsh Conservative leader. He began with a

joke at his own expense. Good morning, conference. That is nice,

louder. It will reassure you, some of you come to know that I have

eaten my breakfast this morning. The meal that made me go viral for the

wrong reasons last time I stood before you at the Birmingham

conference, seeing myself on Australian prime-time news was

surreal and I have yet to live it down. Thankfully I no longer appear

on YouTube's most viewed list but the less said about that the better.

Before I begin, let me pay tribute to our fantastic team of Welsh

Conservative colleagues in the National Assembly with the special

mention to my deputy Paul Davis for his unstinting support. I would also

like to thank all of the staff who work tirelessly for as for without

them we would not be able to achieve the good work we do. I would like to

be tribute to the excellent work undertaken by CCHQ well slide by our

very talented director Richard Mitchell. I want to personally thank

all of our hard-working members and volunteers who give up their time to

paint the pavements and not the doors in all the name of the

Conservative cause. In Wales we can sometimes be guilty of clinging to

the past for there is great comfort in nostalgia. We have had golden

ages, no doubt about that, and enriched Wales and the United

Kingdom beyond measure. Ships would seal the length and breadth of the

globe often in difficult conditions to dock in our world-famous ports,

to buy or coal, iron and timber. Few amongst others are meant to those

feelings of nostalgia that reflect on those days of global possibility.

Keep your eyes fixed on the past we risk missing out on the

opportunities that lie before us. It is incumbent on us to embrace the

Power of now with strong hands and open minds, we must seize the

opportunities that lie ahead. With our superb Prime Minister Theresa

May and our great team and the Welsh office led by my friend Alan Cairns

we have a united front fighting for Wales and for Britain's best

interests. As we move forward it is clear that we are embarking upon

another golden age. This is evident in the tens of thousands of

enterprise being born every year and in the hunger of the people behind

them, all eager to make their mark on wheels, the UK and the world

beyond. There journey begins now. They joined the thousands of others

who make up the engine of our economy and who will drive Wales to

the prosperity we know is within our reach but only on the wheels of a

strong Welsh Conservative government. Take for example in

Anglesey, 20 employees, one company's Salters enjoyed across the

world from Royal Family to butchers. Another family business who

celebrate their 25th anniversary and have the capacity to produce 400

million bottles of water year. Not forgetting the fastest-growing

business in Wales who have recorded record growth in recent years from a

little town, there are aircraft parts serve the global aviation

market. These businesses epitomise Wales, small but thinking big and

gazing out words. They joined the big beasts of Admiral, Iceland

foods, in contributing so much to Wells' prosperity. We are not

victims of history. We have the skill, ambition, global links and

cross-border trade needed to make a success of the big changes that will

on the horizon but we cannot do this alone. We work best and achieve the

most when we work together, together as four great nations working under

one banner, the United Kingdom. Our great union said in motion the

industrialisation of the world in times of conflict we fought

side-by-side to secure peace and together we have built one of the

biggest economies the world has ever seen. The leader of the Scottish

Nationalists want to tear that union apart. With each passing day she

sounds more and more like the man she reviles the most. She wants to

rebuild Hadrian Zwolle and sadly it is the Scottish people will pay for

it. I have got a message for the SNP and the other separatist parties

across our isles, the United Kingdom, we cherish it, and it is

not a thing of the past, it remains as ever at the world's latest family

of nations. Nicola Sturgeon take note, the great union UCD today is

here to stay -- you see here. As they gather here in Wales it is

important to recognise that our beautiful country is not without its

challenges. And as we need to acknowledge and embrace them and not

shirk from them. It is not very often that you find me agreeing with

the Labour politician but last month ban Morgan of Ealing made a welcome

admission that Wales has lived a dependency culture for too long. It

was alarming in its frankness, even if the solution she proposed more

wide of the mark. It is not the people of Wales who need to shake

off that dependency culture and embrace the role of wealth creators,

it is the Labour Party, at the helm here in Wales since the dawn of

devolution. Does anyone seriously believe that they have the capacity

to turn things around? This is the Labour government that has delivered

a lost generation of students left to struggle in the UK's worst

performing education system. A Labour government that has ruby

deeply wasted taxpayers money on failed investment and which remains

the only party in the UK to have ever cut the NHS budget. Our

teachers and our NHS staff work incredibly hard in increasingly

difficult circumstances and I have nothing but praise and admiration

for them for the way they deliver our services. That is right. It is

not the people who are holding us back, it is the Labour Party. People

are looking to their politicians to articulate an alternative vision for

the country's future, a vision as bright as its industrial past. The

Brexit vote should people are crying out for change and following the

referendum people believe that changes within their grasp. When the

opportunity arises opposition leaders must be bold enough to take

it. Throughout the devolved the other parties have been too willing

to prop up labour in government. Choosing ace at the cabinet table of

the interests of their constituents. That needs to change. In the time

that has come Labour's budgies need to be taken away. Apply -- Plaid

Cymru even for the last election claiming to be the change that Wales

needed but they did a deal with the Labour Party that saw the people of

Wales sentenced to five more years. Plaid Cymru's widow believes her

party's working agreement with Labour as the best of both worlds.

For are maybe. Our without responsibility is the easy option.

It is the Welsh communities that bear the brunt of Labour's

incompetence. Does that represent the change that Wales needs? I know

that Brexit has divided opinion but our great party reflected that

exchange of ideas better than any other, during and after the

referendum. Now that the public has spoken it is our party that has run

off the black clouds of pessimism and is focused on embracing the

opportunities that lie ahead. We know that there is work to do to

bridge the gap between the groups in society who disagree but we remain

as convinced as ever that Wales can thrive in the new era week is this

country's resourcefulness, creative and industrious to get on with the

job in hand. We just need to harness that energy. Wales is the land of

Song and we need our political leaders to be singing from the same

hymn sheet. We cannot allow Labour's pessimism and complacency to hold us

back as we approach a momentous period in history. It is the need to

work together. I will offer the hand of friendship to anyone who wants to

be part of that journey. This is an open end of the Dom Eich invitation

to anyone who believes like me that our aim as a country must be to

ensure that Wales' future is as glorious as its past. As we

negotiate in a relationship with the EU we have a significant opportunity

to create a fairer Wales and a better Britain, building a strong

economy for Wales as part of the United Kingdom when nobody is left

behind. And where the strong and effective local government is

accountable and delivers high-quality public services.

Instead of Labour's top-down approach we want to see local as and

social responsibility. We want to see people empowered in their

communities. We want to see our businesses supported, our older

people govern security and dignity they deserve and ensure our future

generations have the best possible opportunity to succeed. We trust

people to do the right thing and we want to give them real control of

their lives. The levers of power should not always be controlled from

Cardiff B or Westminster. We want to see councils delivering effective

local services that work for everyone and put power back in your

hands. For too long Labour and Plaid Cymru councils have help communities

back across Wales, communities due to their staggering incompetence

which have had local services deteriorate beyond recognition. Then

there is the clear alternative. For that you only need to look at

Monmouthshire where the council has made great strides under the

leadership of Peter Fox and his team. Sadly Peter cannot be here

today as he has given up the bright lights for an equally glamorous of

fear, and OBE, which he richly deserves for his outstanding public

service and efforts. Efforts in securing the Cardiff City Deal.

Under Peter and his conservative team in Monmouthshire the council

has pioneered and transformed the delivery of public services. Only

the fourth we have the opportunity to roll out these great and

approaches are costs the country for the benefit of the community is the

length and breadth of Wales, increasing our Welsh Conservative

representation is vital if we are to unlock that potential that

undoubtedly exists in our communities but which has sadly

suffocated under socialist and nationalists diktats. A regime which

has stood side-by-side and is banning one of the greatest

aspirational policies this country has ever seen, the right to buy. A

policy which is allowed generations of people to get on in life and buy

their own home. You only have to look at Wales if

you want to see the devastating impact further the likes of policies

from Jeremy Corbyn will have on communities across the UK. A Labour

Party hand in hand with the Nationalists pulling up the ladder

of hard-working people who just want to get on in life and support their

families. People across Wales and the United Kingdom deserve better.

And we are the party with a plan to deliver and stand up for Wales and

Britain. And while the Labour Party might have abdicated its

responsibility for defending the union and standing up for

hard-working people, we will not. APPLAUSE. I am proud to lead the

Welsh Conservative Party, I am proud to see a Prime Minister standing up

and fighting for Wales and the United Kingdom. So let's get out

there, on the straights and let people across Wales and the United

Kingdom no that our great union is worth fighting for. Thank you.

APPLAUSE. Very definite end there are two Andrew RT Davies 's speech

to the conference yesterday. It was a tricky one for him, he started off

proceedings in the morning and the main event was later with the Prime

Minister's speech. That is the combined nature of the event. A lot

of the audience there would have been from Wales but a lot of them

would not be. They were used to some of the arguments that Andrew RT

Davies was advancing because they do not know much about Welsh politics,

what was interesting was he did what Theresa May did not do which was to

attack the Labour Party head on and the reason for that is simple.

Labour are in power in Cardiff Bay where he is in opposition and they

are facing local elections in just a few short weeks' time and he was

setting the stage for those. Lots of talk from him about being positive,

about Brexit and a bright future under Brexit for Wales, has he

bolstered his position as Welsh party leader as someone who

supported Brexit, who wanted a vote to leave the EU? He would have been

in a very difficult position, had the vote being to Remain, either on

a UK bases are a Welsh basis. He is in a better position within the

party than he would have been had the vote been Remain. The problem

with that speech, to be honest with you, was although he talked about

being positive and this being the start of a golden age, there was

actually very little in it in terms of specifically Welsh policies. What

you had was talk about positivity and then a lot of negativity about

the records of the Welsh Labour government and that is partly

because of where we are in the political cycle. We are only one

year since the last assembly elections, policy development has

not really started, but it did gyre our little bet that you had this

talk about being positive and then the bulk of the speech was almost

entirely negative and all about the record of the Welsh Labour

government. Maybe he had to get his key messages across quickly because

he would have had shorter to speak at this conference. Thank you. What

do Andrew RT Davies is assembly members think of his message?

Joining me now to Conservative AM 's, Susie Davies and Paul Davies.

Susie, it has been a tricky week for the Conservatives. Normally a

conference time, you would be in fine mode, but Webb and National

Insurance and U-turn and Scottish independence, it has been a

difficult week. I do not know if I accept that the National Insurance

story has been difficult. Anyone would be pleased to hear that the

government has changed its mind for good reasons. As far as the

Chancellor is concerned, we came out of it pretty well and people who are

self-employed would be pleased with that change of heart and as far as

the Scottish referendum goes, I am wondering who is this terror here.

Do you think it is a risky strategy for Theresa May to tell the Scottish

Government you cannot have a referendum whenever you are one? The

Prime Minister has been clear that the focus of the country at the

moment should be to deal with Brexit. She made that absolutely

clear to Nicola Sturgeon and it is unfortunate that Nicola Sturgeon is

trying to play politics with this when she should be concentrating on

the negotiations ahead with the European Union. Isn't it true that

Brexit is following up all of the attention of the government and that

is why it makes mistakes like this U-turn on National Insurance

contributions in the budget? The people of the UK and Wales have made

a decision, they want to leave the European Union and the government

has made it absolutely clear now that it will deliver on that and

that is the Prime Minister's focus. What about the focus of the party in

the assembly with Labour and Plaid Cymru working together and you are

on the sidelines, Suzy Davies. I am surprised that is how easy it

because Plaid Cymru has just booted out two of its own members. Our job

is to hold the Welsh Government to account regardless of who it is

working with. Does this last week, we took them to task on their record

and they had very little to say about anything they had done well.

18 years is a long time and you can make a lot of mistakes, and you have

a lot of time to put it right and the Welsh Government has not done

that. It is Plaid Cymru that is making life difficult for Labour by

withholding its support on a supplementary budget, they are able

to extract concessions from Carwyn Jones, not you. We are the

opposition and we are there to scrutinise him and we did not

support it either. That shows that actually in opposition you can

represent the people of Wales better than the government, because that

government has not come up with anything new that I would say is

brave and exciting and that will change the future for Wales in the

six years that I have been there. They deserve to be voted down and

Plaid Cymru want to do that as well, then other third party, just let

them. You have got an endorsement from Andrew RT Davies, but his

speech did not mention the result of last year's assembly elections were

you did badly, you came third, you lost seats, has there been a lot of

soul-searching in the party since that assembly election result? I

think Andrew did a fantastic speech today and he was talking about our

vision is a party for Wales. We want to deliver for the people of Wales

and we are the real opposition as far as this Welsh Government is

concerned because what we have seen from Plaid Cymru is Plaid Cymru yet

again propping up a Welsh Labour government and we are the real

alternative, offering real choice to people of Wales. The voters did not

necessarily see it like that last year, you lost sleep, you went

backwards, is Andrew RT Davies 's leadership of the Welsh secure given

that result last year? We made it clear that Andrew is our leader and

he is doing a fantastic job as leader of the group in the assembly

and he will continue to do so. How important is it that you get a good

result, a better result this may in the local elections? We want to do

as well as we can and our candidate count is on its way to breaking its

own record. We are in a different era of politics and people locally,

even at the assembly election, are not prepared to do the same old

thing, their voting patterns change and those who voted Plaid Cymru will

feel very betrayed that the very reason they voted for them, to keep

out Labour, spec -- spectacularly backfired. We need to make sure we

get a good positive message out there about what we can do that is

different and better. Is it important to you that you do better

than Plaid Cymru? I would love to do better than them! Do you need to lay

down that marker? In certain parts of Wales, where we perhaps have not

done it in the past, we need to make advances against them. There are

parts were our council seat numbers are low but Plaid Cymru's are not

good either. We want to make games against them but more importantly

Labour in those seats. Thank you very much. In his speech, the Welsh

Secretary Alun Cairns is celebrating one year in the job tomorrow started

by praising card of's attributes as a capital city. It is a pleasure to

be here at the Welsh Conservative Party conference and the spring

Forum and I am particularly delighted to welcome everyone to

this stadium here in Cardiff, the greatest capital city in the world,

although I will accept that London does come quite a close second.

LAUGHTER. I want to thank my excellent team, including Glyn

Davies and to the excellent and strong leadership shown by Andrew RT

Davies and his excellent team of assembly members, as well as the

party director for his unstinting work in the campaigns.

APPLAUSE. But also thank you to you as the mothers of the party, for the

work that you do. After all, you are the ones who do the knocking on

doors and delivered the leaflets. We have a great challenge in front of

you. As I welcome many of you to Wales, possibly for the first time,

let me introduce some of the key elements of our unique culture,

history and identity. We have more castles per square mile than any

other country in the world. Over 600 in total. I would particularly

recommend Euro Castle for its rich history, in 1157 is a great triumph

by the Welsh over the English. LAUGHTER. The world's first million

pound cheque was signed in Cardiff when coal powered the industrial

revolution and the world's first-ever wireless broadcast took

place in 1897 in the Vale of Glamorgan. That first message was,

are you ready? Ironically, a message which is equally relevant to the

challenges today. Throughout history, our most successful

innovators and entrepreneurs have come from different parts of the UK

and the same is true today, from Aston Martin in South Wales to

Jaguar Land Rover in Coventry to world leading coach builder right

bus in Northern Ireland to scotch whiskey north of the border,

entrepreneurs, and industry across the UK, creating jobs, generating

wealth and supporting public services. In highlighting the

qualities of each nation, I am seeking to underline that we are a

union of four nations, developed over a long history, communicating

through a common culture and a shared identity, a special union we

should always preserve. APPLAUSE. From Shakespeare to Robert

Burns, and Dylan Thomas, we must celebrate what makes the UK so

different and so great. The NHS, our Armed Forces, BBC, the monarchy, the

great British pub, a proper cup of tea and the great British pound

which may just down the road in the Royal Mint. These important threads

of British culture all contribute to our sense of what being part of the

United Kingdom actually means. And that is not to say that this

connection is the same throughout the UK, far from it. The impact of

our shared history, institutions and culture, varies hugely from lands

end to John O groats and rightly so. Nonetheless, this innate sense of

feeling, like you belong to something bigger than yourself is

hugely important. And it has delivered a long-standing and

successful union of people, affections and loyalties, something

we should never forget. But the case for the union is not only emotional,

it is logical. It is sensible and it is practical. Put simply, we achieve

more together. It is not political rhetoric, it is common sense. It is

also the -- also a fact of life that 50% of the Welsh population and 10%

of the endless population live within 25 miles of the English and

Wales border. People commute daily. They drop their kids off at school

and do their weekly shop in Shrewsbury. We must not start

constructing barriers were visibly do not exist, and message last on

the Nationalists. APPLAUSE.

In business, in civic society, on the playing fields, within our own

family, we achieve more together. And the achievements of the United

Kingdom have gone down in history as some of the greatest in the world.

From the industrial revolution, through two great wars, to becoming

the world's fifth largest economy, with less than 1% of the world's

population, are sporting success through Team GB and the British and

Irish Lions who will be touring later this year. We must champion

these collective achievements, celebrating economic success, shared

history, creative culture and sporting excellence, as the Prime

Minister has said, collective achievement has been the story of

our union. Wales and the union benefit

significantly. The Ministry of Defence, the department for

international trade. Liam Fox's department has over 1200 staff

overseas in 109 different countries on almost 800 trade missions and

initiatives this year, more than any one nation of the UK could do

individually, to drive investment to ensure that we remain among the

fastest-growing economies in the D7. As a result in Wales we have a

recognisable of people in work. Lowest female unemployment across

Europe. The fastest growth outside London since 2010 and the value of

Welsh exports has more than doubled since 1999. A specific example this

year, EF 35 fighter jet global centre of excellence was brought to

Sealand. Creating thousands of jobs and pumping billions of pounds into

the local economy over decades. The excellence of the local workforce

capitalising on the presence and status of the union. As we look for

investment and growth Wales, England, Scotland and Northern

Ireland should not be considered in isolation. We bring together the

assets of all parts of the UK to win that deal or secure that trade

agreement. For example Nissan in Sunderland is important to 100

component industries in Wales. Yesterday's deal in Derbyshire

equally important to Toyota's engine plant in north will. Aston Martin in

my constituency is important to the engineering companies in England and

the textile industries in Scotland. Wherever you are from, we want the

same thing. A fairer society where success is based on merit not

privilege. A global Britain that is owed were looking and embraces the

world. A stronger economy were everyone plays by the same rules and

a united nation that our children and grandchildren are proud of and

can call home. Growing up in the Swansea Valley my father was a

steelworker at Port Talbot and my family ran the local grocery shop.

Like most parents they work long hours and made significant

sacrifices to give my sister and ie better future. Every parent holds

this aspiration. With these shared ambitions, as a united nation I am

optimistic and even excited about delivering a country that works for

everyone. Just like any family, as one union we step in to help each

other. The economic security provided by the UK Government help

support Port Talbot when crisis at the steel industry happened last

year. Although there is still work to be done the hard work of the

employees of the unions, the management, the government, mean the

plant is in a much stronger position than it was this time last year. The

strength of our economy means the UK Government can manage the volatility

in the oil and gas sector, a vital industry to Scotland, something the

volatility... The volatility is something the nationalists choose to

ignore. As we leave the European Union the union of the UK is more

important now than it has ever been. Last year's referendum changed so

much and we do not underestimate the challenge ahead. Nor should we

underestimate the fantastic opportunities before us. As we leave

the European Union we have an exciting opportunity to build a

truly global Britain, a plan for Britain that reaches out to old

friends and new allies alike. In earlier this week we celebrated

Commonwealth Bay. Last year economic growth across the Commonwealth was

four times greater than the growth across Europe. What a great

opportunity to deepen our engagement and friendship with some old

friends. This demonstrates that the result of the referendum is not a

reason to turn inward and retreat from the world to a protectionist

agenda that the Socialists and nationalists want. Wales attracted

20% of the UK's inward investment during the 1990s and as we leave the

EU I am optimistic, ambitious and even excited to see that the

forefront of global trade once more. All of Wales working as one. We have

a great platform to build on. Great examples of exporting success. Every

two seconds a GE powered aeroplane is taking off somewhere in the

world. Over half the world's commercial aircraft are flying with

wings that were built here. Last year the eyes of the world were on

Gareth Bale at the Euros and in a few weeks a global audience will

watch Wales again as we host the Champions League final in Cardiff.

We will only achieve a global Britain if we work together. When we

exit the European Union we were act in the interests of the Hall of the

UK. As we have said before no decision currently taken by the

Welsh government or Scottish parliament will be taken away from

them. It is in the interests of the public, in the interests of

communities, at the right powers that the right level to deliver a

country that works in the best interests of all of its citizens and

not in the of the politicians or nationalists in Scotland or Wales or

wherever else they may be. Repatriation of powers will allow us

to strengthen devolution and strengthen the union and empower

communities. Business industry and communities around the country do

not want the vision and separation, they want co-operation and ambition.

Labour run the SNP have the choice. The option of making short-term

political capital by pursuing a self-serving political Dean or

working closely with the government to deliver the best outcome for all

communities across the whole of the UK. This choice was brought into

sharp focus this week as Nicola Sturgeon did a U-turn on her

declaration that the 20 14th independence referendum was a once

in a generation event. This is something we should never ever let

her forget. We look outward to our shared

future, not focus on inward, structures and processes. Plaid

Cymru and the Scottish Nationalists cannot deny that the union has

brought stability, peace and prosperity for centuries and yet

they seek to destroy it with division and derision. Labour's

alliance with the Welsh nationalists seeking a federal UK is a dangerous

game. It may serve their short-term political agenda but will only

undermine the union over longer term. We can be proud of our record

on devolution. John Major started the peace process in Northern

Ireland. David Cameron delivered more powers to Scotland than ever

before. Under Theresa May the Wales act received Royal assent delivering

a stronger more accountable devolution settlement for Wales with

their unique funding settlement giving security and strengthen the

back of the UK economy, something that was called for by Welsh Labour

over decades but only delivered by a Conservative government. We are

ancient nations that have occupied the British now is -- British Isles

for centuries. United in our goals. A fairer society where everyone

plays by the rules. A global Britain that is outward looking, and

optimistic nation excited by the future in front of us and with this

optimistic future I go back to the first wireless message sent in 1887,

are you ready? We must ask yourself in 20 Zaventem, are we ready to grab

the opportunities ahead? Are we ready to become a global trading

nation? I be ready to build a stronger union, one that benefits

the four great nations of Wales, Scotland, England and Northern

Ireland? The answer is yes. The Welsh Secretary. Local elections

are happening in just over six weeks. The Conservatives will be

hoping to make gains like all the parties, and take control of

counsel. I am joined by two candidates in the

local elections. Both standing in Monmouthshire. Laura Jones and Sarah

Jones. Monmouthshire I guess is one of your stronghold in local

government terms. Where else are you hoping to do well? I think we will

do well across the board. It is very exciting to see so many young people

at the conference and they are our candidates this year so we have new

blood going into the party and fighting on the doorsteps across

Wales so Monmouthshire will lead the way and I think we will do a stream

the well and in Glamorgan and other places. I think it will be across

the board we will be seeing positivity. This week has not been

the best but generally the national mood is good for us, everybody likes

Theresa May. That is putting it mildly. It has been a rocky week for

the government. Do those issues come up on the doorstep or are people

more interested in schools, and is being collected? These issues will,

but ultimately it is our job to reassure and give confidence that we

will represent our residents' issues. The main priorities tend to

be focused on schools, education, recycling, and things around

business rates, which is a real issue in Monmouthshire in

particular. Those will be the dominating factors but of course the

national picture will be of relevance. We as the party are

leading the way on fighting for the business rate relief scheme to be

absolutely fair and to help those businesses who have been affected by

in some cases a 200% rise. The UK Government has had stick on that. Do

the Tories get stick on the doorstep for being the party of austerity

putting pressure on those social services and whatever? We have a

fantastic track record in Wales and in Monmouthshire for keeping more

money in people's pockets but the levelling really good services. We

are leading the way and showing the Conservatives are the ones to do

that. We can sure we are reducing inefficiencies across local

government so Monmouthshire take that as best practice. Is that not

called for cuts? Not at all. We are keeping open libraries, leisure

centres, we are just doing things more effectively and taking a

business minded approach and making sure we have a local government that

is sustainable for the future. As the party come together again after

Brexit, after the Brexit campaign which revealed deep divisions within

the Conservatives? You were for Brexit. Yes. Are there members of

the party you are back on speaking terms with? I always was on speaking

terms with them. When Theresa May announced that Article 50 would be

triggered there was a general cheer and there is optimism for the

future. I felt that anyway and that there would be excitement about the

future and how Britain can be in the future and Wales and what effect

will have on us and it is going to be a positive effect the European

Union. Were you for Brexit? No. On different sides of the fence on this

ones. Are you one of the pessimists that Andrew Davies was talking about

earlier? Absolutely not. I am about creating opportunity about this,

seeing the positives. I am excited about the future, I can see us

developing and creating links at every level, local government,

national government, Welsh government, and we will do the

residents forward with us. It is positive. You do not see it as a

problem that someone like yourself or the Prime Minister can be against

Brexit and all of a sudden it is a great opportunity. Do people believe

that? It is about the democratic will of the people. It is about

taking forward that option they have taken an doing that effectively in

getting behind that. I think we are altogether positive working together

a really strong party because of it. The only party reflecting that. The

only credible party to take this forward. The Prime Minister said the

Conservatives were winning in Wales. Estyn thing to say given that you

lost seats in the assembly elections last year. Is it important you

bounce back? The timing of the last election coincided with the European

referendum and people were confused about what they were voting for so

Ukip got a big surge because people thought they were voting and that

was a way of showing the nation that the Prime Minister that they wanted

to leave the European Union. You can take you kept out of it. Going

forward in the council elections and the assembly elections in the future

I think we'll have a massive surge of Conservative support again and

Ukip will get forgotten. That is why you lost ground. You think it was

Ukip getting your support. Definitely. I think everyone is

united as a party behind Theresa May who has done the party a lot of

good. She wants a stronger federal united Britain and that resonates

with a lot of people -- fairer. People want to get on the doorstep

of goods across that message. It has inspired our message to get the

message across. Do you think that the Prime Minister

is playing a risky game? She's taking a strong leadership role and

she is playing right. I think the passion and enthusiasm that we all

showed and the drive that she showed and the commitment to us as a union

is fantastic. It is going to be really positive for us. It is very

unhelpful that the SNP want to put up some sort of Hadrian 's Wall, the

Scottish people will pay for that. The Scottish people voted to Remain

and the Scottish Government do not feel as if the UK Government is

listening to them and paying them respect. It is in the benefit of

everyone that our country unites and we work together to get the best

role possible. Britain is now looking outwardly for investment. I

think Scotland will miss out if they do not come with us on that journey.

What about the Conservatives in the National Assembly, what would be

your feeling about them working with other parties to try and form some

sort of government or alternative to Labour? Wales needs a change from

Labour. I wish and hope that the Conservative Party will be able to

do that on their own. I would not like to work alongside other parties

but we are desperate for a change in Wales. There has been a decade of

failure from Wales across the board, in health, in education, we are

still lagging behind, we saw Justin going on about how well they are

doing an education in England and comparison to Wales and it makes you

think, all these policies going forward, putting technical colleges

and more money into further education colleges, why can we not

have that? You say that and Labour trash your record but on the

doorstep, do the voters distinguish between all these different tiers of

government or is it difficult to get a hearing? There is still an issue

with the understanding of what layers of government responsible for

what area and that is a job for us all, to re-engage with the

electorate -- electorate and make that understanding clearer, to make

sure that that level of scrutiny takes place because at the moment,

accountability is difficult there is not that level of understanding by

the electorate in terms of who is responsible for what. That will be

our job on the doorstep over the next couple of months and so far we

have had a great response. I am really confident that we have got a

role to play and that is something we will continue. I think in

education and health, that is where people are most

confused but on the doorstep, it is the local issues that matter and

that is what we care about and that is what we are delivering on and we

have a good track record. Thank you both very much. Some of their

candidates in the local elections. In the afternoon session at the

conference, the focus was on assembly matters and delegates heard

from the party's spokesperson on health, Angela Burns. One of her

main themes was about how to create better services for young people.

When I speak about securing the future, I think of the children and

young people of Wales and what we need to do to ensure that they grow

into robust and healthy adults, able to contribute effectively to the

economy and culture of our nation. We need to not just educate young

people but look to their physical and emotional well-being, the habits

and lifestyle choices made by young people could stay with them for life

and the Welsh Conservatives have begun to set out our vision for

childhood, where we effectively combat health inequalities which in

turn will give those of future adults are much better chance at

education and of delivering skills. Where we give opportunities, develop

promise and allow aspiration. Aspiration! A dirty word under

Labour's books. It was Mrs Thatcher and her aspirations speech and

everyone of us that brought us the right to buy our homes and it is the

left-wingers in the National Assembly from Wales who seek to

crash that aspiration under their heels. Shame on them, I say.

APPLAUSE. Because aspirational young people are happy people. Secure in

their skins and able to deal with the rough and tumble of life. It is

vital that our vision for childhood seeks to educate children about the

importance and that big of well-being. Obesity is one of the

ticking time bomb is facing the country today and our children and

young people are at the most overweight in the United Kingdom.

There are chances of having a stroke, a heart attack, getting

cancer or diabetes are stratospheric. And they are likely

to die ten years earlier than they should. I am concerned over the

reduction in the number of hours that Welsh pupils spend doing PE.

These figures have got worse over recent years and we must surely be

able to see the link between exercise, I reduction in exercise in

schools and our burgeoning facts about one in four children are

labelled overweight or obese. We must not forget mental well-being.

Many of these kids are driven to extremes of weight, too fat or too

thin because of the pressures they feel as to what is expected of them

and how they should look. There are serious issues surrounding the

unhealthy images found both on social media and in much of our

tabloid press. Mix this with the gamut of emotions that young

teenagers, girls in particular have to deal with on a daily basis and

the pressures that social media brings to bear to look

good, to have sex, to do anything to be with the in crowd, to be

perfect... It is no wonder that many of our young children struggle to

find that equilibrium. It is not just the young they need to be

healthy and happy. Loneliness and isolation are the modern curse,

particularly among the elderly, the breed, the most vulnerable and our

rural communities and that is why the Welsh Conservatives would bring

forward a vision for health. From cradle to grave, how we can support

all of us to be healthier, how we will build a better sense of

well-being and how we will seek to deliver us from health inequalities

that plague young and old alike and how we will support those of us who

suffer ill health or disability. There are many issues surrounding

the provision of health care and the health of our but I can talk about.

You all know the problems. Waiting 226 days for a hip operation in

Wales. In England, you can be seen in 76 days. 107 days for cataract

treatment in England, 58. And if you want your hernia fixed in England,

you wait 46 days but in Wales, it is a staggering 106 days. Access to

drugs over the border that we cannot get here, new and approved

treatments that you have to for or that get denied over 50% get turned

down. And social care system much valued, much needed, but more than

creaking at the seams. I have met with numerous patient groups,

charities, representatives of many health organisations and I often

receive the same message, which is that of difficulties in recruitment

and the problems facing our ever-changing health needs. For you

and I to be healthy, we need the NHS to be healthy and one of the major

challenges in securing our future is how do we look after our NHS. The

NHS is Wales 's largest employer with around 89,000 people in the

workforce and these individuals often work under immense and

challenging pressures as our numbers of people with complex and chronic

conditions continue to rise. I would like to take this moment to thank

the NHS staff of Wales and covers, I would ask you to thank them.

APPLAUSE. -- conference. Under pressure, underfunded and in the

face of great changes they keep going, to deliver to us a health

service we all see as a birthright. Thank you, I say and thank you again

and I say this to the workforce of the national Health Service, I say

this to you, the 89,000 people we rely on, the Welsh Conservatives

will support you. We are listening and have listened to GPs who simply

do not have the hours of the resources to cope with the level of

demand. Two nurses and doctors that being around hospitals, multitasking

and waiting endlessly for beds to be free so they can commence vital

operations, to mental health professionals under resourced and

harried. The hospital managers making impossible choices, two

radiographers and pharmacist, occupational therapist, palliative

care and chronic care nurses, physiotherapist, I tell you, the

Welsh Conservatives are listening. We are listening to trainee doctors

who want to have secure opportunities here in Wales. Two

junior doctors wanting to specialise and says having to move away, two

nurses wanting to see far more support and a commitment to safe

staffing levels in all areas of the NHS, the Welsh Conservatives are

listening. APPLAUSE. And we will do, we will

revolutionise the funding of primary care by readjusting the balance of

funding between the primary and secondary provision. You vote us in

and these are the things that we will deliver. We will keep people

out of hospital and resource the teams that can work with GPs to

ensure safe clinical services, and outstanding care with the emphasis

being given on well-being. Only 13.6% of funding in the NHS goes

into primary care. They see 90% of the people and it is an imbalance

that has gone on far too long and we well in our vision for health seek

to redress that too far more proportionate levels of funding.

Under the Welsh Conservatives, mental health will no longer be the

Cinderella service of the NHS. Children and adults who wait years

for services will find that our vision for help understands the

importance of this area. With one in four people in Wales are likely to

suffer some mental health issue, this must not be an area

marginalised and overlooked any more and we will look to develop a robust

vision for mental health that delivers good crisis management and

long-term support. APPLAUSE. We will revolutionise the

care of the elderly and they think Suzy Davies started laying that out

and we will look to protect a carers. We need to look again at

whether hospital care is the best option for elderly patients,

especially those with the condition of dementia. Unlike Labour, we will

look all over the world for best practice, for example there is

strong evidence in Australia over the effectiveness of using community

centres. There -- there it is an holistic way to insure that these

people maintain their independence for as long as possible. We have to

tackle the revolving doors of hospitals, we have seen a trend

where medical staff become more specialist and not practising

general medicine. In the elderly, this can lead to single issue is

being treated and patients having to be readmitted under a different

doctor to be treated for other conditions they may have had or

developed during their original illness. This revolving door effect

is not only costly but very harmful to the patient's quality of life and

the chances of making a full recovery. Our vision for health will

seek to fund specialist training post for to dairy attrition is to

ensure a more holistic approach is taken to geriatric care. We restate

our commitment to health research and development. I visited

innovative health facilities with robotic pharmacist to state of care

units and the next-generation medical instrument manufacturing, I

have met with re-searchers on the brink of exciting new discoveries

and those just slogging away determined to solve some of our

greatest health problems. The skills definitely exist in Wales to front

up to the challenges we have but we need to be brave and have the

courage to make difficult decisions. It is only by being brave, by

displaying political courage, by taking tough decisions, by investing

properly, by believing in our people and our country that we can secure

the future of Wales. And that is the Welsh Conservatives for you. We will

do that. Thank you very much. APPLAUSE. That was Angela Burns on

health and let's stay in the conference hall and hear from the

party's education spokesperson Darren Millar. He attacked the

Labour record on schools and told the party faithful that the children

of Wales needed to be given every chance in life. If we are ever going

to achieve this Wales that works for everyone, we need to give our

children and our young people the very best opportunities in life. We

Welsh Conservatives understand that, which is why we have but also hard

to save precious maternity and paediatric services in hospitals

across Wales. Working with my colleagues in North Wales, we

managed to secure a U-turn on plans to scrap doctor led maternity

services at one hospital. APPLAUSE. Paul Davies and Angela

Burns are continuing to campaign to return 24-hour paediatric services

to a hospital in Pembrokeshire. If our young people in Wales are to

reach their full potential in life then our education system in Wales

must improve. Our children deserve a first class education system that is

world beating and where every child can succeed regardless of their

background. Successive Welsh Labour led government have failed to

deliver one. Education standards have been slipping here in Wales.

The most recent international statistics published by the OECD

reconfirmed Wales' recent status as officially the worst performing

education system in the UK. Of the 78 countries taking part in their

tests Wales ranked lower than Vietnam and Estonia in reading,

mathematics and science. Despite of all the tough talking, all of the

promises to do better from the First Minister over the years, the results

showed that Wales has gone backwards since 2006, marking a decade of

underachievement. It is a scandal of monumental proportions. For all

their crocodile tears that they have shared over those facts, we must

never forget that Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats must share in

the responsibility for these valuers. By propping up labour be

have been partners in crime when it comes to the fillings in our Welsh

education system and we must never let the people of Wales forget it.

When this First Minister came to power back in 2009 he promised to

better fund Welsh schools and turnaround performance. We have

heard this sort of rhetoric before from previous Labour leaders. We

remember education, education, education. Instead since Carwyn

Jones took the helm we have seen falling standards, school closures

and tens of mullions of taxpayers' money wasted on gimmicks like free

breakfasts and free toothbrushes for school children. Call me

old-fashioned but I believe parents not teachers should be giving their

children breakfast and showing them how to brush their teeth. The

reality is that there is no such thing as a free breakfasts. The tens

of millions wasted on cornflakes and rice crispies could have been spent

on teachers, textbooks and technology in our schools. In

21st-century Wales there are still schools without even an internet

connection. It is unbelievable. Because my opposition to Labour's

so-called free school breakfasts one of the Labour AM is dubbed me below

the serial killer -- cereal killer. She thought the comparison to that

was an insult. I am proud to be compared to one of the greatest

Prime Ministers this country has ever seen. Margaret Thatcher took on

communism, transformed our economic fortunes and unlike the Welsh Labour

Party she never cut and NHS budget. Instead of teachers spending the

time that they have teaching children to brush their teeth we

should be allowing them to get their teeth into teaching. We should be

empowering them to make the difference they entered the

profession to deliver. We Welsh Conservatives believe the best way

to help the bull improve their prospects in life is through

education and employment, not welfare or hand-outs. Assembly

member Darren Millar. The conference has come to a close. After all of

the speeches had finished our correspondent got up with the Welsh

Conservative leader for final thoughts.

We saw him on the stage delivering his speech. The leader of the Welsh

Conservatives joins me now. A lot of your time concentrating on the local

elections, be mourning as you see at Labour and Plaid Cymru as the victim

always saying that. What was the pitch? Surely what the next big

challenge for the Welsh Conservatives are, that we have the

local elections in six weeks. The speech was more generally focusing

on the opportunities ahead for Wales and saying we have to turn those

into positive outcomes for people and communities and that starts at

local level. Local government elections are good chance to put a

positive message, looking at the horizon, being positive about the

future and grabbing opportunities. Is it difficult for you at local

government level? So much of the talk is about cuts and squeezing of

budget. When you are trying to say we will look after you at the same

time it is the UK Government bringing those cuts in place. Is

that difficult to square? When it comes to local government cut the

Welsh government decide how to carve up the cake. Some of the choices,

should we take credit for new schools being built or new

infrastructure projects? We deserve some of the credit yet the Welsh

government will say they are taking those decisions. They cannot have it

both ways. The Welsh government decide how to cut up the cake. In

Monmouthshire where we run the council under the great leadership

of Peter Fox we have used imaginative solutions to keep open

leisure centres, play parks, and make sure that lumps on in the

streets and potholes filled. If you want that success in your community

voting Welsh Conservative will ensure that. What happened to the

Big Society, getting people more involved with their local community?

Volunteering to offer certain services. Has that gone away or

should that still be playing a part in a conservative pitch for voters?

Localism is very much in the DNA of the party. We believe the best

people to deliver an work to provide local services are local people. If

you look at Wales as a whole the type of service you have to deliver

in one area might fall under social services whereas it would be

different in an area like Cardiff. The urban nature of card you would

have to have different solutions. You cannot have a one size fits all

mentality. What we have had from Welsh government of the centralising

of power and control when as Conservatives we believe that local

communities delivering the solutions in their locality are best placed to

solve some of the challenges we face and unlock the opportunities there

for us. The other issue is looking at what could after Brexit. How

tough a week has it been for you as the conservative looking at

Westminster with a U-turn on the budget, quite an embarrassing lying

down? A serious set of allegations and a big fine by the Electoral