BREXIT MEANS BREXIT , SAYS MAY
She pledges no second referendum – and no tax rises in pitch to be PM
THERESA May pledged to unite both the Conservative Party and the country yesterday as she declared there would be no new tax rises to balance the nation’s books.
As chaos broke out elsewhere in Westminster, the Home Secretary launched her bid for No 10 with a promise to bring political and economic stability.
Now the favourite to be the next Prime Minister, she also gave a binding commitment to take Britain out of the EU and reduce immigration, saying: ‘Brexit means Brexit.’
Vowing to be a one nation Tory presiding over a country that ‘works for everyone’, Mrs May promised families they would not be hit by new tax rises while she was in charge.
She ripped up George Osborne’s commitment to get the country back in surplus by 2020, saying: ‘While it is absolutely vital that the Government continues with its intention to reduce public spending and cut the budget deficit, we should no longer seek to reach a budget surplus by the end of the Parliament.
‘If before 2020 there is a choice between further spending cuts, more borrowing and tax rises, the priority must be to avoid tax
‘I’m the best person to be Prime Minister’ ‘I know I’m not a showy politician. I don’t tour the TV studios. I don’t gossip about people over lunch. I don’t go drinking in Parliament’s bars. I don’t often wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me’
increases since they would disrupt consumption, employment and investment.’
Her campaign was launched at 9.30am yesterday, minutes after Justice Secretary Michael Gove derailed Boris Johnson’s prime ministerial ambitions, but before the former mayor of London had withdrawn from the race.
Flanked by cheering MPs and Cabinet ministers, Mrs May portrayed herself as the stability candidate who had been tested in tough times – deporting terrorists and facing huge national security challenges.
She said: ‘My pitch is very simple. I’m Theresa May and I think I’m the best person to be Prime Minister of this country. If ever there was a time for a Prime Minister who is ready and able to do the job from day one, this is it.’
In what was seen as a swipe at her rival Mr Gove, she said: ‘I know some politicians seek high office because they are driven by ideological fervour. I know others seek it for reasons of ambition or glory.
‘My reasons are much simpler. I grew up the daughter of a local vicar and the granddaughter of a regimental sergeant major. Public service has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember.
‘I know I’m not a showy politician, I don’t tour the TV studios, I don’t gossip about people over lunch, I don’t go drinking in Parliament’s bars. I don’t often wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me.’
She added there was ‘a great hunger’ in the Tory party for the ‘one nation vision’ of building a ‘Britain for all of the people’ that she represented. Mrs May said: ‘Under my leadership the motives of the Conservative Party will never be in any doubt and our actions will be bold.
‘We have immediate work to do to restore political stability and economic certainty, to bring together the party and the country and to negotiate a sensible and orderly departure from the EU.
‘But more than that, we have a mission to make Britain a country that works not for the privileged and not for the few, but for every one of our citizens.’
Her commitment to deliver Brexit, despite campaigning to remain in the EU, was intended to reassure Tory Eurosceptics that she will deliver on the will of voters.
It was backed by a promise to create a new Cabinet post of Minister for Brexit, which will always be held by a Leave campaigner.
Last night, she had built a commanding lead on her rivals in winning the support of MPs, with around 62 declarations.
The Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb has 20, Mr Gove 11, Liam Fox has nine and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom seven.
Candidates with the fewest votes are removed one at a time, until only two remain. The final decision is then taken by the Tory party’s 150,000 members. Polls suggest Mrs May has a commanding lead among the party’s grassroots and yesterday bookmakers made her the odds-on favourite.
Leading Brexiteer Chris Grayling, Leader of the Commons, will chair her campaign. Energy Secretary Amber Rudd, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and International Development Secretary Justine Greening have already declared support.
Junior minister Mrs Leadsom, 53, one of the leading lights of the 2010 intake of Tory MPs, launched her insurgent leadership campaign yesterday by pledging to ‘deliver on the promise of the referendum’.
In a dig at Mrs May, she said it would be ‘very difficult’ for someone who campaigned to stay in the EU and ‘who thinks there will be disaster if we leave to suddenly turn it around and start believing that we can make a go of it’.
Meanwhile, launching his bid for the party leadership, Dr Fox, 54, painted himself as a ‘man of the people’ and said staying in the EU’s single market would be a ‘betrayal’ of Leave voters.
The MP for North Somerset said he was standing because it was about the ‘possibilities’ for Britain.
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