End to austerity as
THERESA May declared an “end to austerity” in her conference speech yesterday as she unveiled plans to spend more on health and housing.
In her keynote address in Birmingham, the Prime Minister told the country that the “hard work has paid off” after a decade of trying to rebalance the books left by Gordon Brown’s Labour government and the financial crash.
Mrs May said the Government “gets it” and told voters that their sacrifices over the past decade meant that “better days are ahead”.
She pledged that after the spending review next year the Government will be able to start spending more on public services, with debt already 80 per cent down.
Major announcements included lifting the cap on councils being able to borrow to build new homes in a move that could see 10,000 houses built a year and restore Margaret Thatcher’s “promise of home ownership”.
She also repeated her pledge to spend an extra £20billion on the NHS.
With a nod to the controversial Vote Leave battle bus figure of a £350milliona-week dividend to the Health Service from leaving the EU, she pointed out that she will be delivering “an extra £394million every single week”.
Mrs May, who has been criticised at times for appearing to be cold and emotionless, displayed her human side with a reference to her goddaughter who lost her life to cancer.
To a hushed room, she said: “Cancer can strike any of us at any time. A few years ago, my goddaughter was diagnosed with cancer.
“She underwent treatment and it seemed to be working. But then the cancer came back. Last summer, she sent me a text to tell me that she was hoping to see another Christmas. But she didn’t make it.” Revealing plans for a new cancer strategy to help with early detection she said that it could save 55,000 lives.
Mrs May said: “Through our Cancer Strategy, we will increase the early detection rate from one-in-two today, to three-in-four by 2028.
“We will do it by lowering the age at which we screen for bowel cancer from 60 to 50 by investing in the very latest scanners and by building more Rapid Diagnostic Centres – one-stop shops that help people get treatment quicker.”
She added: “Every life saved means precious extra years with friends and family. Every life saved means a parent, a partner, a child, a godmother spared the pain of losing a loved one before their time.”
Mrs May also underlined that she understood the sacrifices people have made to help the country get the economy back on track.
She pledged that there “must be no return to [Labour’s] uncontrolled borrowing” but said the end of austerity “is now in sight.”
She went on: “Our message must be this: We get it. We are not just a party to clean up a mess, we are a party to steer a course to a better future.
“Sound finances are essential but they are not the limit of ambition.”
In a direct message to people across the UK, she said: “Because you made sacrifices, there are better days ahead.”
And she said the “broken market”