Dominic Raab's speech to the Conservative Party Conference

Dominic Raab, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, speaking today at Conservative Party Virtual Conference

“Conference, let me begin by saying,
To every councillor, every member, every supporter …
To everyone who pounded the pavements during the general election,
Thank you, because you did it, you delivered… a Conservative majority of 80.

You worked your hearts out.

You redrew the political map of Britain.

And you gave this country a stable and patriotic government.

Led by this Prime Minister,
United as one party,

Working together,
We won a historic victory.

And from the moment the ballots were counted,

We knew the scale of the opportunity and the task that lay ahead …

To deliver on the trust that the people of this country,

Many for the first time, placed in us.

And then Coronavirus struck.
It shook the world, and it hit us hard … taking lives on a tragic scale.

Every community scarred.
Every one of us affected.

It nearly took the life of our Prime Minister, our friend as well as our leader.

You know, I get asked a lot how I felt, when I covered for him.
Well, I really worried we might lose him.
And I was worried for Carrie pregnant with baby Wilf.
But I always had faith that, with the outstanding NHS care he received and his fighting spirit… he’d pull through.

Above all … faced with the greatest challenge in a generation,

I hoped and prayed … that we as a nation would be equal to it.

And I have to say … for every hurdle we faced, with every heart-rending loss,
There was also … a tale of courage, a moment of inspiration.

The hospice worker who told me how she and her team comforted patients in their last moments …

When no one else could be there, because of COVID.

The sight of our armed forces at their brilliant best …

Building Nightingale hospitals, delivering PPE to care homes.

The community spirit I saw first-hand in Esher and Walton, repeated across the country, of volunteers stepping up to the plate to deliver food and medicines to the most vulnerable.

I’ll never forget the stoic smiles from weary residents … some isolated for months, who just refused to be cowed.

Of course there will be lessons to be learnt from this unprecedented global pandemic.
But, the greatest lesson … lies in the challenges we can overcome, the scale of what we can achieve, when we in this country all come together.

And that’s our mission as a Conservative government,
As we build our economy back, stronger and greener,
As we level up opportunities for every child, no matter what background,

And as we reinforce all four nations of our precious union.

And, friends, we’ll only realise our full potential,

With a truly global vision for Britain …

And it’s only the Conservatives that believe Britain can and should still play that role in the world.

The rest of them don’t.

We’re the ones.

We delivered Brexit ... as promised …

Taking back control over our laws, our borders and our money.

Yes, we want a Free Trade deal with the EU.

But any deal must be fair,
The days of being held over a barrel by Brussels … are long gone.

Under the Conservatives, there is no question:
Our government will control our fisheries,
Our Parliament will pass our laws,
And our courts will judge them.

As masters of our own destiny, we’ll forge new free trade deals.
Like the one we just signed with Japan.

I’ve just got back from Vietnam and South Korea, where we’re building Global Britain as a buccaneering free trading nation, with our growing focus in the Indo-Pacific …

Expanding UK trade into AI and tech to create the well paid jobs of the future, and cut the cost of living here at home.

One of the lessons we Conservatives take from Coronavirus …
Is that when we come together, we can be even bigger than the sum of our parts …
And an even stronger force for good in the world.

That’s why we brought together our diplomatic muscle with our financial clout,
By merging the Foreign Office and DFID into a new Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
Because, we have greater impact when all areas of British foreign policy are properly joined up.

That’s what we found fighting Coronavirus.

We used our aid budget to fund British scientists to pursue a vaccine,
We hosted the global vaccines summit,

And we smashed the target for funding.

That way, we can protect the British people, always our first priority …

But it’s also the way we can shield the most vulnerable in the poorest countries, who lie at the mercy of a second global wave that would threaten us all.

But tell me conference, why do some people find it so hard to take pride in this great country of ours?
And why do the positive things we achieve … get so little air time?

IPSOS Mori recently surveyed young people globally to see what they thought of countries around the world.

You’d think from some of the debate here at home, that Britain was rock bottom.

My friends, we came top.

Young people around the world say the UK is the most attractive country.

Our institutions are the most trusted.

Oh, and by the way, we ranked third before the referendum in 2016.

So around the world young people aren’t deterred by the renewed pride we take in Britain.
And, no, they’re not offended when we sing Land of Hope and Glory.

No, they’ve been inspired by our decision to stand tall so we can realise our full potential as an independent nation.

So, as Conservatives, we’ve got a responsibility, I’d say a solemn duty to our children …
Not to shrink into the shadows,
But to look to the stars.

We’re a science superpower … leading that search for a COVID vaccine,

At a moment in history, when more than ever … the world needs that kind of ambition.

We’re standing up for our values, steeped in historic commitment …
By offering the people of Hong Kong …
Threatened by China’s draconian new security law …
The right to build a better life in Britain, and a pathway to citizenship.

And, as Conservatives… we’re proud to do it.

It was this Prime Minister … who had the moral courage to enact Magnitsky sanctions,

The first ever human rights sanction regime in this country,

Which we’re using to target those running the gulags in North Korea,

Those persecuting the Rohingya in Myanmar,

Alexander Lukashenko and his henchmen in Belarus, brutally attacking peaceful protestors,

And the Kremlin cronies who directed the torture and murder of Sergei Magnitsky himself.

When I first met Sergei’s wife Natalia I promised her I would campaign for justice for the crimes against her husband … and it was this government that delivered.

And it will be this Prime Minister, bringing the world together next year in Glasgow,
When we host the global climate change talks …

So that as we recover from Covid, we bounce back stronger, and we bounce back greener.

That’s Conservative leadership, that’s Global Britain.

And what about the Labour Party?

They can’t be trusted to make Global Britain a reality.

Only last year, Keir Starmer was asking this country to make Prime Minister, a man who wants to cosy up to Britain’s enemies.

Jeremy Corbyn may have gone but the instincts that led Labour to elect him haven’t.

And the people of this country know, when it comes down to it, Labour won’t stand up for Britain.

Conference, we’ve faced relentless challenges.

Hung Parliaments.
Two general elections in three years.
The scars of the Brexit debate.
And now a cruel pandemic the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

But adversity has never daunted us ...

So let the flame of inspiration … from the nurses, the care workers, the soldiers, the volunteers, who rallied to face down this deadly virus … let their lodestar guide our way.

Let’s fire up our confidence as a party,

Let’s rediscover our self-belief as a country.

Because a summit is within our reach.

The 2019 election gave us the greatest opportunity we’ve had in 30 years …

And now, we must grasp it.

So let’s deliver the tech innovation …
Let’s level up opportunities for every child …

Let’s reinforce the bonds of our four great nations …

And let’s re-establish our rightful place in today’s world … as a truly global Britain.

We can do it, and we will do it.”