A strong leader is needed for fight to come

If anyone had any doubts about the importance of this election, the events of the past week should have put them to rest. With the publication of the Labour Party’s manifesto on Tuesday, and the launch of my own plan on Thursday, it is clearer than ever just how much is at stake.

Labour’s plan – with its fantastical promises and utopian vision – would drag this country back to the past. It would undo all the progress we have made, return us to the days when the trade unions held sway, and put our economic security at risk. It is a despairing document from a divisive party, written and shaped by a leader who doesn’t understand – or like – our country.

Jeremy Corbyn has spent decades apologising for Britain. He accuses me of wanting to wrap myself in the Union flag, as if that were a term of abuse. It’s little wonder even traditional Labour voters look at what he believes in and are appalled.

He has disowned and rejected the core values of Labour’s most loyal supporters to put his own extreme ideological obsessions first. The prospect of him walking through the door of Number 10, flanked by John McDonnell and Diane Abbott and propped up by the Liberal Democrat and nationalist parties, should scare us all.

And make no mistake, it could happen. The cold hard fact is that if I lose just six seats I will lose this election, and Jeremy Corbyn will be sitting down to negotiate with the presidents, prime ministers and chancellors of Europe.

Yet with his manifesto this week, he has demonstrated that he is simply not up to the job of leading Britain through the critical years ahead.

Manifestos are a test of leadership. They force leaders to choose their priorities, reckon with great challenges and face up to difficult decisions. Jeremy Corbyn has failed that test. His shambolic prospectus ducks all the difficult decisions we face as a country, threatening to bring chaos to Britain and selling future generations short.

I believe in being upfront and straight with people.

We face some great challenges as a nation. How to make sure our economy stays strong; how we ensure Britain emerges from Brexit stronger, more united and more confident than ever before; how we overcome social divisions, spread opportunity and make Britain the world’s Great Meritocracy; how to restore the contract between generations, providing security for older people while being fair to the young; and how we seize the opportunities on offer in a digital world. We cannot wish these challenges away. But with a government that steps up, shows leadership and takes the big, sometimes difficult decisions that are right for Britain in the long term, we can see them as opportunities instead.

The government I lead will be that active government. A mainstream government that delivers for mainstream Britain.

WE will leave the European Union and the single market, and take control of our borders, our money and our laws – because we respect the will of the British people and recognise that, however they voted, people just want us to get on with the job of delivering Brexit.

We will bring net migration down to sustainable levels to tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands – because when immigration is too fast and too high, it is difficult to build a cohesive society.

We will ensure taxes are low and money is targeted on the right priorities because Conservatives know it is taxpayers’ money and we have a duty to spend it well.

And we will invest in the future to ensure each generation is able to do better than the last.

We will continue to pay down our nation’s debts because it is wrong to pass to future generations a bill you cannot or will not pay yourself.

The next five years will be critical for Britain. Our future prosperity, our place in the world, our economic security and the opportunities we want for our children – and our children’s children – all depend on getting the best Brexit deal for Britain. That will require leadership from a prime minister that is strong enough to stand up for Britain, and a government that is stable enough to steer the country safely through the negotiations ahead.

With his manifesto this week, Jeremy Corbyn has shown he is simply not up to that task. for that reason, and because of the chaos his plans would unleash on this country, I will redouble my efforts in the weeks to come to earn every vote. That will strengthen my hand when I negotiate in Europe and help me build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Britain.

A country our children and grandchildren are proud to call home.