My party – the Conservatives – lost the last general election for good reasons. In government the party lost sight of our values and got too many things wrong. As a new MP, in the two years or so since, I have worked hard with my colleagues to make sure we change and come up with the policies Britain needs.
Our party conference was an opportunity to show the country that this is what we have done, and I am so pleased that we took the chance with both hands. The policies we launched were well worked through and very serious. 50,000 new prison places. A national missile defence system. The abolition of quangos like the Environment Agency and Natural England. A lower level of employers’ National Insurance contributions for younger workers. And taking the family home out of inheritance tax altogether.
This is all about making the Conservatives the party of hard work, aspiration and home ownership once again. These are the values with which I was brought up – and I know they are values shared by millions of people. You can watch Kemi’s speech to the conference here.
In my own conference speech, I announced our plan to build 50,000 new prison places and return consequences to the criminal justice system. Prison works because it incapacitates: it takes those who would do us harm off the streets and into custody where they can no longer cause us harm. But we have insufficient prison capacity – and our plans mean we will be able to reverse Labour’s early release schemes, restore the effective abolition of short-term sentences, and make a reality of this promise: if you are a violent criminal or a repeat offender, we will lock you up
