The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

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  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Crime – 2 April 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on crime. It was issued on Thursday 2nd April 1992, reference 748/92.

    CRACKING DOWN ON CRIME

    “I want to make one thing very clear this morning. The fight against crime – all kinds of crime – has to be unremitting,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office today.

    “As the Home Secretary will tell you, we experience less violent crime than a number of comparable countries. But we don’t believe that’s good enough. All crime matters to its victims. And all crime will continue to matter to the Government I lead.

    Policemen and women risk their lives to protect us. We will go on giving them our wholehearted support. We have good reason to be proud of our record in increasing police resources and manpower. And we will encourage the police to provide what people want – not just high-tech detection of major crimes, but local police officers people can get to know, patrolling our streets and villages, keeping in touch with what’s going on. Helping to prevent crime happening – as well as to catch criminals when it has. Our plans for local Community Policing are absolutely key.

    We will continue to make sure the criminal law gives the police all the backing they need. And our Manifesto proposes a number of new or stiffer penalties where we believe they are needed.

    I believe we must do more to deter criminals so indifferent to the law that they commit more offences while on bail. We have already cracked down on the menace of so-called ‘joy-riding’. But we will now increase the sanctions against those who cause death through dangerous or drunken driving. And we will crack down on squatting and illegal encampments which cause nuisance and misery to local communities.

    We believe that parents must take responsibility for their children; that schools must teach children respect for the law; and that violence and intimidation are never the right way to win an argument.

    We will always be tough on crime; firm in defence of the rule of law; firmly behind those who defend us. That’s why Britain will always be safer under the Conservatives.”

  • Mr Major’s Speech on the Conservative Vision – 1 April 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech on the Conservative Vision, made in Shepton Mallet on Wednesday 1st April 1992. The speech was entitled “Building a New Britain”.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Ladies and gentlemen, on Friday 10 April 1992 the work of the next government will begin. It will be a Conservative government or it will be a Labour government. There is no other choice. If you vote Conservative you will get a Conservative government. If you vote Labour you will get a Labour government. If you vote Liberal you will get a Labour Government. That is a message that every elector must understand.

    Over sixteen months ago I started work on building the type of Britain in which I believe. You will decide whether I continue in that work – or whether to allow Labour to pull down all that British people have built since 1979.

    Let me tell you about the Conservative government I want to lead. It is not the intention of the next Conservative government simply to safeguard the achievements of the eighties – astonishing though those achievements have been.

    The aims of the new generation in the Conservative Party – the youngest cabinet this century – are set much, much higher. By the end of this decade, all that Britain has accomplished in the first thirteen years of Conservative rule will be seen in their true perspective – a magnificent beginning, but only that, a beginning, of a great nation’s historic and continuing revival. That is the pledge I give to you this evening. That is the challenge that the next Conservative government will meet and fulfil.

    The ideas we stand for – we fight for – are being adopted right across the world. Think of the political map of Europe – how it looked until quite recently. Great blocks of red interspersed with blue. Look at it now. Where have all the red blocks gone? Gone from Government almost every one. Going. Going. Gone.

    All over the world Socialism is discredited. It is fading in every part of Europe. And in Britain on 9 April we will see the red flag dying here. Let’s get out there and help it on its way.

    The New Britain

    Many people are yet to make up their minds in this Election – the ‘don’t knows’. On Election day you can’t afford to be a “don’t know”. So my message to them is ‘come and join us’. Help us build a better Britain.

    My job as Prime Minister in the 1990s will be to give millions more people a helping hand up the ladder in life – to a home of their own, more savings, more secure and well-paid jobs, a better future. I see clearly the new Britain I want to build: a classless Britain in which everyone has their full share.

    I have spoken of the Open Door Society – a nation in which more and more people can go through the doors of opportunity into a better life. To build up and to keep a piece of Britain for themselves. A Britain where what were once the privileges of the few can be enjoyed by all.

    That’s the kind of country I want to see.

    I see a Britain freed from the scourge of inflation. Where rising prices no longer eat into savings and bring misery to those on fixed incomes. My target is stable prices. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us. Where there is no levelling down, only levelling up. My aim is for parents to have the power to choose what is right for their child. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us.

    I see a Britain in which there is true equality of opportunity for all. Where every boy or girl, whatever their background, can expect an education that brings out their talents to the full. Where there is no levelling down, only levelling up. My aim is for parents to have the power to choose what is right for their child. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us.

    I see a Britain where every family has the opportunity to own and to improve their home. Where there is no threat of credit controls, no need to depend on the council. My aim is ownership for every family – ownership for the security it brings. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us.

    I see a Britain where every citizen has the freedom to keep the wealth they have built from a lifetime’s work. Where there is no threat of penal taxation and no confiscation of a lifetime’s savings. My aim is for everyone to have the chance to pass on what they have built up in life to their children. That’s what people work for. That’s what people care about. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us.

    I see a Britain where our government plays a confident role in the world, standing for what is right. Where we don’t neglect our defences, and never give way on what is right for Britain. My aim is for Britain to be a byword – the byword – for decency, principle and freedom. Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us.

    I see a Britain where government continues to show a true responsibility for others. Where it plays its proper role in supporting those who cannot help themselves. Where we have a modern, expanding Health Service free at the point of use for all. Where we bring more help to our poorest pensioners. Where every citizen is free to walk the streets without fear of crime.

    I see a Britain where the cost of living falls and the standard of living rises. Where we don’t look to the State for answers, but to each other.

    I believe that every person wants to have more say, have more choice, be the master in their own private corner of life. That is what in these last thirteen years we have given the people. I want a Britain in which people have the incentive to work harder and produce more. That is the way – the only way – to create resources for better public services for all.

    Is that the kind of Britain you want? Then come and join us. This is no time to be a ‘don’t know’. This is a time to fight for a positive future for our country.

    Taxation: the great divide

    Ladies and gentlemen, people ask why we contrast Labour’s tax policies so often with our own. It is because here in this single issue is the great divide between the parties. We believe that people express themselves by their choices – and must be allowed to do so. When they decide how much to spend on housing, how much on holidays, or how much on a car, on pensions or insurance, they are living according to their own priorities. They are their own masters. In a free society they must remain their own masters. But Socialism always takes that freedom away.

    And when Governments or councils make those decisions for them, they are preventing people from living by their own values. Every pound left in the pay packet is a token of freedom. It offers choice. Every pound taken out of the pay packet takes away choice. In raising taxes by the record amount that they plan, Labour are not just taking away your income. They are taking away, more than ever before, the chance for ordinary people to live their life as they please. That’s why Socialist policies are so wrong, ultimately so destructive. We must never, never, never let them come back to this country.

    Labour: The Opposition

    I warn you. Look beneath the surface of Labour’s policies. You will see the cold hard truth staring at you. They haven’t changed. They have not changed. They have not changed. Let no-one think for a moment that Socialism has lost its ambition to change people’s lives. They still want people to pay up for the privilege of being told what to do. That is the badge of Socialism.

    Socialism operates like a reverse philosopher’s stone. It can change gold to base metal at a touch. Opportunity and enterprise into regulation and control. That would affect everyone. In a Labour Britain it wouldn’t just be the gold bullion that they were shipping out the country, it would be the golden tapestry of British talent – business, scientific, sporting, cultural. Going. Going. Gone. And we would all be the losers.

    It’s not just their policies for the future that give Labour’s game away. It is what they have done, what they have said. As we struggled to change Britain for the better, they struggled to stop us changing Britain for the better. You can see why they call Labour the Opposition.

    We have lowered income tax for everyone by eight pence in the pound; they opposed it. They voted against every tax cut we have introduced – the one thing on which they’ve always been consistent. And one of the many things on which they have always had the support of the Liberals.

    We gave people the right to buy council houses; they opposed it.

    We sold loss-making State industries to the public and the staff in them. We made them profitable and made millions of people new shareholders; they opposed it.

    We brought trade unions within the law, banned flying pickets and ended the closed shop; they opposed it.

    We helped millions of young people to take out personal pensions of their own; they opposed it.

    We wanted the people to be free, to have choice, to have power. To have the space to live their own lives as they wished – not as the council, the union, or the State wished. And Labour opposed us. They opposed the people’s rights. Not just once. Not by accident. But deliberately. By design. And day after day after day.

    Whatever we proposed, they opposed. It is their only political programme – to tear down all the things that the people of Britain have built. Labour are the masters of opposition. What a pity it would be now to waste all that experience.

    To every owner a warning

    “Ladies and gentlemen, as this Election approaches one point is central to the decision that everyone should take. It is this. We believe in personal ownership in a way that no other party does. We believe that people have the right to own – to enjoy the security and peace of mind it provides for them and their families. No other party shares that philosophy. Do you remember? Labour did everything in their power to stop the people having the right to own. And still do, whenever and wherever they can.

    Let no-one out there who gained in the ’80s ever forget it. Four million new homeowners; four and a half million young people with personal pensions; six million shareholders in the State companies we sold to the people. Many of those must be in this audience tonight.

    I warn each of you. Just stop, listen, and think. Look at your children and ask yourself this. Dare you trust your home, your pension, your savings, your shares – your future – to the very Labour people who fought to stop you having them at all?

    Going. Going. Gone. Is that the future you want? For the freest country in the world? Never.

    Liberals

    Ladies and gentlemen, I hear Paddy’s still round about. Sounds comfortable, doesn’t it? But don’t forget what he stands for. Policies that are close cousins to Labour’s. A special tax on petrol. What would that do to large rural areas of our country? Swingeing cuts in defence – cuts twice as big as Labour propose. What would that do to the defence of this country and our great defence industries? I’ll tell you – no defence. And no industries. And they stand for big tax increases for all – rises in income tax nationally and rises in income tax locally, too. What would that do to recovery and prosperity and jobs? It would destroy them.

    Liberal policy would crucify rural areas. Cut back our defence industries. Impose new taxes. Whatever happened to real Liberal policies. These are Labour policies – left wing policies. And anyone who is thinking of supporting the Liberals should be clear about that. Don’t let the Liberal Party be the Trojan Horse to a Labour Britain.

    Beware Mr Ashdown. He is the doorkeeper to a Labour Britain. I warn you. Don’t look at the man; look through the door. The most famous door in the world is Number 10 Downing Street. Don’t let Mr Ashdown open it for Mr Kinnock.

    Economic Recovery

    A Labour Government would stop in its tracks the one thing for which the people of Britain are waiting – economic recovery. I know that many businesses and families have been feeling the impact of the world recession. There are families in America and in Germany who feel just the same. Your concerns will never be brushed aside by me, they will always be heard.

    But they should not blind us to the underlying changes which have taken place in the British economy over the last decade. There’s a new spirit of enterprise – with management and workforce working as one to take on the competition and win. Quality, design, service are once more at the forefront. British companies are pushing forward the boundaries of innovation. Productivity has risen by leaps and bounds.

    We’ve been keeping strike records for a hundred years. Last year, the number of days lost was the lowest ever. Why? Because we’ve changed industrial relations law and we’ve changed industrial relations attitudes.

    Britain has become a magnet for overseas investment. We have as much investment from Japan as the rest of the Community put together. It’s low tax that did that. Low inflation. They’re what brought investors here. Do you think they would all have come here under a Labour Government? Do you think the confidence the Conservative Government has built up would continue under Labour?

    On top of all this, interest rates have come down. Britain’s rate of inflation is now below Germany’s – the first time that has happened since before men walked on the moon.

    But, after a generation of striving to reach that very goal, within two days, just two days, of our getting there, Labour’s John Smith said he’d be happy to see inflation rise again. He dismisses our target for Britain – stable prices – as an ‘unnecessary virtue’. Those are the words of a shallow ‘chancellor’ – shallow and blind to what matters to every housewife and pensioner in the country.

    Labour talk of recovery. But what Mr Smith is ready to add to inflation would add £2500 million to the costs of industry. And he dares to talk of a billion pound recovery package. Labour’s inflation would destroy profits, destroy companies, destroy jobs.

    What is more it now seems that Labour plan special payoffs to their big union friends. Public sector unions would be given pay increases one per cent above the going rate in private business. Whatever that rate may be? That is a recipe for higher public spending with no improvement in service. For wage spirals and for rising inflation. For the return of trade union muscle to the heart of public policy. In other words the same old Labour policies. It would be a disaster for Britain.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the foundations for recovery are in place. Let business speak for itself. Fifteen times more businessmen would increase investment under the Conservatives than they would under Labour. In fact, under Labour one in four businessmen would cut investment.

    I believe that under a Conservative Government the 1990s will usher in a new era for prosperity and for jobs. The once impossible are within reach:

    – stable prices

    – sustained industrial peace

    – free enterprise given free rein.

    Only one thing could stop it. The Labour Party – pledged to tax; to nationalise; and to give power back to the unions. That would knock recovery on the head – for this year, next year and through the nineties.

    Labour would turn recovery into slump.

    I am not prepared to see that happen – it’s not going to happen. Britain is on the brink of a breakthrough to a great future. Is the dull, dead hand of Socialism to be allowed to strangle that future? Not if I can help it. And I can. I will. With your help, I will.

    Health

    Ladies and gentlemen, we need a strong economy to sustain our spending on the National Health Service. Earlier this week I said I was taking the gloves off about the National Health Service. And I meant it. It is the national Health Service. It is not Labour’s Health Service. Well, the gloves are staying off. Because I’m not prepared to see our Labour opponents run down the work that this great service performs.

    The National Health Service has been in existence for 44 years. For 30 of those years we have had Conservative Governments. The Health Service has flourished and grown. We have cherished the National Health Service, built it, modernised it. We care for it and for those who it serves. And now we’re reforming it – not privatising it, never privatising it – to make it even more successful. To help it treat even more patients than ever before.

    They’re working, our reforms, really working. We are now treating over a million more inpatient cases and two million outpatient cases a year than we did under Labour. And why? Because we have provided more money than ever before.

    Hip replacements are up by a half. Heart, liver and heart and lung transplants have become a daily occurrence. And why? Because we have provided more money than ever before. More year after year after year than even the rashest Labour opposition ever dared promise.

    I want you all to shout from the rooftops the miracles that our doctors, nurses, and hospitals have achieved.

    And remember. The last Labour Government really did cut the Health Service. Really did cut hospital building. Really did cut nurses’ pay. And pushed the waiting lists up to an all-time high – the most shameful record even in their sorry history. The Conservative Party will take no lectures from them.

    I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, their exploitation of the Health Service shows up the real face of Labour. Cynical. Desperate for power. The ‘anything for office’ syndrome. These are people ready even to exploit and distort the case of one sick child in order to blacken the image of one great service and all who work in it. Nothing matters to Labour except that it should ‘serve their purpose’.

    I give the people of Britain this promise. Any government I lead will make the National Health Service, ever better, ever stronger, ever more able to tackle the huge challenges of modern health care. It’s not our Health Service. It’s your Health Service, yours – the people’s. And we will protect it – and we will build it up.

    Defence

    Ladies and gentlemen, there are three momentous issues which lie at the heart of this election – defence, Europe, and the future of our Kingdom.

    Ten years ago this very day a dictator gave the order for the invasion of the Falklands. That act of aggression was triumphantly reversed by our armed forces. I do not think there is anyone alive who will not recall the emotions they felt as they watched those ships of the Royal Navy set sail for the South Atlantic. It was one of the boldest and most skilful expeditions ever to leave these shores. The victory they won came at heavy cost. We will never forget the courage and the sacrifice of those who gave their lives for their country, there in the South Atlantic. We will never forget. But we can give thanks for what they did. For they fought the fight that it seems must be fought by each generation – the fight for justice, for democracy, for the rights of every individual to think and breathe free.

    But ten years on what do we hear from the Labour Party – a threat from their defence spokesman to review and cut the strength of our Royal Navy. What message does that send to our armed forces?

    And what message did Labour send to those who went out nine years later to join the United Nations action against another dictator’s unprovoked aggression. They wanted to leave those troops sitting there in the desert, waiting for sanctions to drive out Saddam Hussein. Either they would still have been in the desert today or Saddam Hussein would have been sitting in Saudi Arabia.

    That is not how we see our armed forces. They deserve a better and a stronger lead. They were not easy times – for them or for any of us. I had only just become Prime Minister. And emotions stirred in all of us as we thought of the skill and daring of our pilots, and the cool professional resolve of the young men and women of the ground forces, waiting in the desert night for the order to advance.

    It is a great responsibility to lead a nation in time of war. It reinforced my passionate determination to preserve the peace in this dangerous world. But I never doubted that, whatever the challenge, our armed forces would be ready for it. And so they were. They did the job. They sent that barbarous dictator, licking his wounds, back to his lair, humiliated.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the first duty of any Government is to safeguard the defence of the realm. You can be sure that a Conservative Government, this one, the next one, every one will discharge that duty. You can take our word for that. And if you take the word of the Liberals and Labour you will know that they will cut defence, that they will risk our country. Such a course would never be for us.

    We will never take risks with our defence. One thing I learnt from the war with Iraq was the crucial importance of having the right equipment for our troops. We will make sure they get it. That’s why we have ordered the new Challenger tank for the Army; the Merlin helicopter for the Navy; the new air defence missile for the RAF. Our armed forces must remain the best armed the best supported in the world. And I promise they will be.

    The Liberals say that now the cold war is won we can hack back our armed forces to the bone – perhaps they have become too fond of one man armies. They want to cut our defence spending by a half. I tell you that would be utter folly. The story of the Falklands and Kuwait is the story of the sudden dangers that can arise in the modern world. We must stay on our guard, be prepared for the unexpected – and under this Conservative Government our armed forces will do so.

    And one other thing, ladies and gentlemen, for so long as dictators like the wicked man who rules Iraq are plotting to build a nuclear bomb, we will keep our independent nuclear deterrent. I say – and say again – we will order, build, deploy and arm that fourth Trident submarine that our armed forces tell me they need. We will not take any risk with that crucial shield.

    But I tell you who would. Labour would. They don’t say, can’t say, won’t say what their attitude on Trident would be. Because they don’t know.

    First Labour say they will build it. Then they say they won’t build it. They even say they might build it and send it floating round the world devoid of arms. What would they call it? HMS Spineless? HMS Witless? HMS Clueless?

    Ladies and gentlemen, you simply can’t trust Labour when it comes to defence. And since defence is about the most serious issue that any country has to face, you just can’t trust Labour with power.

    Europe

    Ladies and gentlemen, this Party took Britain into Europe. It is where our future lies. I said I wanted us to be at the heart of Europe. And I meant it.

    We need to complete that single market that is so vital for our industry – and we will, when we hold the Presidency of the Community later this year.

    We need to strengthen co-operation between the nation states of Europe where our common interests point us. And we will, when we hold the Presidency of the Community later this year.

    And I believe we need to extend Europe – to create a wider Europe. For the greatest benefit of the Community is not economic. It has made it inconceivable that war in Western Europe could ever again take the world to the edge of ruin. That is why I believe so passionately in widening Europe – until the Community comes to embrace Russia itself. Then we can take to the countries of the East that gift of peace that today we in the West take so much for granted. It may not happen in our political lifetime – but it will happen. And I will do everything I can to help it on its way. And when that new Europe has been built from Britain to the Urals, then we will have built a secure life for the next generation that will be greater than we have ever seen before.

    That’s what I want to see happen in Europe. That is my vision for Europe. But that vision doesn’t mean we have to be uncritical about how Europe now is. When you’re dealing with Europe you need to pitch in there fighting – fighting for Britain as well as for Europe. With a Conservative government Britain will always come before Brussels.

    That’s what Douglas Hurd and I did at Maastricht – fight for Britain in Europe. They were tough negotiations – but we got the right result for Britain. Just imagine what would have happened if we had a Labour Government. They wouldn’t have spoken for Britain; they would have broken Britain.

    There are just three words in Labour’s vocabulary for Europe – oui, si, and jawohl. Well, let me offer you a fourth absolutely vital word to defend Britain’s interests – no. Can anyone imagine Mr Kinnock saying anything so short?

    Labour has been wrong on all the critical issues of defence and foreign policy in our time. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. I warn the people of Britain. Men who have been so wrong so often on so much would find it hard to break the habit of a lifetime.

    Ladies and gentlemen, these great issues of our time call for a clear head and a steady hand. You need consistency. Conviction. Coherence. You need experience. You need judgement. The one thing you don’t need is Labour.

    The Union

    Ladies and gentlemen, I want to turn to one of the greatest threats the United Kingdom has faced for generations. I don’t think the British people have yet woken up to the danger that Labour and Liberal policies present. To create a new tax-raising Parliament in Scotland would cause the very foundations of our constitution to quake. I warn the people; it could lead to the break-up of Britain itself.

    Nothing shows more clearly the irresponsibility of Labour and Liberals alike – and how alike they are. They don’t seem concerned; they don’t seem to care. They would diminish our Westminster Parliament. The end result of their policies would be a disunited Kingdom in a United States of Europe. A United States of Europe? That means a federal Europe. The people of Britain don’t want a disunited Kingdom; and they won’t accept a federal Europe. But I warn the people. If they vote Labour or Liberal that is what they will get.

    They will get a federal Europe taking powers away from Westminster. They will get a tax raising parliament in Scotland taking powers away from Westminster. And they will get federal assemblies throughout England and Wales taking powers away from Westminster. Is that what people want for the Westminster Parliament? To strip it of authority and influence. But that’s what they will get if they vote Liberal or Labour. I warn the people.

    Ladies and gentlemen, thirteen years ago the Labour Leader fought against devolution. If I had to use any label, he said, I would call myself a Unionist. Not the label I would use for him. Now he tells us – and I quote: ‘I think that people can trust my word and attitude, because I’ve always been in favour of devolution.’ Was that a temporary lapse in a record of consistency? I rather think not. This is the European who ‘wanted out’ of Europe just a few years ago. This is the man who talks of defence but campaigned for years to disarm our country in the face of the Soviet threat.

    Ladies and gentlemen, do words mean anything to this man? He’s the chameleon of politics. Consistent only in his inconsistency. Wouldn’t it make a nice change to find an issue on which he hadn’t changed, for a change?

    Conclusion

    Never forget. In spite of a world recession we’re on course for a better life, a more secure life. We’ve learnt what to avoid and what to strive for. We’ve learnt to protect the weak, to encourage the young, to care for the old, and to keep our cities clean and our country safe, safe from attack on our values and our principles from without and within.

    Ladies and gentlemen, there are three great issues at the heart of this Election. Little debated, so far. But fundamental to the very fabric of our lives, about which I warn the people, warn them before it is too late. I speak the defence of our country, our place in Europe, the very survival of the United Kingdom. None of these would be safe in the hands of a Labour Government.

    Labour and Liberals in office would give Scotland and Wales devolution without even a referendum. They have said so. And in Europe whatever Brussels asked for Brussels would get. That, too, is abundantly clear.

    The breaking up of our United Kingdom and abject surrender to the most extreme demands of the European Commission, along with the defence of the realm, these things go to the very heart of our constitution. The future of our country takes precedence over every other consideration, even Party allegiance. On these things Labour is not to be trusted. I warn the people.

    The Conservative case is not nourished by dogma. The Conservative case does not assert theories discarded by most of the civilised world. To be a modern Conservative is not to be against some of the people; it is to be for all the people.

    Our standards and values are Britain’s heritage. It is we who are the traditional builders of national recovery and renewal.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this is a critical, vital Election. None of us can afford to stay on the sidelines. To be a ‘don’t know’ may well be enough at certain elections. Not this one. What is at stake is the future of Britain. From such a contest no-one can stand aside.

    I urge all Conservatives and those who are broadly in sympathy with us to talk to any who are still uncertain. Remind them what we Conservatives stand for and what we believe in. A country of real opportunity. A country with a head. And a country with a heart. Open their eyes to the threat that our opponents present to their lives. Warn the people. And turn the ‘don’t knows’ into ‘now I know.’

    Tell them to vote for the team with experience. Vote for the team that will help recovery, not kill it. Vote for the team that will unite the country, not divide it. Vote for the team that will keep your family safe, not sorry. Vote for the team you can trust. Tell them those things – and on April 9th they will vote for a Conservative future.

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Defence – 1 April 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on defence. It was issued on Wednesday 1st April 1992, reference 721/92.

    BRITAIN FIRST, SECURITY FIRST

    “No issue is more important than defence. It is a vital issue at this election,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office today.

    “It is an issue at every election.

    But it is an issue of the greatest importance when Opposition policies pose a threat to the security of our country.

    Year after year, our forces have kept the peace in Northern Ireland, manned the West’s front line in Germany and guarded our shores and our interests. Just over a year ago, British forces joined our Allies in expelling Iraqi invaders from Kuwait.

    The role of our forces is always changing; and always vital. They must be properly equipped for their dangerous task. The Government I lead will always maintain strong defences for Britain. The Labour Party would not. They would cut our defences to the bone. To the marrow.

    Today’s world is one of great opportunities; but also great dangers. We have all seen how fast the map of world politics can change. And how important it is that your government should act confidently, consistently and courageously in world affairs.

    That is why we took the lead in denouncing last August’s coup in the former Soviet Union – and in recognising Russia.

    We have strongly supported international assistance for Russian reform. Boris Yeltsin asked if Britain would represent Russia’s interests in negotiations with the IMF. We agreed. And I am delighted to be able to announce this morning that the IMF has reached agreement on the terms of Russia’s membership. I am very confident that the Group of Seven countries will now endorse the safety-net we have urged: a rouble stabilisation fund for Russia. This is a historic moment in Russia’s struggle to escape from socialism and join the western world of free markets and economic development.

    We must do everything we can to shore up the peace and stability of the republics of the former Soviet Union. But we must never drop our guard. New conflicts can break out as quickly as forest fires. The nuclear threat to Britain has not gone with the ending of the Cold War. The future of the nuclear weapons of the old Soviet Union is still uncertain. The danger of nuclear proliferation is as great as ever.

    Conservative governments have always shown that they can be trusted with Britain’s defences. Mr Kinnock’s Labour Party have made it abundantly clear they cannot. Today only a Conservative government can be trusted to defend Britain.

    For the Labour Party, defence policy has been about patching up their squabbles. Party first. Nation last.

    For Conservatives, defence policy has always been about the national interest. Britain first. Security first.

    The security of our country is the security of every family.”

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Families – 31 March 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on families. It was issued on Tuesday 31st March 1992, reference 689/92.

    THE BEST FUTURE FOR YOUR FAMILY

    “Today we are going to talk about family life. About people’s homes – and about what parents want for their children,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office today.

    “Our message is very simple.

    The Conservatives will help you to a better home – and we will make sure that your children get a better education.

    So what are we going to do?

    We’re going to make life easier for people buying their own home. Our policies will mean lower mortgage rates and a stronger housing market. We’re going to help young people get a foot on the home-owning ladder. We’re going to help council tenants improve their own homes – and buy their own homes more easily. We’re going to end the misery of people who find themselves living on run-down council estates.

    Labour has never been the home owners’ friend. It’s been the Conservatives who’ve had to fight for the right of council tenants to escape the tyranny of Labour councils. Now Labour’s plans for over-spending and over-taxing would hit millions of mortgage holders. Labour’s policies would destroy the housing market. And would condemn council tenants to the same old mismanagement which Labour councils have inflicted on them for decades.

    Conservatives believe in giving people the right to choose.

    We believe too in choice in education. We’re going to make it easier to choose your child’s school. If the school you want is over-subscribed, it will be able to expand to take in more children. We’ll make sure that there are new kinds of schools – specialising, for example, in technology. And we will go on winning the battle to get the basics right. By having a proper curriculum. By tests that will tell parents how much progress their child is making. And by giving parents the right to know what is going on in their child’s school.

    What about Labour? They have only one policy whatever the problem. To spend more of your money. They never ask – how can we do it better. Labour’s only policy is to make the taxpayer stump up more.

    Nothing makes me angrier about socialism than the way it has stopped so many families getting a better home and so many children getting a better education. Conservatives believe that families know best and that parents know best. So we’re taking power away from the State and from councils and giving it to families and parents.”

  • Mr Major’s Speech on Conservative Values – 30 March 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech on Conservative values, held in Birmingham on Monday 30th March 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Ladies and Gentlemen, let me come straight to the point. What is this Election about? It is about the future of our country. It is about the prospects we build for the next generation. Our security. Our place in the world. About the sort of society and the sort of values we want. About the unity of our United Kingdom. It is not about distorting the problems of one sick child for party political propaganda. It is about building the future of one healthy country – and who builds that future.

    Thirteen years ago, under Margaret Thatcher’s leadership, the British people dragged this country up from the floor. Why was it on the floor? Because that’s where the Labour Party and their trade union friends had left it. We don’t want to see that again. So we’re not going to let socialism slither in through the back door, when it’s being thrown out the front door all over the world. When they’re kicking out big brother everywhere else, we’re not going to let little brother come creeping back here.

    I know Socialism. Britain does not want it. Does not need it. Cannot afford it. It spreads envy; it creates division; it nourishes spite. It makes people feel uneasy about the things they’ve achieved for themselves. Are you successful? Then feel guilty. But you shouldn’t be guilty about being successful. You should be proud.

    Don’t fall for the Socialist con-trick. Don’t be bullied. Don’t be brainwashed. Socialism’s strictly for the dustbin. So go out and put it there.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud of what our country has achieved under a Conservative Government. And you, the British people, can be proud of it, too. You have every right to be. It’s your achievement. You did it. You put pride back into our country – created more wealth, higher living standards and better public services than we’ve ever known in our long history. And under the next Conservative government I say to everyone – you will keep and increase the wealth your hard work has earned. Choice for the people. Ownership by the people. Power to the people – that’s our aim. Opening the doors that socialism holds shut. I want every man and woman in Britain to enjoy the Right to Own and the Power to Choose.

    The Conservative Future

    Why does this Election matter so much? Let me paint the sort of life I want for every family.

    Inflation heading towards zero; and prices steady. Taxes coming down again. More money in the pockets of the people. People with spare cash so they can sign with confidence the purchase of a new car. Growth well under way, so overtime and extra earnings are back in business. A strong pound that holds its value. The right to a postal ballot whenever and wherever union bosses try to call a strike. And never, ever, any threat from flying pickets at the factory gate.

    There will be good State schools, that get the basics right, testing and reporting on progress, bringing the best out of each and every child. Schools no longer controlled by the council, but run by the headteacher, governors and parents. For some it could be a place on the assisted places scheme. For others a place at the local grammar school. Either way, it will be up to parents to choose.

    Whenever illness strikes, there will be a modern expanding Health Service there behind you, with free care for all. More say for the GP in how the best care should be given. And more successful Trust Hospitals that are cutting waiting times and performing more operations than ever before.

    Many a family will have bought the house they live in from the council. If it’s a Labour Council, it will probably have tried to hinder them – but thanks to the Conservatives all who want it have the Right to Buy. Though there are difficulties and sacrifices, it will in the end be worth it. And we have new policies to make it easier still. If it is prudent to do so interest rates will be cut, and the monthly mortgage brought down. Strong recovery will mean a pick-up in the housing market. And there will once again be a strong demand for property on sale.

    Privatisation shares should grow in value once the threat of a Labour government is gone – and we will give more opportunities to invest in shares. More people will have cash in hand to spend on the house. And once the world recession is over, and business is prosperous again, companies large and small should be working flat out.

    We will help millions more people to personal pensions, so they know they will have that extra security when they retire. And what’s more, I want every family to be able to pass on what they have built up in a lifetime of work. Pass it onto their children without the taxman taking another swipe.

    Ladies and gentlemen, these policies touch the lives of everyone. They are what Conservative policies began to open up for millions in the 80s. They are our ambitions for every family in the 1990s.

    The Labour Alternative

    Now look at the alternative. What would the country be like under Labour? I’ll tell you.

    No control of inflation. No stable prices – indeed a target to raise inflation to the European average. For the first time ever a political party goes into an Election promising to put inflation up. But not only inflation would go up.

    There would be big tax increases instead of tax cuts. A Labour government would mean £38 billion of extra spending. That’s the equivalent of £1250 a year on average for everyone who pays income tax, on top of Mr Smith’s mock budget tax attack. What price then the new car, the holiday, the mortgage?

    Overtime no longer worth it because of Labour’s National Insurance increases. The economic recovery clobbered by huge tax hikes. Inward investment chased away and jobs destroyed. More strikes and flying pickets back on our streets. Mr Kinnock’s credit controls making it harder to buy a new car and harder to buy a new home. The pound right down and devaluation back on the agenda.

    No self-managed schools. They’re gone. Fewer rights for parents. They’re not on offer. No assisted places scheme. That’s scrapped. Grammar schools closed. They give what too many parents want. Trust hospitals gone, along with all the reforms that had cut waiting lists and boosted operations.

    No cut in mortgage rates. Up they would go. And, far from house prices picking up, down they would plunge. No work for small trades – and with their policies few small traders at all, because the families that employ them would be paying their savings in tax.

    Personal pensions deliberately wrecked. Shares in privatised companies renationalised or their value driven down. And, at the end of their lives, inheritance tax waiting to grab the fruits of a lifetime’s work. No big legacy for the children. Just one last cheque for the State.

    In other words – a Nightmare on Kinnock Street. Every detail of everyone’s lives and everyone’s future will be affected by the decision you take on April 9th 1992. Don’t believe for a second that it doesn’t matter who wins. It matters desperately. It matters to Britain. And it matters to you.

    Don’t be fooled

    So don’t be fooled. Here’s the Labour Leader, nodding and winking and grinning, a foot-in-the-door salesman, trying to sell you a gentle, harmless semi-demi-socialism. Don’t buy that line. There’s no such thing. As a Polish politician who came to see us once said – and heaven knows the Poles should know from bitter experience – “socialism can’t be improved. It has to removed.” So remember: everything seemingly safe and secure can be reversed almost overnight. And with Labour in power it would be back to yesterday with a vengeance.

    Right Voice in the World

    Ladies and gentlemen, the world is moving fast. Shifting under our feet. We have won the Cold War. Just think about that. The Cold War has been won – by the West.

    Socialism in its most extreme form has been defeated. There are opportunities for freedom to grow, for partnership between nations, for the rebirth of a new Europe, for a new generation.

    But we have to take the right decisions, give the right leadership. So – under whose leadership do we go from here? Let us remind people:

    – Who won back for Britain the respect in which we are now held abroad? We did.

    – Who came to the defence of freedom in the Falklands and again in Kuwait? We did.

    – Who stood firm beside the United States in leading the NATO alliance? We did.

    – Who safeguards Britain’s security by keeping our nuclear deterrent up to date? We do.

    – Who first held out a hand to the new Russia and to Eastern Europe’s new democracies? We did.

    – Who reached an agreement at Maastricht which pointed the way to a wider, stronger Europe, whilst protecting Britain’s basic national interests? Yes. You’re right. We did.

    In short, whom can you trust to defend Britain and keep her safe? Whom can you trust to speak for Britain in Europe, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations as we build a new world? You can trust a Conservative Government – this one, the next one, and every one.

    But what of Mr Kinnock, with Mr Kaufman walking half a step behind? What of him?

    – Who campaigned for CND when the Cold War was at its height, and then let his membership ‘lapse’ when others had won it? He did.

    – Who fought NATO’s policy of standing up to the Soviet Union and opposed putting in Cruise Missiles when they had nuclear weapons targeted on us? He did. Yet it was because we stationed cruise missiles pointing to the East that today we have far fewer missiles pointing at us.

    – Who called our closest ally – the United States, the bastion of the free world – a threat equal to the Soviet Union? He did.

    – Who stood for office on a policy of giving away our nuclear deterrent and taking to the hills? He did.

    – Who refuses to give a commitment to build the fourth Trident that our armed forces say is essential for Britain? He does.

    – Who would have kept our troops sitting in the desert waiting for sanctions to dislodge Saddam Hussein? He would.

    – Who has changed policy on Europe six times – so far – ‘wanted out’ at one Election and wants surrender to Brussels at another? He has.

    – Who at Maastricht would have signed up to anything, any deal – at any price? He would.

    That’s the Kinnock and Kaufman line. Of course it may change. If we can’t make out what the two Ks believe in – and we speak English – what on earth would the rest of the world make of it all?

    Ladies and gentlemen, to safeguard the interests of Britain you need a clear head and a cool hand. Consistency. Coherence. Conviction.

    These serious issues need experience, judgement, a firm line, and a sure stand. The stakes are too high in this dangerous world for Britain to put its trust in Labour at home or overseas. They don’t know what they are doing on foreign policy or defence. They don’t know. We don’t know. Nobody knows.

    The challenge and the opportunities in Europe

    Ladies and gentlemen, what kind of world are we to build for our children?

    When you come to cast your vote, that is in every sense the heart of the matter.

    Before everything Britain must be secure. We must take no risks with defence. And no Conservative Government ever will. But we don’t want a negative Britain, a tentative Britain. We want a country with the courage to stand up for what it believes.

    That ‘s what we did at Maastricht. We are right to be at the heart of Europe, but let’s not be starry-eyed about it. Of course, we believe in it. We are part of Europe. It’s our community, our continent, too.

    But we must ask ourselves what kind of Europe we want.

    I want to complete that single market in Europe on which this Party has taken the lead. We need those open spaces for free enterprise to breathe and grow.

    But the greatest virtue of the European Community is not economic. Twice in this century a European war has brought the whole world to the brink of ruin. The bonds we have formed in Western Europe make it inconceivable that such a disaster could ever again begin here. That’s why I want to extend the Community wider until it reaches the far borders of Russia itself. Then we can bring to the countries of the East that gift of peace that we in the West enjoy. It may not happen in our political lifetime – but it will happen. And a secure life for our children will be the certain result.

    Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the positive side of Europe. That’s what we aim to develop. But there’s another side, too. And we’re not planning to jump in blindly as Labour would. There’s the scandal of countries that sign up for European directives and then do nothing about them. There is unnecessary interference by bureaucracy and red tape. And there’s the fatuous pursuit of conformity for the sake of conformity. Seeking to scrap the rules on quarantine that defend us against rabies. Pushing us to make illegal use of pounds and ounces. We’ve made it clear that we will have nothing to do with nonsense like that.

    And we’re not going to change our stand either on the Social Chapter we rejected at Maastricht. It would increase trade union power, push up industrial costs, destroy jobs and deter foreign investment. Hand over to Brussels decisions that are best made in Britain. All things bad for Britain – no wonder our opponents just can’t wait to sign up.

    Most important of all, if anyone but us had been there at Maastricht, Britain would now be signed up to full European Monetary Union; irrespective of whether it was right.

    That was the demand that was put to me at Maastricht. It was a demand that I wasn’t prepared to accept. We worked to negotiate a better deal for Britain. Labour called it a betrayal. But I believe you can be a good European and still say ‘No’. Indeed, to be a good European, you sometimes have to say ‘no’.

    Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to a crunch at a summit, you’re alone in there. Alone with other countries’ leaders arguing the case for Britain. There’s nobody else to help you. Nobody to protect you. No minders. You’re on your own. That’s when experience counts. You’ve got to know your case. Got to master the details. One slip – one careless word – one stroke of temper – one gaffe – and you’ve sold Britain short. You can’t go back into the conference chamber and say: “Sorry, boyo, I got it wrong.”

    Safeguarding the Union

    But there is another crucial constitutional issue at the very heart of this Election. The unity of the United Kingdom. It is, quite literally, the national issue. I do not believe that many people understand what is at stake in this Election. Our political opponents now advocate a course which could lead to the break-up of Britain itself.

    The Labour and Liberal parties are proposing a separate tax-raising parliament for Scotland. It is a policy that would cause the very bedrock of our constitution to quake. It would have profound consequences for Parliament at Westminster. You cannot deny English, Welsh, and Northern Irish MPs the right to vote on health or education or industry in Scotland and then keep full rights for Scottish Members at Westminster to vote on these matters for the West Midlands.

    It simply cannot be done. It wouldn’t wash with the people of the other parts of Britain. They wouldn’t see it as reasonable or fair. And it wouldn’t be reasonable or fair. But once diminish the voting rights of Scotland’s MPs at Westminster, and you would cause new bitterness. Once create a new Parliament in Scotland, and you would create a focus for every grievance – imagined or real – that one part of this Kingdom had against another.

    It is with these dangers that our opponents are now playing. Devolution is at the top of a slope that leads down into the disaster of separation. Once start on that slide – and it would be perilously difficult to stop. The demon of division would be abroad in the land.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the future of the United Kingdom is not something to be toyed and trifled with for short-term Party advantage. But that is what our opponents are doing.

    Labour and Liberal policy would weaken us all. It could lead to a Disunited Kingdom in a United States of Europe. No issue at this election is more far-reaching, more fundamental. A little Scotland and a lesser Union. It would be an unimaginable disaster. Are we, in our generation, perhaps without even realising, to toss away the Union, the rock on which Britain’s greatness rests?

    Ladies and gentlemen, I say ‘No’. The Conservative Party says ‘No’. We must rouse the people to this danger. Warn them. So that they rise and reject with scorn the policies of those foolish men who would have our country surrender in Europe and separate at home. Never, never, never, must the people of Britain go down that road.

    Changing Britain: the reforms of the 1980s

    Ladies and gentlemen, I want a country for our children that is proud and confident, dynamic and prosperous.

    During the 1980s we Conservatives introduced the fundamental reforms needed to create a successful and thriving economy.

    We reduced tax and restored incentives.

    We reformed trade union law and changed industrial attitudes.

    We returned to the people two thirds of the companies owned by the State.

    And we created a culture in which risk-taking and enterprise became attractive again.

    As a result we transformed the British economy. Strikes fell to the lowest levels ever recorded. Investment and productivity soared. And living standards were raised to record levels. And for the first time in a generation our share in world trade began to grow.

    Over the 1980s manufacturing output and manufacturing productivity grew by leaps and bounds. I am sick and tired of hearing British manufacturing industry run down by our Labour opponents. In the West Midlands you know – as I do – how crucial manufacturing is for our children’s future. Manufacturing success is vital for Britain. I will do all in my power to make it secure. But I will tell you what would wreck it. Higher taxes would wreck it. Higher inflation would wreck it. Higher costs would wreck it. Bad industrial relations would wreck it. A Labour government would wreck it.

    Only Labour can stop recovery

    Our economic reforms of the 1980s are still in place. We’ve got the fundamentals right. Inflation is falling. Interest rates have come down. And the exchange rate is stable. It all means Britain is poised for a strong recovery. All it needs is the confidence a Conservative victory will bring. Then we’ll see the Midlands hum again.

    Success for our opponents would stop that recovery dead in its tracks. That’s not just our view; it’s the view of business. One quarter of all businessmen say they would cut investment if Labour won. And why? Because Labour would reverse every one of the Conservative measures on which recovery depends.

    Where we have lowered income tax, Labour would raise it.

    Where we have privatised, Labour would nationalise.

    Where we have taken Government off industry’s back, Labour would put industry on its back.

    And where we have curbed the power of the militants, Labour would unleash them again. It’s one thing seeing them at Bolton and Luton. But I am not going to let them back in Downing Street again.

    Ladies and gentlemen, under Labour, the recovery that lies ahead would be turned into slump.

    When will they ever learn? You can’t tax people into a national recovery. You can’t build national recovery on a philosophy that has emptied the shelves in every supermarket of the Eastern block. The selfsame socialism that, last time they were in office, reduced Britain to the indignity of Mr Roy Hattersley – he of the ‘dream ticket’, remember, administering a third-world subsidy on the price of bread? Not, I imagine, that Mr Hattersley dines principally on bread.

    Homeowners under Labour

    Ladies and gentlemen, there’s one thing about Britain in the 1980s that you won’t hear about from Labour. It is what Conservative policies of the Right to Buy and the Right to Own have given to families who never dreamed they would have anything to leave to their children. 6 million households have bought their homes since 1979. Four and a half million people have personal pensions. 10 million people now own shares – 6 million in the State companies we sold to the people.

    On all these issues Labour fought us all the way. They wanted to stop the British people becoming owners. No-one out there who gained in the 1980s should ever forget it. Dare you trust your home, your shares, your pension to the very people who battled to stop you having them? Who in this hall would ever do that?

    The return of a Labour government would undermine all that you have worked to build. Not by accident. Not by oversight. But by policy, deliberately. For socialism is the doctrine of common ownership, State ownership, not personal ownership. When it comes to ownership they don’t begin to understand – and they don’t begin to care.

    Health

    Ladies and gentlemen, a word about our National Health Service. It is our National Health Service. It doesn’t belong to the Labour Party. We have cherished it, built it, modernised it. And now we’re reforming it to make it even more successful, treating even more patients than ever before.

    They’re working, those reforms, really working. Strengthening the Health Service. Extending wider, ever wider, the frontiers of free, modern patient care. It’s time somebody took the gloves off about the Health Service. Well, mine are coming off now – and staying off. I want you all to shout from the rooftops the miracles that our doctors, nurses, and hospitals have achieved.

    We have given the Health Service the strongest support it has ever had from any Government. Over 13 years, year after year after year, we’ve put more money into the Health Service than even the rashest Labour opposition ever dared promise. And why? Because we know how to run a free market economy, how to create the resources that, through thick and thin, help our Health Service grow.

    Labour couldn’t do that with their now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t promises. The last Labour government really did cut the Health Service. Really did cut hospital building. Really did cut nurses’ pay. And pushed the waiting lists up to an all-time high – the most shameful record even in their barren history. And these are the people who dare to lecture us.

    I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, their exploitation of the Health Service shows up the real face of Labour. Shallow. Cynical. Negative. Desperate for power. These are people ready to fabricate every imaginable fiction about our great national institution if it ‘serves their purpose’.

    I give the people of Britain this promise. Any government I lead will make the National Health Service, ever better, ever stronger, ever more able to tackle the huge challenges of modern health care. It’s not our Health Service. It’s your Health Service, yours – the people’s. And we will protect it – and we will build it up.

    Education

    Ladies and gentlemen, there’s another great service about which I feel passionately – the education service. So here’s another pair of gloves coming off. I will fight for a good start in life for every child. I will fight for the rights of parents, for variety in education, and for a return to basics in the classroom. Our children have only one chance for a proper grounding in life. And I am simply not prepared to see their future blighted by destructive theories. I want them to concentrate on the basics in education. To read. To write. To add up. That’s where they must start. And it’s on that we must build.

    Too many of our children have been victims of Labour’s fetish for levelling-down. Vital props for life, like spelling, tables and dates banished from the classroom. Children of different abilities made to learn at the same speed. Tests resisted – in case they showed how little had been learned. Parents denied information, results, reports – in case awkward questions were asked.

    Where’s the logic in setting out deliberately to close down good schools and undermine quality in those that remain? But that’s what the Left did, right here in Britain. And that’s what Labour still plan, right here in the West Midlands. Nine people out of ten in Birmingham support its grammar schools. But Labour would shut them – and every other grammar school in Britain. What a pointless, negative policy it is. And what a degrading spectacle. Grammar school men and women picking on grammar school girls and boys.

    I make no distinction between any school, any parent, any child. In our Manifesto we have set out 39 steps to a better education for all. So be in no doubt. After April 9 we will press on with our reforms in education, extend parents’ rights, and let more schools go free of council control, wherever the parents so wish. My belief is easily expressed. The best for every child – the best from every child. That’s what I will fight for in this Election and after it. That’s what our children deserve. Nothing but the best. And they shall have it. For they are our tomorrow.

    Conclusion

    Ladies and gentlemen, the day of decision is coming nearer. It’s the day when Britain will decide whether to go on leading the world towards a future based on choice, personal ownership and private enterprise. Or to slide back almost alone into the mire of socialism.

    Go out and tell the people what’s at stake. Go out and open their eyes to the threat that Labour and Liberals present to their lives. Go out and tell them what the Nightmare on Kinnock Street would mean for us all.

    And go out and tell them of the new wealth, the new opportunities a Conservative Government will bring. For our pledge to Britain is a better future for all. A future where every individual counts. Power to the people. And pride in the world. That’s our battlecry.

    What I want is a country of real opportunity, where everyone of our people is free to choose. A country with a head. And a country with a heart. Wealth and welfare hand in hand.

    If that’s what you care for, if that’s what you fight for. Then go out with me on April 9 – and win for Britain, win for our children, win for freedom, and win for all our futures.

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Taxation – 30 March 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on taxation. It was issued on Monday 30th March 1992, reference 665/92.

    LOWER TAXES AND RECOVERY

    Let me start by telling you something of our plans for this week. We are going to highlight some issues crucial to this election: the economic recovery; defence; international affairs; education; housing and mortgages; law and order; jobs and prices. We’ll be setting out how we intend to carry our reforms forward – and the challenges we face in Europe,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office today.

    I intend to concentrate on the sort of society I want to build at home, and how we intend to build up our influence abroad.

    This morning we are going to focus on the two faces of tax. High Labour taxes – low Conservative taxes.

    Low taxes are essential to a fair society and a successful economy.

    Low taxes give people incentive. They leave people more to spend for themselves and their families. So they work harder. They get more satisfaction from what they do.

    And what they do is to earn more for this country. More for themselves – more for others.

    Low taxes encourage Britain’s talent to stay here and work here -and they encourage businesses to create jobs here. We want that enterprise.

    We want those jobs.

    Never has low tax been so vital to the health of the economy. Never would it be so wrong to increase tax.

    Over the past 13 years, we’ve cut the top rate of tax – and we’ve got Britain’s basic rate down to 25p. That’s good. But we’ve got to do better.

    We’ve got to bring the basic rate down further.

    We’ve already started bringing it down to 20p. And we’ve done it in a new way – introducing tax cuts from the bottom up. Every taxpayer will benefit from the new 20p band. But taxpayers with the lowest incomes will benefit most.

    That’s the way we mean to go on. Taking more and more taxpayers out of 25p tax by widening the band. This way, we can make progress – year by year – towards a 20p basic rate for all.

    We’ll use some of the fruits of growth to finance extra public spending – as we have done this year, and are committed to do in the future. But we’ll let people enjoy that growth too. That’s the way to give everybody a better life in a richer country.

    That is a balanced approach. That is my approach – the approach my Government will follow right through the next Parliament.”

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Foreign Policy – 27 March 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on foreign policy. It was issued on Friday 27th March 1992, reference 650/92.

    A WORLD BASED ON OUR VALUES

    Extract from a speech by the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party at Pontypridd, today.

    “The world is as dangerous today as it has been for two generations. We have won the Cold War. Reflect on that. Won the Cold War.

    Socialism in its extremist form has been defeated. There are opportunities for freedom to grow, for partnership between nations, for the rebirth of a new Europe. Five hundred years after Columbus discovered the New World of America, we have it in our power to create a new world for our children. 1992 could be a year as significant in world history as 1492.

    We can do that. But we have to take the right decisions, give the right leadership. That means we must have a Conservative government.

    Let me illustrate this for you by posing a few questions:

    – Who has won back for Britain the respect in which we are held abroad?
    – Who came to the defence of freedom in the Falklands and Kuwait?
    – Who has always stood firm beside the United States in leading the NATO alliance?
    – Who has always safeguarded Britain’s security with our independent nuclear deterrent?
    – Who has taken the lead in holding out a hand to the new Russia and to Eastern Europe’s new democracies?
    – Who reached an agreement at Maastricht which pointed the way to a wider, stronger Europe, but safeguarded Britain’s basic national interests?

    In short, you must ask yourself this question: whom can you trust to defend the nation’s interests and keep Britain safe? Whom can you trust to lead Europe, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations towards this new world?

    I believe the answer is this Conservative Party – and only this Party.

    Labour have been wrong on all the critical issues of foreign and defence policy in our time. Sometimes they have made not one – but several – mistakes on the same issue. A case of – if at first you make a blunder, then blunder and blunder and blunder again.

    I believe that these serious issues need proven judgement, a cool head, and a sure stand. The stakes are too high in this difficult world for Britain to put its trust in Labour’s team.

    I say again. In 1992 a new world is being formed. It is a world based on our values, free market values. It is a world which has rejected socialism. People are turning to us in Britain – for a firm lead and the right policies. A socialist Britain would be sidelined and scorned. That would be a disaster for Britain – but it would also be a blow against our hopes for the new world. In 1492 Columbus ignored the flat-earth fainthearts. Five hundred years later, we cannot let the failed, flat-earth theory of Socialism rob our children of the prize of a new world today.”

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Conservative Principles – 27 March 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on Conservative principles. It was issued on Friday 27th March 1992, reference 631/92.

    POWER TO THE PEOPLE

    “Since this election campaign began, I have been using these morning press conferences to make very clear the principles for which the Conservative party stands,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, said at a press conference at Conservative Central Office, today.

    I want to bring those principles together for you this morning.

    We are fighting for low taxation – and for the voter’s right to know what the cost of Labour’s fantasy promises would be.

    We are fighting for individual freedom – and for government free from trade union control.

    We are fighting for the secure defence of this country, for Britain’s interests in Europe – and a respected place in the world.

    We are fighting for opportunity and choice, for good public services, which respond to what people want – against the power of the state, for the power of the people.

    I want to lead a government that helps people build their own lives, a government that gives people a good start, and a better life.

    I want to give people what is rightfully theirs:

    – their own money – as we drive down the rate of tax;
    – their stake in this country, as we encourage ownership of homes – shares and pensions;
    – their sense of responsibility – at work and at home with their families;
    – their sense of pride – as the quality of public service is driven up by the new enthusiasm of a Citizen’s Charter that puts people first;
    – their hope for the future – secured by economic recovery, industrial success abroad and good jobs at home.

    That’s what I want for this country.

    That’s what I’m going to fight for between now and 9 April.

    And that’s why we will win.”

  • Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Trade and Industry Policy – 26 March 1992

    Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on trade and industry policy. It was issued on Thursday 26th March 1992, reference 614/92.

    LABOUR IN, EVERYBODY OUT

    “Labour in, everybody out. For years that was the refrain that wrecked British industry”, the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office, today.

    But last year Britain achieved a record level of industrial peace. Fewer days were lost through strikes than at any time since records began a century ago.

    That is a triumph for good sense in industry – and for the reforming work of a Conservative Government.

    It has brought this country huge dividends: inward investment, higher productivity and higher wages – and a new reputation for reliability.

    ‘Made in Britain’ is a proud label again – not a warning that the spare parts are rotting on the dockside.

    Strife and disruption used to dominate our national life. Flying pickets. Wildcat strikes. Power cuts. Intimidation. Confrontation. Lost orders. Cancelled deliveries. Roaring inflation.

    Those were the features of a country out of the control of its Labour government – and under the control of its unions.

    The threat, I am afraid, is still there. Union militants are hoping – desperately – for a Labour government.

    Then organised disruption would be back. Labour are already committed to undo some of our key reforms. Secondary pickets would be back on our streets.

    The truth is, the unions still have a stranglehold on the Labour party.

    They are keeping pretty quiet in this election. But Kenneth Clarke is going to remind you how they pull the strings – and Michael Howard is going to spell out the consequences.”

  • Mr Major’s Speech in Scotland – 25 March 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech made in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Wednesday 25th March 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    It’s good to be back in Scotland for my seventh visit as PM – and after April 9 I shall be back again – as Prime Minister.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, the choice at this Election is stark – as stark as it has ever been. It is a choice between socialism and opportunity, between high tax or low, between rising prices or falling prices, between trade union power and freedom at work. It’s between yesterday’s rhetoric and today’s reality, between a failed and humiliating past and a better future for us all.

    Let me not mince words. This Election is far too important for that. Labour would wreck Britain. No one should enter any polling booth without a clear picture of what Labour stand for and the calamity that would befall our country if they should become its Government.

    I will tell you what Labour are. Labour are destroyers. Their only political programme is to destroy everything the British people have been building these last few years.

    Low taxes? They would reverse them.

    Personal pensions? They would ruin them.

    Personal savings? They would devalue them.

    Good schools? They would close them.

    Union reforms? They would scrap them.

    Wherever Labour found a spark of innovation a shred of independence, or the spirit of enterprise they would pick it up and snuff it out. For all our futures, they must not be allowed to do it. And we will not let them do it.

    They would turn the flights of television fiction into dismal reality. Imagine it. These are the voyages of the Starship ‘Lack of Enterprise’. It’s five-year mission to seek out and destroy new choices and new opportunities. To boldly tax where no man has taxed before.

    Right back to stardate 1974-79; well, that’s one old repeat Britain can surely do without.

    Ladies and gentlemen, there are two things you need to remember about tax. Labour are tax addicts. Conservatives have an allergy to tax. We want to bring tax down. They want to put tax up. A Labour Government would mean the biggest increase in personal tax since the war – not just for the better-off, but for everyone.

    Do you remember the last Labour Government when tax levels soared to 98%? When the basic rate of tax for every worker was 35 pence in the pound. Well, now we know where John Smith gets his ideas from – he sat in that Labour Cabinet. He supported those high taxes.

    Labour are still ducking the issue of our costing of their tax and spending plans. They don’t tell the truth about our policies, and they won’t tell the truth about their own.

    Mr Cook has confirmed that all their promises would be implemented within five years. The cost of that would be £38 billion. I repeat £38 billion – £1,250 a year in extra tax for every taxpayer. The working families of Britain would be devastated; it would be the worst tax assault they had ever suffered. They need to know – and know now – whether Labour will impose the tax to pay for their promises or drop the fraudulent promises they cannot afford. So which is it to be? They should tell the people – and tell them now.

    Mr Kinnock’s Shadow Cabinet and his minders cannot protect him for ever from answering these questions. The country expects the answers. It has a right to have them. So let’s hear them – now.

    Then there’s inflation – Labour’s hidden tax. Labour like inflation. That’s fortunate – because they always produce it. John Smith says he’s ‘happy’ about higher inflation. He is happy to push prices up. Do you remember what it was like under Labour when you went into a shop and found one price sticker stuck on top of another as prices soared week by week? Do you remember trying to peel them off to see what the price had been the week before. That’s what inflation means. That’s what inflation does. I’ll tell you what I want. I want stable prices. I want prices to be printed on the side of the packet. I want prices you can trust.

    What would Labour’s price rises do to the peace of mind of every pensioner? What would they do to savings, to pensions annuities, to the low-paid and those on benefit, all those whose income is fixed?

    I’ll tell you what they would do. Hit where it hurts most. Hit the vulnerable. Hit the weak. Hit the elderly. In fact the only target a Labour government would hit would be the pockets of the people.

    But it wouldn’t just be people. It would be business. Every percentage point on inflation would cost industry £5 billion a year. What would that do to investment? What would that do to jobs? What would that do to help recovery and get Britain competing in the world?

    Labour are following their instincts – punching out with a left, and a left, and a left. First, higher tax. Next, higher prices. Then, just as the taxpayer reels, comes another typical socialist blow – credit controls. That’s what Mr Kinnock wants. Unbelievable. Homebuyers queuing for loans. State decisions on whether you can take out the HP for a new car or new television. Labour taking away your choice. Grabbing it for themselves.

    Well, our priorities are different. For us, the battle against inflation is the acid test. This month, for the first time since before man walked on the moon, British inflation rates are lower than those in Germany. It seemed impossible. It seemed unachievable. But this Government did it. And now, I promise you, we will go on – until we achieve stable prices for Britain. That is our aim. That is what we will do.

    Ladies and gentlemen, wherever you go in the world – and in the last sixteen months I’ve seen a lot of it – one thing people always comment on is the end of the British disease. The British disease? Do you remember when they all used to say it? We were the champions of the world – for strikes. We were the playthings of trade union power. A national humiliation. It was a national disgrace.

    This Government has changed all that. We have been keeping strike records for over a century. And last year the number of days lost to strikes was the lowest ever since records began. That’s good for Britain. Good for our name. Good for our exports. Good to encourage inward investment. And good for jobs.

    Reforming the trade unions is one of our proudest achievements. The public have supported it. Union members have supported it. So who could believe that anyone would want to reverse it? But they do. Labour do. We must tell the people. We must stop them. We must make sure that the union barons never again hold sway in this land in the way that once they did.

    I just don’t believe that people want to reverse our union reforms. I think they want to take them further. And so do I. And so we will.

    That’s why in the next Parliament we will give individuals greater freedom in joining the union of their choice. We will see to it that no strike is held without a full postal ballot. We will make sure that unions give at least seven days’ notice of a strike. And we will allow any member of the public to take legal action to stop the disruption of their public services by wildcat strikes. That’s the way to give power to the people and to keep everyone within the law.

    That’s our agenda. So what is Labour’s? To allow secondary strikes. To stop employers obtaining an immediate court order to stop an unlawful strike. To take away from individual union members the right not to join industrial action. To restrict severely the right of the courts to take away a union’s assets when it breaks the law.

    Back to flying pickets. Back to wildcat strikes. Be the law ever so mighty, the trade unions would be above it. That’s Labour’s policy. It would be a calamity – and the British people must never let it happen again.

    Back to the past with a vengeance. Labour Ministers and trade union leaders carving up the British economy, and the British people left with the scraps. In 1979 we said goodbye to all that. On April 9 we must bury it for good.

    I want you to tell the country how we cherish the National Health Service. And by the way, it is the National Health Service; it does not belong to the Labour Party. I will never forget what I owe to the Health Service. I will do everything I can to strengthen and develop it. So long as I am Prime Minister the resources we give it will grow year by year.

    There will be many people in Britain – not just Conservatives – but people who support other Parties, and who care for the Health Service, who will have been distressed and shocked by the face the Labour Party has now revealed. By the glee with which they have swooped on human error and personal suffering to serve their Party’s ends. The British people are not naive. They will have noted with what relish Labour spokesmen have crowded forward to blacken the name of the Health Service and the doctors and nurses who work in it.

    No regard for the truth. No regard for the feelings and emotions of the families they use. Nothing but concern for their own self-seeking propaganda. None of that simple decency which the British people expect. I tell you this. This attitude tells you more about the people who lead the Labour Party than it does about the Health Service. Such men are unfit to govern.

    Such men must never govern.

    Ladies and Gentleman, twice during our period of office, we have had to go to war – against the dictator of Argentina and against the dictator of Iraq. On both occasions the world knew where Britain stood. There were no doubts. No question marks. There was no uncertainty. Britain was steadfast.

    The world needs to know where Britain stands. We cannot afford a Labour Party which doesn’t know from one year to the next where they stand. For the Labour Party, defence is not a responsibility – it is an embarrassment.

    Labour is led by a man who – when the West faced a military build-up by the Soviet dictators – was proud to proclaim himself a disarmer. The brutal question has to be asked – is that man worthy or capable to be in charge of Britain’s defences?

    Ladies and gentlemen, Britain needs strong defences and there is only one way to guarantee that – by electing a Conservative Government.

    Britain’s authority in the world is a vital concern to everyone in this election. There is a stark choice between the parties. These are the questions which everyone should ask.

    – Who won back for Britain the respect in which we are held abroad?

    – Who came to the defence of freedom in the Falklands and in Kuwait?

    – Who has stood firm beside the United States in leading the NATO Alliance?

    – Who has safeguarded Britain’s security with our independent nuclear deterrent?

    – Who has held out a hand to Russia and Eastern Europe, leading them back into the free world?

    – Who has fought for Britain’s interests in Europe – consistently and constructively?

    In short, you must ask yourself this question: whom can you trust to defend the nation’s interests and keep Britain safe?

    I believe the answer is clear. This Government and this Party.

    Now let me put some other questions to you.

    – Who campaigned for years for CND, and then let his membership ‘lapse’?

    – Who opposed NATO’s policy of standing up to the Soviet Union?

    – Who called our closest ally – the United States – a threat equal to that of the Soviet Union?

    – Who would have given away our nuclear deterrent and based our defence on taking to the hills?

    – Who would have kept our troops sitting in the desert while they waited for sanctions to dislodge Saddam Hussein?

    – Who would have thrown away our membership of the European Community?

    – And who, at Maastricht, would have signed up to anything, any deal – at any price?

    The answer to all these questions is of course…..but I don’t have to tell you, do I? There is only one Party in the western world which has been so wrong, so often on the critical questions of our time. Never were so many mistakes of judgment made on so many subjects by so few.

    Every day, Douglas Hurd and I have to take crucial decisions for Britain. Our record is there for all to see. It’s tried; it’s tested. Unlike the Labour Party’s. This is a flawed, flakey – and dangerous record. How could the British people trust themselves to Labour.

    What would those emerging democracies of Eastern Europe, reaching out to freedom, make of a Labour government? What would they think? They have endured the pain and the privation of socialism for decades, and thrown it off after much grief and suffering. So what does Labour propose to send them – Gerald Kaufman? Who is Gerald Kaufman? Where is Gerald? Has anyone here seen Gerald Kaufman? A good question, that, in the context of this campaign. Who is Gerald Kaufman? Do you remember him before he disappeared, locked away by the image makers? I personally think that’s rather unfair. I rather like seeing him on television. What I say is – set Gerald free. Let us see more of the man who praised the ‘magnificent achievements’ of the Marxist regime in Nicaragua – shortly before the Nicaraguans voted to consign it to the dustbin of history.

    Ladies and gentlemen, almost twenty years ago, it was a Conservative Government which took Britain into Europe. We in this Party have never wavered in our commitment to membership or to the Community’s fundamental principles.

    But what makes a good European? Always agreeing with our partners doesn’t make a good European. Always agreeing with the Commission doesn’t make a good European. Sometimes a good European has to say ‘no’. He has to say no if he sees Europe moving in the wrong direction. He has to say no if he sees Britain’s interests threatened. That is why, when necessary, we have rejected the proposals of the Commission. Insisted on greater financial discipline. And we have got it. When we demanded a fairer contribution from Britain to the Community Budget – we got it. When we called for the completion of the Single Market. We got that too.

    And last December, at Maastricht, I negotiated on behalf of our country an agreement which advances British interests and strengthens the Community. It provides us with a superb platform for the British Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which will culminate in the historic summit that I will bring to Edinburgh later this year.

    Those negotiations were tough. They were gruelling. Let me tell you something. When you are negotiating in Europe with your fellow Presidents and fellow Prime Ministers, there is nobody else with you. You’re on your own. You’ve got to have your wits about you. You’ve got to be clear about what you want to achieve. You have to understand the detail. One mistake – one slip of the tongue – one careless word – one moment of indecision – one gaffe – and you’ve sold Britain down the river.

    Let me tell you what I believe are the principles and objectives that are right for all of us in Europe.

    First, we want to see a community of nation states, not a United States of Europe. When our national interests and our partners’ interests coincide, then common action makes commonsense. But we must never give up the right, our national right, to take the crucial decisions about our security, our foreign policy and our defence.

    Elsewhere, responsibility should not be given to the Community when it can be discharged at national or local level. That is a principle that I insisted on at Maastricht. It is a principle to which the Conservative Party will hold fast.

    Second, we must ensure that the Single Market is a genuine free market, open for business right across the Community. It must have common rules – and those rules must be obeyed. Britain has an outstanding record in implementing Community Directives, once they are agreed. Some of our partners are keener on making new rules than keeping them. We will not take lectures on being a good European from partners that drag their feet.

    Third, we want to see a wider, more open and outward looking Europe – a Europe which brings into the fold, as and when they are ready, the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. A wider Europe will be a better Europe. A safer Europe. A more secure Europe. The right Europe to hand on to the next generation.

    Labour’s approach to Europe puts Labour’s needs first, Britain’s needs – someway behind.

    Labour have changed their policy on the principle of Community membership. Not once, not twice, not three times… not four times… not five times. Six times.

    Not long ago, they wanted to pull Britain out of Europe. Now they can’t wait to accept – uncritically – every proposal advanced by Brussels, whatever the damage to our national interests, no matter how great. When we defended Britain’s interests, Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman had a special word for it. He called it a betrayal. One wonders what manner of word he would find to cover their own craven position.

    Labour sees the Brussels bureaucracy as a raft on which to build a socialist superstate. They want to turn the Community – and I use their own words – into the ‘ally of Socialism in Britain’.

    They want to accept the Social Chapter which we rejected at Maastricht – a Social Chapter which would increase trade union power, push up industrial costs, and hand to Brussels on a plate decisions that should be made in Britain.

    More important still, if Labour, not the Conservatives – if Mr Kinnock and Mr Kaufman, not Douglas Hurd and I – had been at Maastricht, Britain would now be signed up to full European Monetary Union; regardless of whether it was right for Britain.

    I was not prepared to do that. I repeat – you can be a good European and still say ‘no’. Indeed, to be a good European sometimes you must say no.

    Ladies and gentlemen, there is one other great issue of which I must speak tonight. When I came to Scotland, just a few weeks ago, I said that this issue transcended the Election. It does. For it concerns the future of our United Kingdom.

    Everyone in Scotland knows what I feel about this. I have made – I will make – no attempt to tack or trim. I want to see our Kingdom stay stay a United Kingdom. The United Kingdom, whose name is respected in every corner of the world.

    I believe the vast majority of people in Scotland share my view. They remember – as I remember – that together, across nearly three centuries of our history, the peoples of these islands have shaped the destiny of the world.

    No-one asked in those years whether the statesmen, the administrators, the men and women of industry and the arts, the writers and the lawgivers who came from these shores were Scottish, English, Irish or Welsh. It was enough that they came from this United Kingdom.

    It was enough that they carried our language, our law, our principles, our civilisation. Together our nations have been far, far greater than the sum of their parts. Separate, we could never have changed the face of half the world. But together we did.

    And, although we achieved this together, no-one, once they set foot on these islands, could doubt that the identity of each of our nations persisted and thrived. The Act of Union left Scotland free to develop its own code of law, its own education system, its own church, its own banks. Scotland retains her own unique responsibilities and distinctive traditions – with all the influence in the world that the Union brings. What is so different in Scotland today, that some in this generation should conspire to destroy the balance that has served us all so well?

    I speak to you as an Englishman, not a Scot. But I also speak to you as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The future of Scotland is your decision. If after all the arguments have been carefully weighed, the people of Scotland want to break the bonds that bind us, then it can be done. No nation can be held within a union against its will.

    Yes, we can break up the United Kingdom. But it would be an unimaginable disaster. But we can do it – and, whether we intend to or not, if we take the wrong decisions, we will break up the United Kingdom.

    But as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I have a duty to rise above the heat and fire of an Election campaign. I have a responsibility to point out to the whole country – to every part of this Kingdom – the true nature of the issues at stake and the dangers we face. Any significant change in the constitutional arrangements between us will inevitably throw every aspect of those relationships into the melting-pot.

    It is not Party advantage that leads me to this. There are others in Scotland who pursue the short-term course, the populist course, the self-serving course. I speak as I do because I believe – and believe with a passion – that we must fight for what is right. It would be all too easy, fatally easy, to conclude that the best interests of the Conservative Party would be served by separation for Scotland. We would be unbeatable at Westminster if that were the case. But that is not the nature of this Party. And it is not the nature of this Prime Minister. We are the Unionist Party. And we will fight for the Union.

    Ladies and gentlemen, I will waste no time on the narrow nationalist case. It is a negative case, a socialist case, a separatist case. It is the fast route to the divorce of two great nations. The exchange of Great Britain for a little Scotland and a lesser Union. Our enemies and rivals would think we were mad.

    But it is with that very madness that the Labour Party and the Liberal Party – the advocates of a tax-raising parliament – now foolishly play. Set aside that the combination of Labour Government in Westminster and a tax-raising parliament here in Edinburgh would make Scotland the most expensive place in Europe in which to invest.

    The truth is this. It is what others have called the West Lothian question. It is what I call the Robin Cook reply. If there were to be in Scotland a tax-raising parliament with responsibility for health, education, or industry, then it would inevitably raise other questions. People in England and Wales and Northern Ireland would certainly question the rights of Scottish MPs to decide on these matters at Westminster for them. It would mean the creation of two-tier MPs, with Scotland’s MPs in the second rank. It could also mean that the level of Scotland’s representation at Westminster might be seen elsewhere as too high. In all this we see the very bedrock of our constitution beginning to quake.

    I do not want these things to happen. I want to avoid, not to promote, the bitterness and conflict that would be the certain result. A new tax-raising parliament cannot be seen as a simple bolt-on extra to the constitution. It might start there. But it would never end there. Labour, in their self-seeking way, are playing thoughtlessly upon grievances in Scotland. For short-term advantage they are prepared to do long-term damage. They portray as a panacea what is a Pandora’s Box. Open that box – and the demon of separation would be let loose. We should not see it caged again so easily.

    Scotland leads in this debate – but the current arrangements rest on the consent of everyone involved. To break our Union would be to diminish our influence for good in the world, just at the time when it was needed most. To break our Union would be to diminish our place in Europe – a separate Scotland would never be at its heart, but at best on its fringe. Labour policy would weaken us all. It would mean a Disunited Kingdom in a United States of Europe. And this Party will have none of it.

    Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot hide from you how profoundly I feel about this issue. It is easy in an Election campaign for people to lose sight of the fundamentals. Among these the greatest is the very standing and security of our country – at home, in Europe and in the wider world.

    The first duty of the Conservative Party when we came back to office in 1979 was to restore our pride and authority in the world. That we have triumphantly done. People across the world now look to Britain. We are giving a lead to others in crises and difficulties in every part of the globe. Standing for partnership in a wider Europe – but never afraid to pitch in there fighting for our country’s interests.

    The Union is, I believe, the rock on which this Kingdom’s authority rests. Standing together, we have moulded the history of much of the world. Separating or separated we would be tossed on its tides.

    I appeal to people in every part of our Kingdom to reflect on that. To reject with scorn the short-sighted policies of those who would surrender in Europe and separate at home.

    Let us stand together. Stand for what we believe. Stand for what we can yet achieve. Together. United. Proud of Scotland, yes. And proud of the Union, too. Let us go out from this hall and tell the world. In this Party we will fight – and go on fighting to defend the interests of our country and that rock of Union on which its greatness rests.