Sajid JAVID

This is a vital moment in our politics. A decade after the financial crisis, the warning lights are once again flashing on the global economy. Some of the causes of this are international – mounting trade wars are raising costs and undermining certainty.

Britain is – and will always be – an open economy, so we are not immune to that. But the continued indecision surrounding Brexit is further undermining certainty in our economy and is undoubtedly a further dampener on confidence. We must get it done and put that confidence – and the investment that has been held up during the delays over the past year – into delivering growth and opportunity. We want to leave with a good deal that lays a path to a world-class free trade agreement between Britain and the EU.

The Prime Minister and his team have been working hard in Brussels to finalise the deal. If he does put a deal to Parliament, I urge MPS to back it. But deal or no deal, MPS have a duty to now get Brexit done. In this time of uncertainty it’s clearly what’s best for our democracy and our economy.

Whatever happens inside the Justus Lipsius building, we must end the uncertainty. Leaving without a deal would not be easy, but we’ll be ready. My message to my G20 counterparts in the margins of the IMF Annual Meetings in Washington today is it would not prevent us from embracing the rest of the world.

Britain will be a leading member of the G7 and G20. We’ll be permanent members of the UN Security Council and a leading power in Nato. And we’ll be a close friend and neighbour to the EU, while being freer to build stronger relations and grow our trade with the rest of the world.

We need global solutions for a global economy. We are entering a new era. As the new IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said last week, the global economy is slowing down, protectionism is becoming a reality not just a threat, and questions are being asked about the right balance of monetary and fiscal policy. She is right about the challenges this will pose.

At the Budget next month, I will reveal more details of my plans for an infrastructure revolution in every corner of our country. We will need to borrow money to fund a decade of renewal – but with rates at historic lows, it’s the right thing to do. Others are taking the same path – in the past year, Australia has announced Aus $100 billion investment in infrastructure over the next decade. We have already moved quickly and last month increased spending by £13.4billion next year on the public’s priorities of hospitals, schools and the police – but I am determined we won’t cast off our fiscal anchor by recklessly spending more than we can afford.

Labour want a totally unfeasible, unaffordable level of new spending, while choking private investment. They’ve never understood that it’s a dynamic, free enterprise economy that generates the wealth that funds our public services.

That’s why, even with a new focus on investment and growth, I am absolutely committed to making sure our public finances are sustainable. That combination of responsible economic management, investing in our longterm infrastructure, and boosting our public services is the right approach for our times. From a decade of recovery, to a decade of renewal.