The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Tag: Young Conservatives Conference

  • Mr Major’s Speech to the 1992 Young Conservatives Conference – 8 February 1992

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech made to the Young Conservatives Conference in Eastbourne on Saturday 8th February 1992.

    PRIME MINISTER:

    Mr Chairman, it’s good to be back at your Conference. It has been an important year. I’ve seen the UN in New York, the EC in Maastricht, and now the YCs in Eastbourne.

    And by the way, there’s something else I can tell you about

    1992 … it’s the year the Conservative Party will win the next General Election.

    We will win that Election. And win it clear and well.

    A National Party

    Mr Chairman, let me tell you why we’ll win – and what we’ll do. About what we stand for – and what we don’t stand for – and what we won’t stand for.

    Why should people give us their trust? Because our ideals meet the hopes of people in every walk of life. And in every age group. Because we don’t see good fortune for some as injustice for others. We don’t scorn the successful. We don’t preach envy. And we don’t trade on division.

    For us each person counts. We never forget those with their foot on the first rung of the ladder of opportunity. Or those who have been knocked off it by misfortune. The Government I lead will always protect their interests.

    And that means taking decisions that are right in the long- term, not easy and popular in the short-term.

    Holding firm on the economy

    Mr Chairman, the world economy is showing greater strain now than it has for a decade. That doesn’t make it easy for Britain, as we work our way out of recession. A quick fix is the wrong way. It calls for steadiness. Keeping inflation down. Keeping strikes out of fashion. And keeping faith in policies that are the only sure foundation for our recovery.

    You may have heard what our opponents suggest. A poisoned chalice. They want to raise taxes on incomes and savings. Raise National Insurance. They want us to put new levies on business. And bring in a minimum wage.

    We know where that would lead. We’ve been there before. Higher interest rates, higher mortgage rates, higher taxes, more unemployment, a longer recession, and the re-invention of the Brain Drain.

    Not one of their policies would help our recovery. They would mean perpetual recession and terminal decline.

    If we had had the high taxes and the strikers’ charter that Labour demand, I can tell you this. We wouldn’t have had Nissan investing nearly £900 million at Sunderland.

    We wouldn’t have had Honda investing £300 million at Swindon.

    Wouldn’t have had Toyota investing £700 million at Derby.

    And wouldn’t have had, in the five years to 1990, twenty billion dollars of United States investment in Britain.

    The conditions which attracted this investment are what Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman, Gerald Kaufman, condemns as a sweatshop economy. Sweatshop economy?

    Last year Japanese firms invested £3,600 million in Britain – more than half all the Japanese investment throughout the European Community. Under Labour all that would have been at risk. “Alien investment”, their union friends call it. They would rather have unemployment in Britain than investment from overseas.

    Mr Chairman, Britain simply can’t afford Socialism. What an absurdity it would be, as the world ditches it, for us to let it to creep back in this country. Labour’s attitudes are old hat. And its prescriptions are yesterday’s prescriptions. We live in a harsh and competitive world today – the most competitive decade we’ve ever known. And unless we’re able to compete we’ll face a harsh future.

    A Nation at Ease with Itself

    Mr Chairman, when our Party honoured me by making me its leader I was asked what my aims for Britain were. I had no doubt the first of these was to create a nation at ease with itself.

    That sounds a simple idea. But for me it is fundamental.

    We live at ease with others when each of us has the same choices. The same opportunities. Peace of mind. Simple human dignity. We’re all entitled to that.

    But what is our path to these things?

    For our young people, the chance of a good education. Up to date skills. Qualifications that mark their achievements.

    For workers, freedom from trade union pressure. To feel a part of their enterprise. To be able to earn more and keep more for their families.

    For the sick, to know that there is – and always will be – a free National Health Service which develops and grows.

    For older people, to know that inflation will not destroy their security. That the State will not confiscate their savings. And that the streets must and will be kept clear of crime.

    For all to know that their contribution – whatever it may be – is respected and valued. And crucial in binding every local community together.

    These are the things that bring security and self-respect. And self-respect breeds respect for others. An old lesson of history, long understood in Britain, before Socialism began to eat it away.

    Any Government can aspire to these aims. But it’s only the Conservative philosophy that is able to secure them.

    So what is it that is special about the Conservative way?

    The Principles of Modern Conservatism

    Let me tell you. The principles of modern Conservatism are the principles of choice. Of opportunity for all. Of ownership. Of responsibility. Those four themes run through every part of our programme for the 1990s. And everyone’s policies should be judged against them. For they are the foundations of a free society.

    The Power to Choose

    Of these four great ideas, I put choice first.

    There are those who say that choice is selfish. Or that some people are too foolish or too stupid to choose. That the safest choices are made by the State. By other people who know better than you.

    Those who say that are the people who defended the closed shop. Resisted the Right-to-Buy. Pushed up tax levels in Britain until it wasn’t just the pips that squeaked. It was the whole fruit-stall.

    You know who they are. The people of Britain know who they are. The shifty men – who once proclaimed their Socialism in public, but who now phase out the hymns they once sang with such gusto.

    Of course it all depends on which Labour shadow you’ve been listening to. They talk about “lime for a change”. What do they mean? They mean it’s time for Neil Kinnock to change John Smith’s policies. Or vice versa. Cometh the dinner, cometh the fudge. A blinding conversion on the road to Luigi’s.

    Mr Chairman, the harder they fought us, the more our policies of choice put power in people’s hands.

    We’re putting it back where it belongs:

    With the individual. Not the trade union.

    With the customer. Not the controller.

    With the citizen. Not the State.

    We’ve widened choice by breaking down nationalised monopolies and opening up markets. Giving tenants and parents more say in their lives and those of their children. Above all by keeping taxes down.

    It’s no good looking at the mail order catalogue, the holiday brochure, or even the take-away menu, if a tax demand from a Socialist Chancellor has left you no money to pay for it. Your modest hopes are swallowed – in his huge ambition.

    So be on your guard. 35 per cent basic rate income tax? They denied it before; and they did it before. They deny it again. But, given the chance, they’d do it again.

    Extending Choice

    Mr Chairman, once again our Party is bubbling with new ideas. Widening choice in all sorts of ways. We are giving council tenants even more rights. We’ll bring private sector skills more into public service. And we’ll be acting to end – once and for all – the monopoly power of arrogant Labour councils over the management of housing estates.

    And there will be more choice in the way we travel. We’re going to end the public monopoly of London’s bus services. We’re going to ensure better service on the railways. Break up the huge, inefficient monopoly that is British Rail. When you’re young you want to travel and see the world. Well, we’re going to challenge the cartels and the cosy deals that keep too many international airline prices far too high.

    Mr Chairman, last year at this Conference, I told you that education was top of my agenda. Since then we have pressed on with a tide of reform. One by one the citadels of the trendy left are tumbling down.

    We are insisting on new standards in the curriculum. We’ve given parents more power. But, as we’ve made clear in our Citizen’s Charter, choice is meaningless if, like millions of parents in Britain today, you never see the school’s results, and you’re never sent a school report.

    So we are now bringing in – for the first time ever – systematic inspection of all schools. The results will go to every parent. And – again for the first time – league tables will be printed showing how different schools compare.

    Free choice must be informed choice. That way you can help us to secure our foremost aim – higher standards. For every child. In every classroom. In every school.

    More Accountability

    In the next Parliament we intend to put on record the performance of every local authority in the country. There must be no more municipal cover-ups. No hiding place for uncaring and incompetent councils.

    Labour don’t like league tables. And you can all guess why. Who doesn’t collect rents? Southwark and Lambeth. Who costs the public most? Lambeth, Haringey, lslington and Bristol? Who keeps the most homes empty? Hackney, Liverpool, Newham and Salford? Where are maths results the worst in England? Bradford, Newham, and Sandwell? No wonder Labour don’t like league tables. There would be Labour councils at the bottom of every list.

    You didn’t hear any of that at Labour’s local government conference yesterday. Of course they attack our Citizen’s Charter. They’re terrified at what the public will be told.

    I believe that where the public have no choice, the inefficient must be held to account. That’s why we also want more independent inspection in key public services. Like the police. Or social work.

    Too often eccentric theories and slack management have escaped proper scrutiny, undermined public confidence, overshadowed the dedicated service of tens of thousands of social workers.

    I want to see rigorous and independent inspection of social work. Some of the most vulnerable people in Britain depend on it. And in the next Parliament we will see to it that it is provided.

    Choice where we can bring it. Accountability where we can’t. People’s rights. That’s what the Citizen’s Charter is all about.

    Ownership and Wealth Creation

    Mr Chairman, alongside choice there is a second great foundation to the Tory approach – ownership. And with it goes wealth creation, which is the only way to provide for those who need help. Wealth creation and welfare hand in hand – those are the central pillars of the Tory temple. So it’s in everyone’s interests to have low taxation on business. Regulation which promotes competition and open markets, and doesn’t stifle enterprise. That’s what’s wanted. Low inflation, freedom in the workplace, and reforms in education and training to bring out each person’s skills.

    We also need low income tax. Incentives to save. The chance to inherit. Wider ownership. These things broaden and deepen our freedoms.

    Those are not Labour’s priorities. Labour believe that taxes should be higher and promotion penalised. That shareholders are second-class citizens. That Whitehall knows how to run industry. And that trade unions should call the shots.

    Millions of people in Britain think differently. They know that the homes, shares and pensions they own were won despite bitter opposition from Labour. They fear the impact of Labour taxes on the housing market. Labour regulation on the stock market. And sheer Labour hostility to personal pensions which over three and a half million people in their 20s and 30s now have.

    Mr Chairman, ownership is at the very core of Conservatism. It gives people pride. Spurs on their efforts. Offers them security. Satisfies their hopes and dreams.

    There is nothing wrong with the wish to have something of your own. Or to pass it on your own. There is no other party which believes in making ownership easier across the generations. But we do. We want more people to gain more, own more, leave more. Yes, and inherit more. I make no apology for that. For if families get richer, so do we all.

    Savings

    In recent weeks a lot has been said about Labour’s policies on income tax and National Insurance. By everyone – except Labour. But in all the comment on their damaging and vindictive proposals, there is one which has yet to be given the attention it deserves. Their carefully calculated plan to hit out at personal savings.

    Any one with more than £3,000 a year from their savings – a worker taking early retirement, a businessman selling a corner shop, a child inheriting a home, would be clobbered by a new Labour surcharge on savings. How can you trust a Party that calls for investment and attacks the investor?

    Mr Chairman, after the success of the home-owning democracy, we must move on. We are a Party that believes – as no other believes – in savings, in shares, in pensions for all. I am proud that as Chancellor I introduced the tax-exempt savings schemes, the TESSAs that are proving so popular. People are showing in their millions that they want, and believe in, Tory savings policies. Saving regularly, with the tax incentive to do so. Partnership with the investor – not the confrontation that Labour would bring.

    Pensions

    People have also shown in their millions that they want Tory opportunity in pensions and share ownership, too. I simply don’t understand why Labour are so hostile to savings. They now say they would scrap help to those with personal pensions. Force them back into the State system. So let me assure you of this, the next Conservative Government will go on encouraging personal pensions and reduce long-term reliance on the State.

    Labour talk of increasing pensions for all. But they say nothing about the obstacles they’d put in the way of people saving up for old age. Nothing about the folly of pushing up taxes to pay out £1,000 million across the board to those in the top half of the income bracket. And nothing about policies which would increase inflation and hit the pensioner hardest. This Government has protected the pensioner, lifted the fear of inflation, and concentrated help where it is needed most. We will stand by our pledges in the 90s.

    Shares

    Another question for Labour – wholly unanswered – is how far they would tamper with or take away the rights of owners of shares. Where they wouldn’t renationalise, they would interfere. Force down dividends. Cut the values of shares. There are 8 million new shareholders who have entrusted their savings to investment in privatised industry through shares. Not one of them – not one of that 8 million could feel safe if Labour crept back.

    For us the question is different. How can we extend share ownership further? My ideal is to see every worker in every firm with a real personal interest in its success. And how can we make it easier to own shares? I want it to be as natural to deal in shares as it is to invest in a building society or bank. It will take time. But that’s the way this country must go.

    Responsibility

    Mr Chairman, our Conservative ideas are the right ideas for the ’90s. The tide is running ever more strongly against the fading grip of the Left. Labour is awash. Adrift. And sinking. Everywhere, all over Europe, the sandcastles of Socialism are slipping away.

    Mr Chairman, there is one responsibility that this Conservative Government, the next Conservative Government, every Conservative Government will always fulfil.

    To defend our nation. No ifs. No buts. No small print. No Kaufman quibbles. Defend our nation. Week by week. Year by year. Quiet. Careful. Cautious. But always on our guard.

    Of course, we want peace. Of course, we want to see more resources available to health, education, and the protection of the weak. In recent years we have shown that, with our policies, we can modernise our defences, and still provide the quality services the nation needs. But for us, defence spending is an insurance premium that, as long as any risk remains, we will continue to pay.

    You don’t need me to tell you the risks that remain. Even in recent years you have seen twice how suddenly an aggressor can strike. In the Falklands. And in the Gulf. In those wars the young men and women of our armed forces – many of them at school or college with you – fought superbly.

    I hope that no-one, ever again, will have to lead this nation in time of war. There is hope of a new spirit in the world. Nine days ago I signed an historic declaration with President Yeltsin. And last Friday we brought the Security Council together at Head of Government level, for the first time in 47 years of UN history. These were both British initiatives. But they offer hope for the world. And whatever it is in our power to do, to strengthen this positive spirit, that, I promise you, we will do.

    But let me also be blunt. There are still dangers ahead. The future is uncertain. The collapse of Communism has brought great opportunities. We will do all we can to help democracy take root in the new Russian Republics. But there is still dangerous instability. And, in the wider world, Saddam Hussein is not the only dictator longing to lay his hand on a nuclear trigger.

    In such a world, as Boris Yeltsin has acknowledged, it is essential to maintain a minimum level of nuclear deterrent. Labour don’t want a nuclear deterrent. They just see it as something to bargain away. But will never take risks with Britain’s defence.

    We will keep a deterrent – a minimum deterrent. Britain must have the capacity to keep a deterrent at sea. Labour don’t want to build it. But I can assure this Conference. We will. The next Conservative Government will complete, and deploy, the fourth Trident submarine.

    Conclusion

    Mr Chairman, in the last two years we have seen 400 million people cast off Communism as the ideals of the free market spread across the world.

    Socialism has failed wherever it has been tried. Now the whole of Europe is throwing it out, neck and crop. Well, let me tell you this. Here in Britain it’s not coming back.

    I know the ambitions you have for our future. The high hopes. I share them.

    The right policies will help us achieve them. The wrong policies would destroy them.

    That is what is at stake at the election.

    For your generation. For every generation. Soon it will be time to choose. And I look to you to be in the vanguard when we win the coming election.

  • Mr Major’s Speech to Young Conservatives Conference – 9 February 1991

    Below is the text of Mr Major’s speech to the 31st Young Conservatives Conference, held at the Spa Complex in Scarborough on Saturday 9th February 1991.

    [Text is from a Conservative Party News Release, some small portions are missing from the original speech]

    PRIME MINISTER:

    In each of the last three General Elections well over a million young people voted Conservative – three times as many first time voters supported us for every two who voted Labour in 1987.

    That is good, but not good enough.

    Why did we enjoy that support? It was because young people shared the values that we care about. I believe we want to strengthen and deepen that commitment.

    I want them to know that the Conservative Party is open to them and to their ideas.

    They will be welcome – and we need them.

    Their idealism.

    Their willingness to challenge accepted wisdom.

    Their readiness to try new ways. And we must respond to their hopes as well.

    To their concern for the sort of life they want to build for themselves.

    Today the world is changing at an unprecedented rate. We cannot be immune from that.

    Our principles and our philosophy are firm. But we must still adapt in order to thrive.

    We must be open to originality, to innovation, and to change. And so long as I am able to ensure it, we will.

    In a few moments I want to share with you some of my thoughts about our priorities for the future.

    But first I want to speak of one group who are uppermost in our minds at present – those in our armed forces in the Gulf.

    A few weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting many of them. They made a lasting impression.

    They had no doubt that the task they had been set was just. And they left me in no doubt that they were wholly equal to that task.

    And since then – night after night and day after day – we have seen them prove that with a skill and courage we can only admire.

    They deserve all the support they can get – and they will get from us all the support they need.

    And when they have done their job we will bring them back home – as soon as we can.

    For here, at home, there are deep anxieties faced by their families.

    I have received in recent weeks many letters from them.

    Some are worried. Some emotional. All proud.

    I believe the whole nation shares those feelings.

    We did not want this war.

    But we have it.

    And we face a difficult period ahead.

    But Saddam Hussein must know what he faces.

    He faces defeat.

    The timing maybe uncertain.

    But the outcome is absolutely certain.

    Because we intend to complete the job they have begun.

    The British people understand very well the key principle underlying the Gulf conflict.

    Throughout history the instinct of Britain has always been to defend freedom.

    To uphold the rule of law.

    That above all is why our troops are in the Gulf.

    For our troops back home and all over it is not enough simply to protect the rights and freedoms that we have inherited. We must look beyond the present.

    We must extend them.

    In the last ten years tremendous advances have been made. Now we must move forward again.

    We must look now at the opportunities that should be there and are not.

    At the choices we do not yet have.

    And at the people who have not yet benefited from change. The success of our Party since 1979 has sprung from our readiness to reform – our willingness to make the changes necessary to produce a better quality of life.

    And I promise you today that great programme of reform will continue in the years ahead

    In our Party we know you have to produce wealth before you can use it.

    Like many other nations, Britain faces economic difficulties at present.

    The next few months will be uncomfortable.

    I regret that.

    But short term expedients won’t do.

    They will only lengthen and worsen the problems themselves.

    We must follow a policy that will cure those problems, not simply mask them.

    That is precisely what people expect of us.

    Every time we have faced economic difficulties we have brought the country out of them.

    We have a good track record.

    And we will come through our problems yet again.

    The centre piece of any strong economy is low inflation. And in that there are good signs for Britain.

    Inflation is coming down, and will continue to fall throughout the year.

    It will halve from its peak.

    And we will still be driving it down.

    There are some who that say inflation doesn’t matter so very much.

    What that shows is that to them people don’t matter so very much.

    Well, people matter to me.

    I know that inflation is the enemy of personal security and peace of mind – for people of all ages.

    It gnaws away at the hard won savings of the pensioner. It disrupts business and destroys jobs.

    It betrays the basic trust in the value of money that lies behind every transaction in our daily lives.

    That is why we must and will defeat inflation as our first priority

    But, you know, when we talk of efficiency, of competition, and of economic success, we do it not for its own sake.

    Not for material reasons only.

    But for what we can achieve with the resources we create.

    In the year ahead we will set out our ideas for the 1990s and beyond.

    We have an agenda to work through.

    Some of those ideas will be tried and tested.

    Some will be new.

    Some will involve novel concepts.

    But all of them will have one thing in common – the long-term needs of this country and the people that live in it.

    Our Party exists to give more people more choice, more independence, more control over their daily lives.

    We know that the role of government should be limited. At present it is still too big.

    But let there be no question about one thing.

    We must never accept the contention that limited Government means lower standards.

    That state services must be second-best.

    I want to see an unending search for better quality in all our public services. When we deprive people of their money in never taxes, they have a right to ensure that it is never wasted in government.

    So I want to see new ideas flowing into public service. More privatisation, yes, of course.

    But also more partnership with the voluntary and private sectors.

    More use of the best private skills.

    For far too long we have tolerated public services that are just not good enough.

    Council house repairs that are shoddy and slow.

    Hospital appointments that take all day.

    Trains that run late and buses that travel in packs. Children refused admission to the schools to which their parents wanted them to go.

    In all of these areas we have been investing enormous sums – in health, in transport, and in education.

    But are we getting proper value?

    We must make those services operate better for the people who use them.

    And operate with the same efficiency within the public sector as we would expect outside the public sector.

    At the top of my personal agenda for the 1990s is education.

    Education is the key to opening new paths for all sorts of people, not just the most gifted and for doing so at every stage of their lives. And it is also the key to the Tory ideal of a mobile, dynamic and diverse society.

    So my objectives are straightforward – improving quality and standards.

    More pupils staying on in education after 16.

    Much more choice, and better training for all young people. I want to see more vocational options in schools of equal rigour and repute to the academic courses.

    And this must go hand in hand with greater coherence and quality in post-school training.

    There has been great progress over the last ten years. Some parts of our education system are unrivalled.

    But others clearly are not.

    Right back to the 60s and before, serious mistakes were made. Tried and tested methods were swept aside.

    Unproven theories were foisted on our children.

    And as a result, standards were lowered. And as a result of that the status of teachers was undermined.

    As a nation we cannot be proud of what has been done over the last thirty years for many of our children.

    Too many of them have been allowed to expect too little of themselves and too many other people have expected too little of them.

    Over a decade ago the Labour Party recognised all this to be true.

    They launched what they called a “great debate” about education.

    But of course it was not debate that was needed.

    It was action.

    As usual, it was left to a Conservative Government to take it up after 1979.

    In 1979 we set ourselves to tackle those problems.

    And since then, we have introduced a great range of reforms in our schools.

    Given more choice and influence to parents.

    More responsibility to governors.

    Set out the building blocks of a new system with better education in the National Curriculum.

    These policies are working.

    More pupils are getting more out of their education.

    There are now five 16 year olds staying on at school for every four just two years ago.

    Ten years ago only one person in eight went on into higher education.

    Now it is one in five.

    And soon it will be one in four.

    We have many more young people graduating from our universities than ever before in the past.

    Those are the real tests of success. And the policies of the Conservative Government have passed them in the last ten years.

    And we are passing them.

    So the 1980s have seen an opening of freedom and choice.

    But I for one have no intention of resting on the Government’s achievements.

    I want to bring the benefits of the best possible education to all. We cannot accept a situation where in some places nearly 40 per cent of school leavers get at least five higher level GCSEs, while elsewhere, less than ten percent do so. The Conservative Party has never accepted the notion that excellence for the few excuses mediocrity for the many.

    It is, of course, the teaching profession that must lead the drive to higher standards and aspirations in our schools. I want to see dedicated teachers rewarded fairly.

    But I also want to see more effective scrutiny of performance in schools.

    And I want the most rigorous standards applied in teacher training.

    We must ensure that every subject is taught to a high standard.

    Teachers may need to be better trained in the subjects they are going to teach.

    It is no good having hours of study of the theory of education if you actually fall down in the practice of teaching it when you get into the classroom.

    So we want to see an educational system that is the equal of anything abroad.

    Doing the basic things well.

    It is not only a question of reading and spelling.

    Although it is most emphatically a question of every child having the right to be taught how to read fluently and spell accurately.

    And it is also teaching to a good standard with the right combination of factual knowledge and critical understanding in every subject.

    And of training people for worthwhile qualifications in job related skills when they choose a vocational course.

    And so what is it we seek? In summary we seek a system of education and training able to equip the children of today for the twenty-first century.

    That is the objective that we will be seeking in our education policy throughout the 1990s.

    And we need that for a variety of reasons, we need it because we need that education, that excellence in education to maximise our success both domestically and in Europe. And also of course, because that education equips people so much better to enjoy all the aspects of life both in work and in leisure, that will be opening up before them in the years to come.

    Above all in the 1990’s we will face a competitive future in a world that is becoming increasingly competitive and most especially in a European community that will become increasingly competitive. There will be no hiding place for inefficiency, no hiding place for the shoddy and the second-rate once we get into the Europe of the 1990’s. That will all change as the reforms of 1992 increasingly come to place. Those who are well equipped and do well, work well, think well, produce well, are efficient and effective will be the leaders of the Europe in the 1990’s. And we are, and will remain, an important and enthusiastic part of the European community. It is simply not enough for some people to say, ‘I don’t really like Europe, but I will tolerate it’, for if we take that view about Europe we will never be the centre of it and can not lead it in the direction which we wish it to go.

    It may be true in some ways that we need Europe but by golly it is equally true that Europe needs us and we had better make sure we are a key part in it.

    It is not only the opportunities in Europe, though I will return to those in a moment. Look at the opportunities opening up in other parts of the world, the increasing democratisation of so much of Eastern Europe, a part of the world that for a very long time indeed we have seen subjugated, and unable to open itself up to a free enterprise system and all the opportunities that will flow from that.

    That is all changing and has been changing in the most dramatic fashion in recent years.

    And then you see the extent to which throughout the whole of South East Asia and elsewhere there are growing industrial giants with whom we will have to compete in the future and then there is the increasingly growing and important market throughout the whole of Latin America. Those are the opportunities that lie there for British industry, British commerce, and British people in the future.

    And to return to the central point, providing we have the education system, the skills and the enterprise we will be able to win in those markets and winning in those markets will mean a much higher standard of life and living for all people who live in this country in the future.

    And nowhere will that competitiveness be more needed than within the European community itself.

    And that is why I say again that we must remain an enthusiastic partner in Europe.

    It is not for nothing that we led the way in the drive for the Single Market. It was not without good reason that we took sterling into the Exchange Rate Mechanism. We propose to play a leading part in Europe’s future and no-one should doubt that for a single second.

    And Britain will have a strong voice in the new Europe. Strong because of our commitment.

    Strong because we have hard heads as well as soft hearts. Strong because Britain under a Conservative Government has firm principles and a very clear idea of where it wants to go and what needs to be done to get there.

    And we will also resist the unworkable.

    Set realism in place of impractical dreams and protect the diversity of Europe while removing obstacles to partnership and enterprise.

    Necessarily you in the Young Conservatives must look to the long-term, to the year 2000 and beyond.

    And so you should.

    It is your future for a good deal longer than it is mine. Your Government has the same instincts. We will set our sights on the same horizon and so we should because it is our responsibility to do so.

    Mr Chairman, I have a total faith in Britain and in its future.

    I don’t accept for a second the craven argument that we cannot compete with the Germans and the French.

    I don’t agree with the pessimists who always believe we must devalue in order to remain competitive and I despise the defeatists who run down this country and write off its future. Defeatism is always an excuse for doing nothing. But we have no intention of doing nothing. In the months ahead our agenda will unfold. Throughout the last decade Conservative Governments have proved successful to an extent beyond most peoples’ imagination. I believe that will be increasingly recognised.

    Throughout the past decade Conservative Government’s have shown very clearly what it is possible for the British economy and people in this country actually to achieve and do. That is a record that people will look back on, I believe, in years to come with some envy and with a considerable amount of pride.