Диссертация (1168845), страница 90
Текст из файла (страница 90)
Giving power to our people. Spreading home ownership. Creating work.Winning the Cold War. Saving the Falklands.I asked her about her record once.482I was sitting next to her at a dinner - and I was really nervous.As ever she was totally charming, she put me at ease ...... but after a while I said: "Margaret, if you had your time in Government again, is there anythingyou'd do differently?"And she turned to me and said: "You know, I think I did pretty well the first time around."Well we can all agree with that - and we can all agree on this ...... she was the greatest peace-time Prime Minister our country has ever had.LABOUR'S MESSMargaret Thatcher had an almighty mess to clear up when she came to officeand so did we.We will never forget what we found.The biggest Budget deficit in our peace-time history.The deepest recession since the Second World War.But it wasn't just the debt and deficit Labour left,it was who got hurt.Millions coming here from overseas while millions of British people were left on welfare.The richest paying lower tax rates than their cleaners.Unsustainable, debt-fuelled banks booming - while manufacturing withered away.The North falling further behind.Towns where a quarter of people lived on benefits.Schools where 8 out of 10 children didn't get five decent GCSEs.Yes, they were famously "intensely relaxed" about people getting filthy rich ....but tragically, theywere also "intensely relaxed" about people staying stuck on welfare year after year..."intensely relaxed" about children leaving school without proper qualifications so they couldn't hope toget a job at the end of it.That was it.
That was what they left. The casino economy meets the welfare society meets the brokeneducation system ...a country for the few built by the so-called party of the many.and Labour: we will never let you forget it.OUR MISSIONThese past few years have been a real struggle.But what people want to know now is: was the struggle worth it?And here's the honest answer.The struggle will only be worth it if we as a country finish the job we've started.Finishing the job means understanding this.Our economy may be turning the corner - and of course that's great. But we still haven't finishedpaying for Labour's Debt Crisis.If anyone thinks that's over, done, dealt with - they're living in a fantasy land.This country's debt crisis, created by Labour, is not over.After three years of cuts, we still have one of the biggest deficits in the world.We are still spending more than we earnWe still need to earn more and yes, our Government still needs to spend less.I see that Labour have stopped talking about the debt crisis and now they talk about the cost of livingcrisis.As if one wasn't directly related to the other.If you want to know what happens if you don't deal with a debt crisis.....
and how it affects the cost of living ...... just go and ask the Greeks.So finishing the job means sticking to our course until we've paid off all of Labour's deficit, not justsome of it.483And yes - let's run a surplus so that this time we fix the roof when the sun is shining ...... as George said in that brilliant speech on Monday.To abandon deficit reduction now would throw away all the progress we've made.It would put us back to square one.Unbelievably, that's exactly what Labour now want to do.How did they get us into this mess?Too much spending, too much borrowing, too much debt.And what did they propose last week?More spending, more borrowing, more debt.They have learned nothing - literally nothing - from the crisis they created.But finishing the job is about more than clearing up the mess we were left.It means building something better in its place.In place of the casino economy, one where people who work hard can actually get on.In place of the welfare society, one where no individual is written off.In place of the broken education system, one that gives every child the chance to rise up and succeed.Our economy, our society, welfare, schools....
all reformed, all rebuilt - with one aim, one mission in mind:To make this country, at long last and for the first time ever, a land of opportunity for all.For all.So it makes no difference whether you live in the North or in the South, whether you're black or you'rewhite, a man or a woman, the school you went to, the background you have, who your parents were.... what matters is the effort you put in, and if you put the effort in you'll have the chance to make it.That's what the land of opportunity means.That's what finishing the job means.Of course I know that others in politics may talk about these things.But wishing for something, caring about something - that's not enough.You can't conjure up a dynamic economy, a strong society, fantastic schools all with the stroke of aminister's pen.It takes a mixture of hard work, common sense and - above all - the right values.When the left say: you can't expect too much from the poorest kids; don't ask too much from people onwelfare; business is the problem, not the solution.Here in this party we say: that's just wrong.If you expect nothing of people that does nothing for them.Yes, you must help people - but you help people by putting up ladders that they can climb throughtheir own efforts.You don't help children succeed by dumbing down education....you help them by pushing them hard.Good education is not about equality of outcomes but bringing the best out of every single child.You don't help people by leaving them stuck on welfare....
but by helping them stand on their own two feet.Why? Because the best way out of poverty is work - and the dignity that brings.We know that profit, wealth creation, tax cuts, enterprise...... these are not dirty, elitist words - they're not the problem...... they really are the solution because it's not government that creates jobs, it's businesses.it's businesses that get wages in people's pockets, food on their tables, hope for their families andsuccess for our country.There is no shortcut to a land of opportunity. No quick fix. No easy way to do it.You build it business by business, school by school, person by person....
patiently, practically, painstakingly.484And underpinning it all is that deep, instinctive belief that if you trust people and give them the tools,they will succeed.This party at its heart is about big people, strong communities, responsible businesses, a bigger society- not a bigger state.It's how we've been clearing up the mess.And it's how we're going to build something better in its place.So let's stick with it and finish the job we've started.ECONOMYA land of opportunity starts in our economy.The chance to get a decent job. To start a business.
To own a home.And at the end of it all - more money in your pocket.To get decent jobs for people, you've got to recognise some fundamental economic facts.We are in a global race today. No one owes us a living.Last week, our ambition to compete in the global race was airily dismissed as a race to the bottom......
that it means competing with China on sweatshops and India on low wages.No - those countries are becoming our customers.and we've got to compete with California on innovation; Germany on high-end manufacturing; Asia onfinance and technology.And here's something else you need to recognise about this race.The plain fact is this.All those global companies that employ lots of people - they can set up anywhere in the world.They could go to Silicon Valley. To Berlin.And yes, here in Manchester.And these companies base their decisions on some simple things: like the tax rates in each country.So if those taxes are higher here than elsewhere, they don't come here.And if they don't come here, we don't get those jobs.Do you get that, Labour?British people don't get those jobs.Last week Labour proposed to put up corporation tax on our biggest and most successful employers.That is just about the most damaging, nonsensical, twisted economic policy you could possibly comeup with.I get to visit some amazing factories in my job.One of my favourites is Jaguar Land Rover......
not just because they actually let me get in a car and drive it around on my own...... but really because I get to meet people there who are incredibly proud of their work and theircraftsmanship...... the fact that what they're making sells around the world - the best of British design and engineering.So when Ed Miliband talks about the face of big business, I think about the faces of these hardworkingpeople.Labour is saying to their employers: "we want to put up your taxes. don't come here - stick your jobsand take them elsewhere".I know that bashing business might play to a Labour audience.But it's crazy for our country.So if Labour's plan for jobs is to attack business - ours is to back business.Regulation - down.
Taxes - cut for businesses large and small. A new industrial policy that looks to thefuture - green jobs, aerospace jobs, life science jobs.We've made a good start: 1.4 million new jobs created in our private sector since we came to office ...... and that is 1.4 million reasons to finish the job we've started.In a land of opportunity, it's easier to start your own business.To all those people who strike out on their own, who sit there night after night...485... checking and double checking whether the numbers stack up...... I say I have so much respect for you - you are national heroes.I'll never forget watching Samantha do just that - winning her first customer, sorting out the cash flow,that magic moment when she got her first business cards printed.I was incredibly proud of her then - and I am incredibly proud of her now.People setting up new businesses need finance - that's why we've brought in Start-up Loans.They need their taxes cut - and we're doing it - up to £2000 off your National Insurance bill for everysmall business.And it's working.Let me tell you how many businesses have started up in Britain since the election: over 300,000.That is 300,000 more reasons to finish the job we've started.In a land of opportunity, more people must be able to own a home of their own.You know that old saying, your home is your castle?Well for most young people today, their home is their landlord's.Generation Y is starting to become Generation Why Do We Bother?Millions of them stuck renting when they're desperate to buy.I met a couple on Sunday - Emily and James.They'd both had decent jobs, but because they didn't have rich parents, they couldn't get a big enoughdeposit to buy a house.And let me tell you where I met them.In their new home, bought with our Help to Buy mortgage scheme.It was still half built.
but they showed me where the kitchen would be.Outside there was rubble all over the ground, but they'd already bought a lawn-mower.And they talked about how excited they were to be spending a first Christmas in a home of their own.That is what we're about.And this, the party of aspiration is going to finish the job we've started.In a land of opportunity there's another thing people need.the most important thing of all.more money in their pockets.These have been difficult years.People have found it hard to make ends meet.That's why we've frozen council tax.and why we are freezing fuel duty.But we need to do more.
I know that.We've heard Labour's ideas to help with the cost of living.Taxes on banks they want to spend ten times over.Promising free childcare - then saying that actually, you've got to pay for it.An energy promise they admitted 24 hours later they might not be able to keep.It's all sticking plasters and quick fixes ...
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