Michael Gove’s Speech to Conservative Party Conference

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, speaking today at 14:00 on the main stage of Conservative Party Conference, Manchester said:

[Here we are - bright lights - great atmosphere - enthusiastic young people.

It reminds me of my last night out on the town Aberdeen.

Dance like nobody’s watching they say...

Well I did…

….but they WERE watching!

And I know many people have recently been asking…

….why a middle aged man spent more than an hour non stop….

…. unleashing a series of wildly un-coordinated gestures in front of a bewildered audience….

….who were left wondering if this was some sort of bizarre attempt….

... to go back to the eighties.

But enough of Keir Starmer’s conference speech.

And there was MORE than enough of it.

Yet it couldn’t cover the truth about the Labour Party revealed last week.

They say they can now be trusted on security….

….but voted against our nuclear alliance with Australia and America

They say they’ve abandoned anti-Semitism….*

…. but voted to condemn the Jewish people’s homeland….

…. in the most one-sided and prejudiced fashion

They say they’ve embraced fiscal rigour….

….but voted for hundreds of billions of new spending….

….without any idea where they money will come from.

Soft on security, weak on extremism, high on debt….

...this Labour Party is not fit to govern.

There is no WAY they can unite and lead our country forward.

That mission falls to US.

And it is at the heart of the new department the Prime Minister has asked me to lead.

We are committed to levelling-up every part of the United Kingdom….

... unleashing the potential of all…

... recognising that…

... while talent is spread equally across our country….

….opportunity is NOT.

Children born in Blackpool….

... are no less gifted than those in Beaconsfield…*

...but their GCSE results, job prospects and university offers don’t reflect that.

That’s WRONG.

Life expectancy for men in Glasgow…

…. is years lower than in Surrey.

That’s WRONG.

Wealth-creators and entrepreneurs in London and the South-east…

...enjoy access to finance, to transport connections and to infrastructure….

...that those starting businesses in the North of England or Northern Ireland just don’t have.

That’s WRONG.

It HAS to change.

Our country voted for change…

... decisively….

...in 2016 and 2019.

The old EU model was rejected.

People voted against growth and opportunity centred in ONE part of our country….

...with wages kept down for many….

... and the rewards of financial success restricted to a few. *

They voted for a new Government…

...this PEOPLE'S Government….

….to make opportunity more EQUAL.

And that social justice mission is a deeply CONSERVATIVE mission.

Making opportunity more equal is what drove Disraeli to want to bridge the divide between two nations…

... the rich and the poor.

Making opportunity more equal is what Margaret Thatcher did when she allowed working people to buy their own homes…

…. brought Nissan to Sunderland…

….and opened the original academy schools in our inner cities.

Making opportunity more equal is what Boris did as mayor of London…

... cutting crime in the poorest neighbourhoods….

... opening free schools for the disadvantaged…

….and improving life expectancy for the most vulnerable.

Never let anyone claim…

…. that wanting all our children to grow tall…

…. is a left wing idea.

The left want to keep people in their place….

…. so that minorities can be patronised….

…. the country can be polarised and ambition is PARALYSED.

We want everyone to have the chance to choose their OWN future….

….own their OWN home…*

…walk the streets in safety…

….and live their BEST life.

Levelling up means four things.

We want to strengthen local leadership…

... to drive REAL change.

We will raise living standards…

...especially where they are lower.

We will improve public services…

...especially where they are weaker.

And we will give people the resources necessary….

...to enhance the PRIDE they feel in the place they live.

And if you want to see all four in action…

... and see levelling-up in reality….

... come to Tees-side

The Conservative mayor exemplifies great local leadership.

He is bringing tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs to the area….

...to give many more a better life.

He is changing the face of transport and further education….

…. to ensure services work better for all….

…. and especially those who’ve been overlooked in the past. *

And he’s changing the face of Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Hartlepool ….with new businesses and brighter high streets….

….giving those towns their pride back.

Tees-side….

….neglected for decades under Labour….

…... its proud heart nearly broken….

…. now revived….

…. regenerated, renewed….

... by the CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP….

...of the amazing….

….BEN… HOUCHEN!

That is levelling up…

…. in ACTION.

That is our party’s mission for the WHOLE country.

In my department….

...that will mean investing in urban regeneration…

... with new homes on neglected brownfield sites…

...a better deal for those in social housing…

…. and helping more of those who currently rent to own their own homes.

Our mission will also mean keeping faith with the victims of Grenfell….*

...honouring their memory…

…. making everyone’s home safer and greener….

….and sharing the cost of that work more fairly.

And it will mean empowering local government…

... to make a bigger difference for good….

….allowing communities to take back control of their futures…

….and creating greener and more beautiful places to live.

But EVERY department in this Government….

….must be a department for levelling-up.

And every part of the United Kingdom…

... will SHARE in this mission.

We are the Government…

... of the WHOLE United Kingdom.

We should be in no doubt about what a special…

…. and successful place our United Kingdom is.

The UK is a multi-national…

...multi-ethnic….

... multi-cultural success story….

... where the son of a bus driver from Pakistan…

…. can sit alongside the daughter of refugees from Uganda…

... in a CONSERVATIVE cabinet. *

No other country can boast such diversity and dynamism.

We are the best place in the world….

...to BE who you want….

…. and LOVE who you want.

To free your mind…

…. and share your DREAMS.

To be creative and constructive.

To make…. invent...nurture…

….and GROW.

We have so much of which we can be so PROUD of across this United Kingdom.

But on the one side….

... we have the separatists of the SNP….

…. who want to break up this family of nations.

And on the other a militant LEFT….

...who want to denigrate our past….

...and DIVIDE us in the future.

This party and this Government….

...will NEVER allow that to happen. *

This country…

...this KINGDOM….

…..is UNITED in pride

….and stronger TOGETHER.

Proud to be PLURAL….

...to be progressive….

….and….

….most of ALL….

…..proud…

....to be BRITISH!!!!

Thank you.