Tom Tugendhat has said a Margaret Thatcher-style “Conservative revolution” is the only way the party can win back voters at the next election. In the leadership candidate said lower taxes and higher economic growth can only be delivered if the party rediscovers its core values. Addressing delegates in Birmingham, he insisted the in five years’ time and warned the “country can’t afford Labour”.
In a 20-minute speech said the Tories must “rescue our country” from “ ”. The shadow security minister said: “The fightback starts now. From healthcare and immigration to security and education we will deliver.
“And we can bring down taxes but not if we treat these symptoms separately – that is a prescription for managed decline. “We can only fix the problem if we diagnose the cause and it starts with our economy. Real growth, not the illusion of growth that has been boosted by migration.
“That’s left us poorer and more vulnerable. We need to free the economy, we need a new Conservative revolution. That’s what Thatcher did, that’s what we must do again.
” He said that the Tories must sweep aside excess regulation and state intervention that was hampering both businesses and public services. The party must “remember that Conservative delivery starts with the patient and the pupil, not the faceless bureaucrat”, he warned. Mr Tugendhat, , repeatedly said his military record meant that he understood how to lead.
He had for their “management experience around the Cabinet table” and said they would doom the party to repeat the mistakes of the past. The also said that he was proud of Britain’s history and it was time for people to stop “talking our country down”. “Over hundreds of years we’ve defended freedom around the world and we’ve always known what our flag means,” he told conference.
“Britain has been on the right side of history and I’m proud of our history. Unlike Labour I will never apologise for who we are and the country we can be.” Mr Tugendhat recommitted to previous pledges including introducing a legal cap which would limit net migration to 100,000 people a year.
He also said there was a need for significant reform of the NHS to sweep away bureaucracy and put greater focus on patient care. “Let’s be honest, our health service is not the envy of the world,” he said. “Our doctors and our nurses are fantastic but the bureaucrats in charge slow down their ability to deliver.
“It’s not about money – we need to strip away excess regulations and barriers and put the patient at the centre of care.” The shadow security minister added that Britain needed to build more nuclear power plants to secure its energy security and more homes for young families. He warned against following the path taken by Germany, which he said had become too reliant on cheap Russian gas and trade with China.
“The lesson from Germany is stark,” he said. “They bet on cheap Russian energy on fast Chinese growth and they left their borders open.”.
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Tom Tugendhat calls for Thatcher-style new ‘Conservative revolution’
Tom Tugendhat has said a Margaret Thatcher-style “Conservative revolution” is the only way the party can win back voters at the next election.