Conference, even though we are seeing some of the Cabinet Ministers trying to change the conversation today. So far, anything from steve barclay� s speech that you think was weighty enough that might turn the Conversation A Little Bit . Ida. Weighty enough that might turn the Conversation A Little Bit . Conversation a little bit . No. Dont think so. Conversation a little bit . No. Dont think s0 i Conversation A Little Bit . No. Dont think so. I think Conversation A Little Bit . No. Dont think so. I think h52 Conversation A Little Bit . No. Dont think so. I think h52 will Conversation A Little Bit . No. Dont think so. I think h52 will continue l think so. I think hs2 will continue to dominate the headlines, partly because the government is refusing to discuss it. We think we know broadly what will happen probably over the next couple of days, which is the manchester to birmingham leg isnt going to happen, the money that was supposed to be used for that was supposed to be used for thatis that was supposed to be used for that is probably going to be spent elsewhere, like on better infrastructure dedicated for the north of england in the midlands around birmingham. But we dont know for sure because the government wont discuss it. Rishi sunak has been stonewalling questions about it saying he will not be rushed into a decision. The thing is, if you speak to most around here, they think the decision has been made itsjust the twos are being cross but there is this situation where we are in manchester, the place where hs2 is supposed to end its probably not going to happen but nobody is quite managing to lance the boil in terms of Government Communications to say this is what we are doing, lets move on. Its been constantly hanging over things. We move on. Its been constantly hanging over things. Move on. Its been constantly hanging over things. We have Rishi Sunak Sneaking hanging over things. We have rishi sunak speaking to hanging over things. We have rishi sunak speaking to the hanging over things. We have rishi sunak speaking to the bbc hanging over things. We have rishi sunak speaking to the bbc this sunak speaking to the bbc this morning. Lets listen to what he had to say about hs2. I know theres lots of speculation but all i can say is im not going to be forced into a premature decision because its good for someones tv programme. What i want to do is make the right decision for the country. This is an enormous amount of peoples money, taxpayers money, everybody watching, billions and billions of pounds. We shouldnt be rushed into things like that. What people would expect from me is to take the time to go over it properly and make sure we make the right long term decision for the country, thats what im interested in doing. I think thats what politicians should be doing and i think thats what the country wants to see. Heres the former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne voicing his concerns over the potential scrapping of the second leg of hs2. I think itd be a great tragedy, as ive said, to cancel hsz, its the biggest levelling up project the country has got and in the end, if you want to make long term decisions, and i fully support rishi sunak in wanting to make those long term decisions, that includes huge investments in infrastructure like hsz. So i hope its not too late and the cabinet sticks with the policy of previous conservative and labour administrations and goes ahead with this project. So is it your view then that this isnt a long term decision for a Better Future . What i really think is that hsz will do a fantastic amount to connect the country up and build that Northern Powerhouse. Weve built the line to birmingham, we should continue to manchester, and i hope the government sticks with the policy that after all it so enthusiastically advocated in the past. Do you think they are failing northern voters . I think there is a great opportunity to deliver for northern voters by investing in the infrastructure of the north. Im a huge fan of the line across the pennines, h53 or Northern Powerhouse rail. I was the first person to propose it, so im all for going ahead with that, but its not a substitute for hsz and its not an alternative to hsz. Those projects should go ahead together. We will cross back to the conference because michael gove, the levelling up because michael gove, the levelling up and housing secretary, is speaking now. I up and housing secretary, is speaking now. Up and housing secretary, is speaking now. Up and housing secretary, is sueakin now. ,. ,. , speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. Speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. I speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. I want speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. I want to speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. I want to thank speaking now. I want to begin with a word of thanks. I want to thank you, j word of thanks. I want to thank you, every single one of you in the hall, your friends, every single one of you in the hall, yourfriends, family, the army every single one of you in the hall, your friends, family, the army of conservative activists, members and supporters. Its thanks to you, your unstinting efforts, energy and enthusiasm that we have conservatives in government. And we conservatives have a record that we can be proud of. Consider the facts, we have delivered. We have delivered better State Schools than ever before. With our children the most literate in the western world. And there are more students from State Schools now at our best universities. We have more students securing top grades in maths, physics and chemistry. Our universities are the best in europe and they are growing. We also have record numbers in employment. We have created i million more newjobs while in government because welfare is simpler, fairer and better targeted. We have taken Hundreds Of Thousands completely out of income tax, families have many more hours of Free Childcare and since covid, our economy has grown faster than france or germany. We have delivered the First National living wage, same sex marriage and the most diverse government over. Stronger defence with two new aircraft carriers, new new submarines and a strengthened nato. We have delivered the fastest decarbonisation of any major economy and we are World Leaders in offshore wind, by the leaders in offshore wind, by the leaders in offshore wind, by the leaders in reforming farming and we have shown World Leadership in protecting our oceans. Brexit has been delivered and membership of the worlds Fastest Growing trade bloc secured. And there is now more than £350 million extra a week for our nhs. Applause. We are showing promise applause. We are Showin Romise made,. We are showing promise made, romised. We are showing promise made, promised delivered. We are showing promise made, promised delivered. And. We are showing promise made, promised delivered. And we. We are showing promise made, promised delivered. And we are l promised delivered. And we are showing leadership in al, gene technology. We have delivered eight points based migration, the union has been strengthened, devolution has been strengthened, devolution has been strengthened, devolution has been delivered and nationalism is in retreat in scotland. We deliver the fastest vaccine roll out in the world, we have been ukraines strong supporter against the evil of putins regime and we are an indispensable partner in fighting for freedom, indispensable partner in fighting forfreedom, democracy and indispensable partner in fighting for freedom, democracy and a indispensable partner in fighting forfreedom, democracy and a better world applause. Weve got a record to be proud of. The conservative record. A record of delivery against the odds and a record that every of us should be proclaiming, every single day from now until the next general election. Because this is a record which will us victory. Applause and we will take the fight to the labour party. The and we will take the fight to the labour party and we will take the fight to the labour party. The party ofjeremy corb n labour party. The party Ofjeremy Corbyn and labour party. The party Ofjeremy Corbyn and his labour party. The party Ofjeremy Corbyn and his selfproclaimed i corbyn and his self proclaimed friend sir keir starmer. Sir keir starmer who was against brexit then wanted to accept brexit, then wanted a second referendum on brexit. Then he said he wanted to make brexit work and then last month he said he wanted a brexit which was identical to eu membership. He was saying as he always does whatever he thought people in the audience wanted to hear. Sir keir starmer is the jellyfish of british politics. Laughter. He is transparent, spineless and swept along by the tide. Under sir keir starmer, labour is the party of procrastination, provocation but it is never prepared to stand up for our nation. It is the part of high unemployment and the part of high unemployment and the highest debt and deficits. As the highest debt and deficits. As the party of low ambition, there were standards in schools and always the line of least resistance in the face of left wing Pressure Groups at home and threat support. We have a message from this hall for labour and sir keir. We will fight, fight and sir keir. We will fight, fight and fight again the country we love and there is so much to love about our country. Though you might not always think that if you relied on twitter for your news and the guardian for your views. There is a tendency to denigrate our country, to denounce our party and to see a decline in the future. But the country that the left depicts is not the United Kingdom we know. This is a country which welcomes refugees from hong kong, afghanistan and ukraine. A country which invest billions fighting Climate Change in the poorest countries in asia. We fight poverty in africa and tyranny everywhere. We are a country with the most diverse and inclusive conservative government in the west. A Foreign Secretary whose mother came from sierra leone, a Home Secretary whose family are from kenya macro and mauritius. Under rent his grandparents came here from kenyas indian by aspirin. Our Prime Minister rishi sunak. Die aspera. Rishi is an inspiration to so many and is an example of what our open, generous great nation stands for. Opportunity for all, generous great nation stands for. Opportunity forall, hard generous great nation stands for. Opportunity for all, hard work rewarded, prejudice vanquished, service to others and courage in the fight. We are so lucky to have rishi as our Prime Minister and he will lead us to victory at the next election. Forwhile lead us to victory at the next election. For while we have achieved so much together, there is still much more to do. And i am blessed that in that endeavour i have a superb team of ministers and officials alongside me. Rachel macleay, reforming the planning system, fighting for more homes, standing upfor system, fighting for more homes, standing up for small businesses. Lee rowley delivering funding for local government and stopping the lib dem nonsense of a four day week delivering poorer public services. The great jacob young, the engineer of levelling up supporting our towns to flourish. Felicity buchan tackling Anti Semitism with our bill to lead the stigmatisation of the worlds onlyjewish state by the far left and our heroine in the lords, the wonderfuljamie scott, a champion for Council Tenants let down by labour authorities. Can we thank them all . Applause. And can i also thank everyone in this hall and beyond who serves in local government. Our counsellors and former councillors are the stars who guide our path forward. The local heroes who are responsible for thousands of acts of kindness and leadership every day. Can we all salute our counsellors and everyone in local government who do such a greatjob. Applause. Our counsellors remind us we win as a team and as a team we have so much more to do. We need to ensure that every family, every family has a safe, decent, warm home. We need to ensure many young people can have a home of their own and we are on track to deliver a million new homes in this parliament. We need many more. And our Long Term Plan for housing will deliver the attractive, affordable new homes that we need. We will build in the hearts of towns and cities and on brownfield times because it revitalises high street and protects the green belt. We will ensure they are energy efficient, zero carbon ready and built to the highest standards because we are not just the party of opportunity and ownership, we are the party of beauty and nature. That is why we will resist the proposals of the labour party and now the lib dems, too, to build all over the green belt and destroy precious natural habitats. Labour must not be allowed to take our fields, meadows and forests away from our children and we will stop them applause. Under the conservatives we will have a Beautiful Built Environment and an enhanced natural environment. By investing and building on our cities and towns, we will power the regeneration of communities let down by labour in the past. Across the north of england, the midlands, across the whole of our uk, it is conservatives who are levelling up, bringing High Qualityjobs and bringing high quality jobs and Companies BringingHigh Qualityjobs and companies to communities which were neglected by the left. In red coat its a conservative mayor who is bringing 4000 newjobs. In walsall it is a conservative mayor andy street bringing new homes and new greenjobs. In blackpool, its conservatives who secured millions of pounds for a new town centre, new couege of pounds for a new town centre, new College Places and new hope. We are also working in mansfield, worksop, grimsby and accrington, dudley and ashfield, in towns across our country which are the backbone of britain to bring newjobs, new opportunities and new hope. In our towns the values of hard work and solidarity, common sense and common purpose, endeavour and quiet patriotism have enjoyed across generations. But our towns have been overlooked and undervalued by labour, denied the support they need, denied the action against Anti Social Behaviour that they have demanded, denied the investment that they deserve. Thats why we are investing in our Long Term Plan for 55 towns across the United Kingdom, to ensure that in the country we love, no community is left behind. We can make that investment because we make tough choices and that is what government requires. And that is what conservatives deliver. And conservatives in government have never been more necessary than now. Because only we can deliver the long term changes that this country needs. Only the conservatives have the determination to stay the course and to bring inflation down