(Check against delivery)
“Thank
you very much everybody. It’s great to be here in Harrow today and it’s great
to be with you all this morning. As we move into the next phase of this vitally
important general election campaign the local elections are now behind us and
we must now focus on the critical general election and we cannot take a single
thing for granted. Now we’ve certainly not taken anything for granted as
regards our team because we’ve brought together a fantastic team of local
candidates for London and the South East, and my message to people in London
and the South East is that I need this team behind me, to be in a strong
position to ensure we get the best deal for Britain from Europe. And this is
the team that will be going out on the streets and taking out on those streets
our positive message, which is a message of strong and stable leadership in the
national interest. Of strengthening the UK’s hand in the Brexit negotiations,
of building a better future.
Now
yesterday, a new French President was elected. He was elected with a strong
mandate which he can take as a strong position in the negotiations. The UK, we
need to ensure we’ve got an equally strong mandate and an equally strong
negotiating position. And if we vote for me and my team it will strengthen my
hand in those Brexit negotiations. And the alternative is to risk making Jeremy
Corbyn Prime Minister and just imagine try and picture him sitting at that
negotiating table with the collective might of the European Commission and 27
other European countries against him. And we know as Patrick [McLoughlin] said,
other parties are lining up to prop him up in a coalition of chaos. The Liberal
Democrats, the Scottish nationalists and others. A vote for any other party is
a vote to be a step closer to Jeremy Corbyn sitting at that Brexit negotiating
table. We must not let that happen and we must in not letting that happen we
can do that by winning support here in London and the south east. And we must
also make sure that we point out the nonsensical policies that Jeremy Corbyn
and the Labour party are putting forward, they simply don’t add up because they
would wreck the economy and render all their promises totally undeliverable.
Now
by contrast we’re putting together credible and deliverable policies. Policies
that are in the national interests, policies like protecting workers pensions
against irresponsible bosses, like capping energy prices to support working
families, bringing in new mental health laws to end injustice. Those are the
positive messages that you will be taking out on the streets over the next few
weeks. And when I say taken out on the streets I mean taking them out on the
streets. As I said, we must take absolutely nothing for granted and it is only
by working flat out between now and the 8th of June that we can gain
the trust of the British people and gain the support of the British people. And
we must go out there, leave no stone unturned, no street un-walked down, no
door un-knocked on as you go out there, because every vote counts, every vote
counts, because every person counts and every community counts.
And
I’ve been a Member of Parliament for 20 years now, had the privilege to be an
MP for 20 years. And I’ve learned how important it is to get out there to speak
directly to voters and to listen to their concerns. And that’s my instruction
to candidates at this election is to go out there and to earn the support of
the British people. I’ve also learnt over the years that you can’t predict election
results, the polls got it wrong in the 2015 general election, they got it wrong
in the EU referendum and Jeremy Corbyn was a 200/1 outside chance to win the
Labour leadership. So take nothing for granted, as I say go out there take our
positive message to people, earn the support of the British people, show that
they can trust you, that they can trust me and my team in taking those Brexit
negotiations forward and getting the best deal for them. That is the positive
message that we must take out on the streets in the coming weeks. And if we do
that, and if we win their support, if we show that every vote for me and my
team is a vote for strong and stable leadership in the national interest, that
every vote for me and my team is a vote for strengthening our hand in these
Brexit negotiations, for getting the best possible deal for Britain from
Europe, that every vote for me and my team to lock in economic security for a
better future across the whole of the United Kingdom. If we do that and win the
support of the British public then together we can strive for Britain, together
we will fight for Britain and together we will deliver for Britain. Thank you.”
ENDS
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