David Cameron’s Speech to the Welsh Conservative Party.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, speaking today at the Welsh Conservative Party Conference in Cardiff said:

“It’s good to be with our Welsh Tory team. And what a brilliant team we have.

From his Cowbridge farm to Cardiff Bay – Andrew RT Davies.

From Ysgol Pontardawe to the Wales Office – Alun Cairns.

From a Haverfordwest council house to the Cabinet table – Stephen Crabb.

And from every corner of this great nation to the House of Commons – David Jones, Guto Bebb, Glyn Davies, David Davies, Simon Hart and Jonathan Evans…

…and let me say, Jonathan, how grateful we are for all you have done for our Party.

And you know what? There are so many great candidates I want to see joining them on those green benches.

Michelle Willis – fighting for Ynys Mon.

Laura Knightly – in Alyn and Deeside.

And Edward Yi He – born in China, learning Welsh, a steelworker by trade.

We’ve got just over two months until polling day.

Now is the time when everyone, our whole Conservative family, comes together…

…when we print out those leaflets, slap up those billboards, and hit the streets.

Yes there will be some hills to climb – in Wales, literally and metaphorically.

But friends: we have a great story to tell…

…a story that will ring out across the staunchest Labour valley and the stubbornest Plaid town…

…that will ring true with first-time voters and those who haven’t cast a ballot in decades.

That story consists of five simple messages…

…and these are the five messages I want you to get out there and tell people – until you are blue in the face and they go blue on the ballot paper.

 

PARTY OF WALES

Message one: the party of Wales isn’t Labour or Plaid, who treat this place as their own personal fiefdom…

…the party of Wales are the Conservatives.

Because look at this country today – after five years of Government, what do we see?

Out of the ashes of the Great Recession, a new Wales is being born…

…one that is growing faster than any other UK nation – and faster than France and Germany too.

We have got Pinewood Studios gearing up to make the blockbusters of tomorrow…

…Hitachi set to generate the nuclear power of the future…

…Wales making electronics for China, equipment for our troops – and every wing of every Airbus plane in the world.

Friends – we need to tell everyone who did all this…

…who faced up to the difficult decisions, fought for that investment, sealed those deals – it was us.

It’s not Labour sorting out the M4 – it’s us.

It’s not Carwyn Jones who’s the driving force behind electrifying the mainline to Swansea and the Valley lines – it’s us.

They didn’t secure the future of S4C – we did.

They’re not backing the heavy industries and the new technologies, the blue collar workers and the rural communities – we are.

We’re the party of Wales, not Labour – and everyone in this room can be proud of that.

 

PARTY THAT TURNED AROUND THE ECONOMY

Here’s message two: we’re the party that turned around the economy.

Cast your mind back five short years.

A Great Recession – the deepest in peacetime history.

A mammoth deficit – one of the largest in the Western world.

And one country – Wales – hit harder than any other UK nation.

I think of the effect of the crash on people here.

Of the shop worker calling his spouse to say he’d been let go…

…the entrepreneur seeing the business she’d got off the ground being shut for good…

…of the school leaver wondering what his future would hold.

Our plan is turning all this around.

Cutting the deficit. Creating jobs. Cutting people’s taxes. Capping benefits.

How is it going?

Well last week we saw the lowest inflation since the 1960s.

The highest levels of employment since records began.

Wages growing well ahead of prices.

And the deficit falling.

Here in Wales there are 40,000 more people feeling the security of holding down a job and bringing in a wage.

To all those people and more we can say “we have cut your taxes”.

That’s right – 1.1 million working people in Wales have had their income tax cut thanks to our plan…

…and a further 140,000 Wales alone are paying no income tax at all.

We don’t just talk about helping hardworking people and those on low incomes – we deliver it.

The plan is working. And don’t just take it from me.

There’s the OECD, the renowned economists, who this week hailed it “the textbook recovery” – a shining example to others nations.

There’s the International Monetary Fund – you know, the people who bailed Britain out in the 70s – who called our recovery “exactly the sort of result we want to see”.

There’s Barack Obama, who took one look at Britain’s economy and said we “must be doing something right”…

…and yes Barack, Britain is doing something right – it’s being run by Conservatives.

So put it up in lights.

Shout it from the mountain tops.

When it comes to the economy, there’s only one party you can trust to deliver security in Wales – and it’s us, the Conservatives.

 

PARTY OF DEVOLUTION

Message three: we’re the party that is bringing real devolution to Wales.

A couple of hours ago we had a historic moment at the Millennium Stadium.

The Deputy Prime Minister, the Welsh Secretary and I strode out together to announce sweeping new powers for Wales.

OK – it’s not quite up there with Sam Warburton leading out the winning team.

But this is real power for Wales – just as we delivered for Scotland.

We said we’d have those powers ready by Burns Night – and we did…

…and here we are, two days from St David’s Day, with powers for Wales on the table.

And by real power I mean real responsibility – an Assembly not just responsible for spending money but actually having to raise it too.

And it’s real power within Wales, too – what I call real devolution.

Only Conservatives understand that real devolution doesn’t just mean giving powers to Cardiff, but pushing those powers beyond Cardiff and out to people, so they have more control over their lives.

Because that’s what we as Conservatives believe – more power to you.

So Labour don’t lay claim to the mantle of “party for Wales”.

They certainly don’t lay claim to “party that turned the economy around”.

And neither can they really be “the party of real devolution” – because we are – and don’t let them or anyone forget it.

 

PARTY OFFERING SECURITY IN A DANGEROUS WORLD

Message four: we’re the only party offering security in a dangerous world.

You know, one of my highlights over the last five years was welcoming the leaders of the world to NATO.

I didn’t bring them to London, or Edinburgh, or Manchester…

…I brought them here: to South Wales.

There were some great moments at Celtic Manor:

Seeing tanks and fighter jets parked on the fairway…

…hearing Barack Obama wishing everyone “bore da”…

…watching presidents and prime ministers leave with Welsh cakes, whisky and the works of Dylan Thomas.

But this was about something more than showing off Wales to the world…

…it was about Wales – and Britain’s – place in the world.

Look around. We live in an increasingly dangerous and insecure world.

The only certainty is uncertainty.

And let’s not be in any doubt: the threats we see are threats to our security and stability right here at home.

When we’re fighting Islamist extremism, we’re not just dealing with something that is wrecking countries from Iraq to Syria, from Yemen to Nigeria…

…we’re dealing with something causing people in our own country – men from Cardiff, girls from outstanding schools in London – to be taken in by this poisonous ideology to turn against the country where they were brought up.

So these are threats on our own streets, in our own communities.

When it comes to Ukraine and the appalling actions promoted by Russia, it’s not just from history that we know we mustn’t appease bullies trying to redraw the map of Europe – and that we need to stand up to them.

In the end, we know our own economic success and our national security depends on a system where people obey the rules.

I’m a Conservative. I know that security is the first responsibility of Government.

I will do whatever it takes – whether it’s making sure we have strong defences…

…renewing our nuclear deterrent…

…equipping our Armed Forces with the things they need…

…ensuring intelligence services can intercept and stop terrorist plots, even when using the most modern technology…

…passing laws in Parliament to make us more secure – as we have done twice in the past year…

…or whether it’s putting the obligation on every public body to fight extremism, because this is a battle we’re all in.

You know with me you have someone who will put our national security first – who will do whatever it takes.

And you have with us a party – the only party – that, in a dangerous world, is committed to keeping this country safe and secure.

 

PARTY WITH THE RIGHT VALUES

Message five is what matters most of all – our values.

The right policies, the best team, a strong record to run on – these are all vital.

But it’s what’s in our hearts that matters most.

Why? Because it’s the values we hold that determine the actions we take.

There’s a reason we back strong defence…

…because we have a fierce patriotism and love of our country – and we know that security comes before everything else.

There’s a reason we cut taxes…

…because we believe people should keep more of the money they earn to spend as they choose.

There’s a reason we’ve made difficult decisions to cut the deficit – a big reason…

…because there is no way on earth we want to be the ones who leave unsustainable debts from this generation for our children and grandchildren to pay.

There’s something else that unites everyone in this room…

…values that are fundamental to Conservatives: that if you put in, you should get out.

So yes – there’s a reason we’ve capped welfare…

…because it was frankly unacceptable that people could claim more on benefits than the average family earned in work.

When we saw that unlimited housing benefit, we knew that was wrong – because why should someone be able to sit at home all day in houses that those going out to work can only dream of?

So we have helped more than 900,000 out of the welfare trap and into work…

…and brought the number of people on out-of-work benefits in Wales to a six-year low.

More people with dignity, more fairness – Conservative values in action.

Of course, no one has worked longer or harder than our elderly.

Too often in the past, older people got a raw deal.

They got pitiful pension increases, when everyone else’s wages were rising.

They were penalised for saving, even though they were brought up being told that was the right thing to do.

They were forced to buy poor value annuities, feeling like they weren’t trusted with their own money.

One of the things we most wanted to do in office was change all that.

My friends – we’ve done it.

The Triple Lock means the State Pension goes up at earnings, prices, or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest.

That’s really meant something. In this Parliament it will have gone up by £950 a year.

We’re getting rid of that unfair means test with a New State Pension coming in next year – at £151.25 a week.

Instead of people having to buy an annuity, we’re letting them spend their money as they choose.

And yes – we’re keeping the Winter Fuel Payment, free bus passes, TV licences, prescriptions and eye tests.

And there’s a reason for that – a very good reason – and that’s because, as Conservatives, we believe people deserve dignity and security in retirement.

When I announced that on Monday, some said it was unfair – that we were giving “too much” to old people.

Too much?

These are the people who have given us everything.

They founded and fought for our very way of life.

When Britain was down, they built it up.

They’re the D-Day veterans of the 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers…

…the Severn Bridge engineers who crossed that great river…

…they’re our mums, dads, grannies, grandfathers.

This is the least we can do for them.

So that’s what we need to get out and tell people…

…that these are our values – and this is what they’re giving you: more money in your pocket; reward for work; dignity in retirement – helping to turn Wales around.

 

CONCLUSION

It’s crunch time in just 69 days.

A vote for anyone other than the Conservatives – Labour, the Lib Dems or Plaid – risks Ed Miliband becoming Prime Minister.

So voters have a straightforward choice:

Between the competence of the party that has got Wales this far…

…and the chaos of the party so adept at doing it harm.

Between the strong leadership of our team…

…and the weak leadership of theirs.

Between strong local candidates who will get the best deal for your area…

…or those who will just use it for a platform for their left-wing ideology.

I say to them: choose the party of Wales.

Choose the party that’s turned the economy around.

Choose the party of real devolution.

Chose the party that’s giving you security in a dangerous world.

And yes – choose the party with the right values…

…because these are the values that will see us through.

It’s St David’s Day in two days – and Wales can rightly be proud.

The nation of song is back in full voice.

The Welsh dragon is roaring again – and it’s not red, it’s blue.

The party of Wales is delivering for Wales…

…and on May the 7th we must absolutely make sure we continue doing so…

…for your country, your family and for your future.”