NOTHING is more important to me than keeping the promises we made to you, the British people.
Chief among my party’s manifesto commitments in the 2019 General Election was the pledge to deliver Brexit and take advantage of the great opportunities that leaving the European Union would provide.
After years of parliamentary struggle, Boris Johnson managed to get Brexit done.
He fulfilled that promise against the odds, when many people thought it was near impossible to achieve.
The huge task for the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister will be to deliver the Brexit dividend.
That is the crucial second half of the guarantee we made to people across our great country, when you trusted us with your vote.
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We will make good on our vow. For the future of our country, it is every bit as important that we deliver now as it was to get Brexit done in the first place.
After the damage left by the pandemic, the way forward is not as straightforward as it might have been if Covid had not stopped the world in its tracks. But we will not let the naysayers limit our ambitions.
Realising the opportunities provided by Brexit is well within our grasp. It is there for the taking.
We can seize this chance for the good of our entire United Kingdom.
A key ambition for me as Prime Minister is to deliver that Brexit dividend, to see the UK as a growing force for good in the world, promoting high standards, human rights, free trade and standing up for democracy and freedom.
Together, with a united common purpose, my party will keep this pledge to you.
The freedom we now possess can stimulate a new level of economic growth.
Now that we have left the European Union, we can cut red tape and help our innovators to do what they do best.
We have started that work and we are making progress. But we can do better.
We can go further, faster and free up businesses to invest and create the jobs of the future.
We can simplify the tax system so businesses don’t waste resources on compliance.
On day one as Prime Minister, I would start the necessary work to deliver the Brexit dividend that we know would kick our economy into top gear.
I will be relentlessly focused on the four I’s — investment, infrastructure, incentives and innovation.
These are key to driving growth across our economy, creating the jobs of the future and putting more pounds in people’s pockets.
I’m the Prime Minister that Labour don’t want to face precisely because they know it would be my mission to keep this promise.
They know that, done well, Brexit will allow us to meet the lofty goals of the levelling-up agenda — rejuvenating local communities and revitalising local economies.
They know that the key to the Conservative Party holding the red wall and keeping Labour out of power is achieving the Brexit dividend.
And they know I am the person who will do whatever it takes to deliver it.
I’ve got the positive vision of what post-Brexit Britain can be — and the conviction to back it up.
I have the drive and determination to bring our whole party and the whole country together.
That is why Labour don’t want to see me opposite Sir Keir Starmer in the House of Commons.
Labour know most of all that I would fatally expose how weak their position is on Brexit and how little faith they have in our country now that it has been delivered.
Keir Starmer has desperately tried to convince us he wants to “make Brexit work”.
But what he really means is that he wants to slowly chip away at it and even, subtly, to reverse it.
That is what making Brexit work is to the Labour Party. It’s about slowly but surely undermining what has been achieved so far.
Keir Starmer can’t be trusted to deliver our Brexit dividend because he didn’t reach this position out of principle.
He didn’t come to his latest conclusions because of a deeply held belief in Britain’s potential outside of the EuropeanUnion, as I did.
Or, as was the case for many of my colleagues, Labour didn’t arrive at their position out of a firm and sincere desire to respect the democratic wish of the people.
Big challenges lie ahead to make sure that we keep Labour out of power and deliver the promised Brexit dividend.
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But the prize on offer is too great to fail. It would be the greatest honour of my life to have the opportunity to win such a victory for our country.
As Prime Minister, it would be one of the defining missions of my government.
