At last, she’s tackling our real concerns

WHAT a dramatic contrast to last year, when everything from her vocal cords to the letters on the conference backdrop seemed to conspire against her. From the moment she bopped on to the stage yesterday, Theresa May radiated confidence and self- deprecating good humour, along with the common sense, decency and dogged refusal to be bullied or beaten that have become the hallmarks of her premiership.

Less than 24 hours earlier, she had endured a sustained attack from Boris Johnson, hungry as ever for her job – while on the very morning of her speech, an obscure Tory backbencher sought to make a name for himself by demanding her removal from No 10.

It was water off a duck’s back to Mrs May. Without stooping to bitterness, she dismissed Mr Johnson with an elegant put- down, reminding the conference of his four-letter attack on businesses nervous about Brexit.

As for that publicity-seeking backbencher, she let his posturing pass without comment, leaving him to slip back into the obscurity from which he had momentarily emerged.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister had an eloquent warning for the former foreign secretary and his fan club. They would do well to take it to heart. ‘If we all go off in different directions in pursuit of our own visions of the perfect Brexit,’ she said, ‘we risk ending up with no Brexit at all.’

But while hers was a message of realism and pragmatism, it was also one of optimism and hope. If the party united behind her proposal, she said (she didn’t use the word ‘Chequers’, in deference to those for whom it has become a dirty word), the rewards would be enormous.

Indeed, a good deal would mean nothing less than the end of austerity. ‘Debt as a share of the economy will continue to go down,’ she said, ‘support for public services will go up.’

But the Prime Minister had assurances, too, for those Brexiteers who fear a sell-out. Yes, leaving without a deal would be bad for both the UK and the EU. But this didn’t mean striking an agreement at any cost.

If the terms on offer were wrong for Britain – keeping us in the EU in all but name, preventing us from striking independent trade deals or driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the kingdom – she was not afraid to walk away.

In a withering passage that will delight Leave voters, she also ruled out a second referendum. They call it a ‘People’s Vote’, she said, but it would be nothing of the sort. ‘A second referendum would be a “politicians’ vote” – politicians telling people they got it wrong the first time and should try again.’

But this speech wasn’t all about Brexit. Far from it. It was the speech of a Prime Minister determined to address the public’s everyday concerns, with practical measures to tackle the housing shortage, improve cancer care and rail services and bear down on the cost of living.

Most significant of all, it offered a welcome to Labour voters seeking a refuge from Jeremy Corbyn’s ugly extremism, with his tolerance of anti-Semitism, hostility to the wealth- creating businesses that finance public services and wild promises that would land taxpayers with a £1trillion bill.

‘They want to support a party that is decent, moderate and patriotic,’ she said. ‘One that puts the national interest first, delivers on the issues they care about and is comfortable with modern Britain in all its diversity.

‘We must show everyone in this country that we are that party.’

To judge by the conference’s enthusiastic reception of her speech – described by many as the finest of her career – most Conservatives have little doubt about who should lead such a party. Indeed, Mr Johnson and those who seek to oust her look decidedly less threatening today.