Amber Rudd

Theresa May handled the speech misfortunes with grace. They should not distract from her message

The day of the Prime Minister’s speech turned out to be something none of us, in politics, among the pundits, simply no one, could have predicted. It’s probably one of the easiest days sketch writers have ever had. They only really had to put pen to paper and repeat the facts. The jokes about “F off ” and “dropping Es in Manchester” are still merrily in circulation on Twitter.

But to continue to dwell on the trio of mishaps (I am not going to try to pretend they weren’t) would be an incredible shame. Yes, good presentation is a vehicle for enhancing people and policies. But if the presentation fails we have to look beyond the wrapping and see what is actually contained in the package, to see the substance of it.

It is people’s lives. It’s what we can deliver for you, the country. It’s how the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, and all of us, will continue making our economy stronger, building on taking the lowest paid out of income tax, on having more people in work than ever before and on establishing a new National Minimum Wage.

It’s how we get the best deal from Brexit for Britain. For my part, that means taking advantage of the opportunities in front of us, to build a new immigration system that will deliver on the result of last year’s referendum. I’m committed to working with business, both large and small, to make sure we don’t impose unnecessary burdens or create damaging labour shortages. With my colleague, Brexit Secretary David Davis, we have proposed an ambitious new security treaty, so that, even as we leave the EU, we can work with our European allies to keep us safe.

There were also this week key announcements from colleagues across the board: on smart ticketing on our railways, on increasing penalties for the worst acts of animal cruelty, new contracts for the Royal Navy and a 25 per cent increase in the supply of qualified nurses graduating into the NHS. We will deliver a new maximum penalty for publishing information about our armed forces, police or intelligence agencies for the purposes of preparing an act of terrorism.

And we are all standing alongside Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – even if he takes a little nudge to get up – as he looks to make the most of our global possibilities and partnerships.

It’s about how we can make sure there are real opportunities for all, so that each generation has it better than the last. Certainly at present, many of our young people simply don’t believe that, and they feel little optimism when they look to the future. We have a chance to change that, and we must. Because the answer isn’t some kind of Corbynista socialist utopia – they don’t exist. On the current Corbynista model, they’re places where our journalists daren’t go without bodyguards, and the type of state violence currently on the streets of Venezuela is a price apparently worth paying.

So this is what we, Theresa May’s Government, want to do; to set out a better path, one that actually leads to a prosperous, secure and united country. We can do that, and we will under her leadership. She should stay.

So we shouldn’t let our attention be taken away from what the Prime Minister’s speech and this conference was really about. Yes, on a personal note, it was at times a little hard to watch, as her throat and voice caused her such difficulties. She dealt with it with guts and grace. She had had a heavy cold. Haven’t we all been taken aback when an illness suddenly causes the voice to crack and sometimes dry up completely? It’s impossible to anticipate, and a crazy coincidence that it happened to our PM, at conference, live on television.

A cough shouldn’t distract us from a new generation of council houses to help fix our broken housing market. Nor a “prankster” from the fact we are capping energy bills to lighten their burden on families and individuals. It would be wrong for a few wobbly backdrop letters to stop people realising that we are tackling the injustice and stigma of mental health.

So, we’re getting on with the job in hand. Do not doubt that the Prime Minister’s absolute commitment to tackling injustices is a real one. And as the Prime Minister also said this week, we are at a turning point for the nation. Trust that it is us who will take Britain in the right direction.