名人演講:The Lady's Not for Turning 我絕不轉(zhuǎn)彎[瑪格麗特·撒切爾]

The Lady's Not for Turning 我絕不轉(zhuǎn)彎
—— Margaret Thatcher 瑪格麗特·撒切爾

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[00:00.00]Mr Chairman,

[00:01.79]ladies and gentlemen,

[00:03.26]most of my cabinet colleagues

[00:06.44]have started of their speeches of reply

[00:09.82]by paying very well deserved tributes

[00:13.32]to their junior ministers.

[00:16.10]At Number 10,

[00:17.52]I have no junior ministers.

[00:21.16]There is just Denis and me,

[00:24.32]but I could not do without him.

[00:34.22]I am, however,

[00:35.74]very fortunate in having

[00:37.96]a marvellous deputy

[00:40.34]who is wonderful

[00:41.40]in all places

[00:42.62]at all times

[00:43.94]in all things

[00:45.10]Willie Whitelaw.

[00:53.55]At our party conference last year

[00:57.15]I said that the task

[00:59.07]on which the government was engaged

[01:01.54]to change the national attitude of mind,

[01:05.45]was the most challenging

[01:07.17]to face any British administration

[01:09.59]since the war.

[01:11.62]Challenge is exhilarating.

[01:14.91]This week we Conservatives

[01:16.91]have been taking stock,

[01:18.68]discussing the achievements,

[01:20.63]the setbacks and the work

[01:22.24]that lies ahead

[01:23.76]as we enter our second parliamentary year.

[01:28.17]As you said,

[01:28.83]Mr. Chairman,

[01:30.20]our debates have been stimulating

[01:31.89]and our CRIticism have been constructive.

[01:35.25]This week has demonstrated

[01:37.54]that we are a party united

[01:40.58]in purpose, strategy and resolve.

[01:53.27]And we actually like one another.

[02:03.23]When I am asked for a detailed forecast

[02:06.54]of what will happen

[02:07.61]in the coming months or years,

[02:10.64]I remember Sam Goldwyn's advice:

[02:13.68]Never prophesy,

[02:15.66]especially about the future.

[02:20.31](Interruption from the floor)

[02:21.92]Never mind,

[02:25.78]it is wet outside.

[02:26.38]I expect that they wanted to come in.

[02:38.66]You cannot blame them;

[02:40.59]it is always better where the Tories are.

[02:55.92]And you,

[02:57.38]and perhaps they,

[02:58.51]will be looking to me this afternoon

[03:00.74]for an indication of how the government

[03:03.27]sees the task before us

[03:05.36]and why we are tackling it

[03:06.52]the way we are.

[03:08.54]Before I begin,

[03:09.61]let me get one point out of the way.

[03:12.54]This week at Brighton

[03:13.91]we have heard a good deal

[03:15.24]about last week at Blackpool.

[03:17.81]I will have a little more to say

[03:19.54]about that strange assembly later,

[03:22.84]but for the moment I want to say just this.

[03:25.99]Because of what happened at that conference,

[03:29.39]there has been,

[03:30.75]behind all our deliberations this week,

[03:34.19]a heightened awareness that now,

[03:37.99]more than ever,

[03:38.94]our Conservative government must succeed.

[03:42.88]We just must,

[03:56.53]because there is even more at stake

[03:59.47]than some had realized.

[04:01.55]There are many things to be done

[04:03.21]to set this nation on the road to recovery,

[04:06.41]and I do not mean economic recovery alone,

[04:10.42]but a new independence of spirit

[04:13.61]and zest for achievement.

[04:16.59]It is sometimes said

[04:18.26]that because of our past,

[04:20.29]we, as a people,

[04:22.00]expect too much

[04:22.77]and set our sights too high.

[04:25.01]Mr. Chairman

[04:26.02]that is not the way I see it.

[04:28.05]Rather it seems to me

[04:29.89]that throughout my life in politics

[04:32.32]our ambitions have steadily shrunk.

[04:35.61]Our response to disappointment

[04:37.67]has not been to lengthen our stride

[04:41.77]but to shorten the distance to be covered.

[04:44.25]But with confidence in ourselves

[04:46.58]and in our future,

[04:48.41]what a nation we could be!

[04:59.05]In its first 17 months,

[05:01.07]this government

[05:01.73]has laid the foundations for recovery.

[05:05.01]We have undertaken

[05:05.97]a heavy load of legislation,

[05:07.70]a load we do not intend to repeat

[05:10.44]because we do not share

[05:12.52]the socialist fantasy

[05:14.02]that achievement is measured

[05:15.54]by the number of laws you pass.

[05:23.17]But there was a formidable barricade

[05:25.51]of obstacles that we had to sweep aside.

[05:28.54]For a start,

[05:29.90]in his first budget

[05:31.36]Geoffrey Howe began to rest incentives

[05:34.45]to stimulate the abilities

[05:36.43]and inventive genius of our people.

[05:39.27]Prosperity comes not from

[05:41.44]grand conferences of economists

[05:44.21]but by countless acts

[05:46.09]of personal self-confidence

[05:48.43]and self-reliance.

[05:51.41]Also under Geoffrey's leadership,

[05:54.39]Britain has repaid

[05:56.21]$3,600m of international debt,

[06:02.26]debt which had been run up

[06:03.83]by our predecessors.

[06:05.24]And we paid quite a lot of it

[06:06.97]before it was due.

[06:18.10]In the last 12 months

[06:20.45]Geoffrey has abolished exchange controls

[06:22.63]over which British governments

[06:24.22]have dithered for decades.

[06:26.60]Our great enterprises are now

[06:28.17]free to seek opportunities overseas

[06:35.54]We have made the first crucial changes

[06:38.07]in trade union law

[06:39.59]to remove the worst abuses

[06:41.41]of the closed shop,

[06:42.88]to restrict picketing

[06:44.30]to the place of work

[06:45.32]of the parties in dispute,

[06:46.89]and to encourage secret ballots.

[06:49.56]Jim Prior has carried all these measures

[06:52.15]through with the support

[06:53.51]of the vast majority

[06:54.93]of trade union members.

[07:07.57]British Aerospace will soon

[07:09.21]be open to private investment.

[07:11.49]The monopoly of the Post Office

[07:13.27]and British Telecommunications

[07:14.83]is being diminished.

[07:16.85]The barriers to private generation

[07:23.63]of electricity for sale have been lifted.

[07:26.48]For the first time nationalized industries

[07:29.40]and public utilities can be investigated

[07:32.44]by the monopolies commission

[07:34.21]a long overdue reform

[07:45.23]Michael Heseltine has given to millions,

[07:48.63]yes, millions of council tenants

[07:51.00]the right to buy their own homes.

[08:02.82]It was Anthony Eden

[08:03.84]who chose for us the goal

[08:05.91]of a property-owning democracy.

[08:08.45]But for all the time

[08:09.67]that I have been in public affairs,

[08:11.59]that has been beyond

[08:13.11]the reach of so many,

[08:15.33]who were denied the right

[08:16.70]to the most basic ownership of all

[08:19.53]the homes in which they live.

[08:21.30]They wanted to buy.

[08:22.82]Many of them could afford to buy.

[08:24.89]But they happened to live

[08:26.05]under the jurisdiction of a council

[08:27.31]which would not sell

[08:30.82]and did not believe in the independence

[08:32.99]that comes with ownership.

[08:40.52]Now Michael Heseltine

[08:42.44]has given them the chance

[08:43.65]to turn a dream into reality.

[08:46.84]And all this, Mr. Chairman,

[08:48.36]and a lot more in 17 months.

[08:56.14]But Mr. Chairman,

[08:57.17]all this will avail us little unless

[09:00.60]we achieve our prime economic objective

[09:03.08]the defeat of inflation.

[09:06.41]Inflation destroys nations and societies

[09:10.36]as surely as invading armies do.

[09:13.85]Inflation is the parent of unemployment.

[09:17.70]It is the unseen robber

[09:19.47]of those who have saved.

[09:21.59]No policy which puts at risk

[09:23.82]the defeat of inflation

[09:25.89]however great

[09:26.81]its short-term attraction can be right.

[09:29.09]But, Mr. Chairman,

[09:31.96]our policy for the defeat of inflation is

[09:33.85]in fact, traditional.

[09:36.78]It existed long before Sterling M3

[09:40.84]embellished the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin

[09:45.24]or "monetarism" became a convenient term

[09:48.23]of political invective.

[09:50.04]But some people talk

[09:52.57]as if control of the money supply

[09:53.94]was a revolutionary policy.

[09:57.22]Yet it was an essential condition

[09:59.64]for the recovery of much

[10:01.36]of continental Europe.

[10:03.75]Those countries knew

[10:05.72]what was required for economic stability.

[10:08.85]Previously, they had lived

[10:10.98]through rampant inflation;

[10:13.24]they knew that it led to suitcase money,

[10:16.23]massive unemployment

[10:18.07]and did to the breakdown of society itself.

[10:21.70]They determined never to go that way again.

[10:26.23]Today,

[10:27.51]after many years of monetary self-discipline,

[10:30.90]they have stable,

[10:32.62]prosperous economies

[10:34.29]better able than ours

[10:36.37]to withstand the buffeting

[10:37.93]of world recession.

[10:39.96]So at international conferences

[10:41.92]to discuss economic affairs,

[10:44.11]many of my fellow heads of government

[10:46.79]find our policies not strange,

[10:51.03]unusual or revolutionary,

[10:53.97]but normal, sound and honest.

[10:57.61]And that is what they are.

[11:06.04]Their only question to me is this

[11:08.74]"Has Britain the courage

[11:10.77]and resolve to sustain the discipline

[11:13.44]for long enough to break through to success?"

[11:16.79]Yes, Mr Chairman,

[11:18.46]we have, and we shall.

[11:21.20]This government are determined

[11:23.16]to stay with the policy

[11:24.88]and see it through to its conclusion.

[11:36.09]That is what marks this administration

[11:39.17]as one of the truly radical ministries

[11:41.96]of postwar Britain.

[11:44.15]Inflation is falling

[11:46.27]and should continue to fall.

[11:49.06]Meanwhile, Mr. Chairman,

[11:50.79]we are not heedless

[11:52.06]of the hardships

[11:53.64]and worries for the company

[11:55.67]to conquest of inflation.

[11:58.10]Foremost among these is unemployment.

[12:01.74]Today our country has more than

[12:04.87]2 million unemployed.

[12:07.57]Now you can try to soften that figure

[12:09.95]in a dozen ways.

[12:12.06]You can point out

[12:12.93]and it is quite legitimate to do so

[12:15.51]that 2 million today does not mean

[12:17.47]what it meant in the 1930s

[12:19.75]that the percentage of unemployment

[12:21.73]is much less now than it was then.

[12:24.71]You can add that today

[12:26.27]many more married women

[12:27.56]go out to work.

[12:29.37]You can stress that,

[12:30.74]because of the high birthrate

[12:32.00]in the early 1960s,

[12:34.63]there is an unusually large number

[12:36.76]of school leavers this year

[12:38.79]looking for work

[12:40.37]and that the same will be true

[12:41.63]for the next two years.

[12:43.80]You can emphasise that

[12:45.32]about a quarter of a million people

[12:46.93]find new jobs each month

[12:49.62]and therefore go off the employment register.

[12:52.95]And you can recall that

[12:54.28]there are now

[12:55.90]nearly 25 million people in jobs

[12:59.97]compared with only about 18 million

[13:02.49]in the 1930s.

[13:04.01]You can point out that

[13:05.53]the Labour party conveniently overlooks

[13:08.01]the fact that of the 2 million unemployed

[13:10.94]for which they blame us,

[13:13.66]nearly a million and a half

[13:16.00]were bequeathed by their government.

[13:30.06]But when all that has been said,

[13:32.73]the fact remains that

[13:34.92]the level of unemployment

[13:36.65]in our country today

[13:38.61]is a human tragedy.

[13:46.61]Let me make it clear beyond doubt.

[13:49.54]I am profoundly concerned about unemployment.

[13:53.34]Human dignity

[13:55.14]and self-respect are undermined

[13:58.33]when men and women

[13:59.24]are condemned to idleness.

[14:01.62]The waste of a country's most precious assets

[14:05.21]the talent and energy of its people

[14:08.51]makes it the bounden duty of government

[14:11.64]to seek a real and lasting cure.

[14:23.52]If I could press a button

[14:24.83]and genuinely solve the unemployment problem,

[14:28.28]do you think that I would not

[14:29.60]press that button this instant?

[14:32.69]Does anyone imagine that

[14:34.01]there is the smallest political gain

[14:36.58]in letting this level of unemployment continue,

[14:40.59]or that there is some obscure economic religion

[14:43.63]which demands this level of unemployment

[14:45.76]as part of its religious ritual?

[14:49.18]Mr. Chairman,

[14:50.24]this government is pursuing

[14:51.90]the only policy

[14:53.57]which gives any hope

[14:54.89]of bringing our people

[14:56.40]back to real and lasting employment.

[15:11.62]It is no coincidence that

[15:13.54]those countries, of which I spoke earlier,

[15:16.48]which have had lower rates of inflation

[15:19.11]have also had lower levels of unemployment.

[15:24.78]I know that

[15:27.15]there is another real worry

[15:28.55]affecting many of our people.

[15:30.98]Although they accept that

[15:32.45]our policies are right,

[15:33.87]they feel deeply that

[15:36.61]the burden of carrying them out

[15:38.34]is falling much more heavily

[15:40.67]on the private than on the public sector.

[15:49.01]They say that

[15:50.06]the public sector is enjoying advantages

[15:52.29]but the private sector

[15:54.16]is taking the knocks

[15:56.13]and at the same time

[15:57.29]maintaining those in the public sector

[15:59.57]on better pay and pensions than they enjoy.

[16:06.50]I must tell you

[16:07.82]that I share this concern

[16:10.30]and understand the resentment.

[16:13.36]That is why I and my colleagues say

[16:16.50]that to add to public spending

[16:19.52]takes away the very money and resources

[16:22.65]that industry needs

[16:24.69]to stay in business,

[16:26.41]let alone to expand.

[16:28.64]Higher public spending,

[16:30.76]far from curing unemployment,

[16:33.54]can be the very vehicle

[16:35.63]that loses jobs

[16:37.10]and causes bankruptcies

[16:38.42]in trade and commerce.

[16:41.56]That is why we warned local authorities

[16:44.39]that since rates are frequently the biggest tax

[16:47.86]that industry now pays,

[16:50.03]increases in them

[16:51.14]can CRIpple local businesses.

[16:54.08]Councils must, therefore,

[16:56.00]learn to cut costs in the same way

[16:58.73]that companies have to.

[17:08.59]That is why I stress

[17:09.70]that if those who work in public authorities

[17:13.09]take for themselves large pay increases,

[17:16.64]they leave less to be spent on equipment

[17:19.83]and new buildings.

[17:22.31]That, in turn,

[17:23.53]deprives the private sector

[17:25.26]of the orders it needs,

[17:26.82]especially some of those industries

[17:29.15]in the hard-pressed regions.

[17:31.38]Those in the public sector

[17:33.17]have a duty

[17:34.24]to those in the private sector

[17:36.21]not to take out so much in pay

[17:38.54]that they cause others unemployment.

[17:48.89]That is why we point out

[17:49.76]that every time

[17:51.02]high wage settlements in nationalized monopolies

[17:55.13]lead to higher charges

[17:57.08]for telephones, electricity, coal and water,

[17:59.75]they can drive companies out of business

[18:02.60]and cost other people their jobs.

[18:05.79]If spending money like water

[18:07.87]was the answer to our country's problems,

[18:10.56]we would have no problems now.

[18:13.76]If ever a nation has spent, spent,

[18:15.84]spent and spent again, ours has.

[18:18.73]Today that dream is over.

[18:21.76]All of that money has got us nowhere,

[18:24.64]but it still has to come from somewhere.

[18:28.79]Those who urge us to relax the squeeze,

[18:31.92]to spend yet more money indisCRIminately

[18:34.97]in the belief that it will help the unemployed

[18:37.00]and the small businessman,

[18:39.49]are not being kind

[18:40.60]or compassionate

[18:42.42]or caring.

[18:44.19]They are not the friends

[18:45.57]of the unemployed

[18:46.52]or the small business.

[18:49.12]They are asking us to do again

[18:51.54]the very thing that caused the problems

[18:54.47]in the first place.

[19:04.49]We have made this point repeatedly.

[19:07.31]Indeed,

[19:07.72]Mr. Chairman,

[19:08.64]I am accused of lecturing

[19:11.22]or preaching about them.

[19:13.90]I suppose it is a critic's way of saying,

[19:16.19]"Well, we know it is true,

[19:18.11]but we have to carp at something."

[19:20.23]I do not care about that.

[19:22.66]But I do care about

[19:24.23]the future of free enterprise,

[19:26.75]the jobs and exports it provides

[19:29.98]and the independence it brings to our people.

[19:33.56]Independence?

[19:35.98]Yes, but let us be clear

[19:37.35]what we mean by that.

[19:39.19]Independence does not mean

[19:41.25]contracting out of all relationships with others.

[19:45.14]A nation can be free

[19:47.62]but it will not stay free for long

[19:49.19]if it has no friends and no alliances.

[19:52.64]Above all,

[19:54.21]it will not stay free

[19:56.18]if it cannot pay its own way

[19:58.05]in the world.

[19:59.82]By the same token,

[20:01.64]an individual needs to be part of a community

[20:05.08]and to feel that he is part of it.

[20:08.36]There is more to this than the chance

[20:10.65]to earn a living for himself

[20:12.12]and his family,

[20:13.47]essential though that is.

[20:15.45]Of course, our vision and our aims

[20:18.04]go far beyond

[20:19.60]the complex arguments of economics,

[20:22.08]but unless we get the economy right

[20:24.80]we shall deny our people

[20:26.32]the opportunity to share that vision

[20:29.06]and to see beyond the narrow horizons

[20:31.94]of economic necessity.

[20:34.82]Without a healthy economy

[20:37.05]we cannot have a healthy society.

[20:40.22]Without a healthy society

[20:43.20]the economy will not stay healthy for long.

[20:47.21]But it is not the state

[20:50.50]that creates a healthy society.

[20:53.13]When the state grows too powerful,

[20:56.15]people feel that they count for less and less.

[21:00.41]The state drains society,

[21:02.63]not only of its wealth

[21:04.30]but of initiative,

[21:06.22]of energy,

[21:07.79]the will to improve

[21:09.15]and innovate

[21:10.58]as well as to preserve what is best.

[21:13.72]But our aim is to let people feel

[21:16.90]that they count for more and more.

[21:21.30]If we cannot trust

[21:22.41]the deepest instincts of our people,

[21:25.65]we should not be in politics at all.

[21:36.38]Some aspects of our present society

[21:41.49]really do offend those instincts.

[21:44.33]Decent people do want to

[21:47.10]do a proper job at work,

[21:49.33]not to be restrained or intimidated

[21:51.61]from giving value for money.

[21:55.09]They believe that honesty

[21:56.46]should be respected,

[21:58.02]not derided.

[22:00.09]They see crime and violence

[22:02.02]as a threat,

[22:02.98]not just to society

[22:05.06]but to their own orderly way of life.

[22:08.36]They want to be allowed

[22:09.62]to bring up their children

[22:11.14]in these beliefs,

[22:12.76]without the fear that

[22:13.82]their efforts will be daily frustrated

[22:16.45]in the name of progress

[22:18.23]or free expression.

[22:20.60]Indeed, that is what family life is all about.

[22:24.30]There is not a generation gap

[22:26.58]in a happy and united family.

[22:29.45]People yearn to be able

[22:31.23]to rely on some generally accepted standards.

[22:35.85]Without them

[22:37.27]you have not got a society at all,

[22:40.29]you have purposeless anarchy.

[22:43.48]A healthy society isn't created

[22:45.96]by its institutions, either.

[22:49.00]Great schools and universities

[22:51.49]do not make a great nation

[22:53.78]any more than great armies do.

[22:56.36]Only a great nation

[22:58.28]can create and involve great institutions

[23:01.33]of learning, of healing, of scientific advance.

[23:05.70]And a great nation

[23:07.52]is the voluntary creation of its people

[23:11.30]a people composed of men and women

[23:14.88]whose pride in themselves

[23:17.31]is founded on the knowledge

[23:19.13]of what they can give to a community

[23:22.11]of which they in turn can be proud.

[23:26.20]If our people feel that

[23:27.93]they are part of a great nation

[23:30.41]and they are prepared

[23:32.39]to will the means to keep it great,

[23:34.63]a great nation we shall be,

[23:37.26]and shall remain.

[23:39.33]So, Mr. Chairman,

[23:40.80]what can stop us from achieving this?

[23:44.75]What then stands in our way?

[23:47.91]The prospect of another winter of discontent

[23:51.86]I suppose it might.

[23:53.83]But I prefer to believe

[23:55.14]that certain lessons have been learned

[23:58.04]from experience,

[23:59.92]that we are coming, slowly, painfully,

[24:02.70]to an autumn of understanding.

[24:05.89]And I hope that it will be followed

[24:07.85]by a winter of common sense.

[24:22.47]If it is not

[24:23.69]we shall not be diverted from our course.

[24:26.68]To those waiting with bated breath

[24:29.31]for that favorite media catchphrase,

[24:32.09]the U turn

[24:33.70]I have only one thing to say.

[24:36.28]You turn if you want to.

[24:52.42]The lady's not for turning.

[25:05.17]I say that not only to you

[25:07.11]but to our friends overseas

[25:08.47]as well and also to those

[25:10.90]who are not our friends.

[25:18.90]Mr. Chairman,

[25:19.66]at every party conference,

[25:21.48]and every November in parliament,

[25:23.76]we used to face difficult decisions

[25:26.54]over Rhodesia and over sanctions.

[25:30.04]But no longer.

[25:31.21]Since we last met

[25:33.23]the success at Lancaster House,

[25:35.71]and thereafter in Salisbury

[25:38.19]a success

[25:39.07]won in the face of all the odds

[25:41.79]a success

[25:42.83]has created new respect for Britain

[25:46.67]We showed over Rhodesia

[25:48.39]to the hallmarks of

[25:50.00]Tory policy are,

[25:51.53]as they have always have been,

[25:53.71]realism and resolve.

[25:56.45]Not for us the disastrous

[25:58.23]fantasies of unilateral disarmament,

[26:01.77]of withdrawal from NATO,

[26:03.94]of abandoning Northern Ireland.

[26:06.72]The irresponsibility of the left on defense

[26:10.01]increases as the dangers

[26:12.30]which we face loom larger.

[26:19.78]We, for our part

[26:21.50]have chosen a defense policy

[26:23.06]which potential foes will respect.

[26:32.65]We are acquiring,

[26:33.92]with the cooperation of

[26:35.63]the United States government,

[26:37.37]the Trident Missile System.

[26:40.05]This will ensure the credibility

[26:42.33]of our strategic deterrent

[26:43.99]until the end of the century and beyond,

[26:51.84]and it was very important

[26:54.72]for the reputation of Britain abroad

[26:58.21]that we should keep

[26:59.24]our independent nuclear deterrent

[27:01.87]as well as for our citizens here.

[27:10.51]In Europe we have shown

[27:13.09]that it is possible

[27:14.20]to combine a vigorous defense

[27:16.01]of our own interests

[27:17.34]with a deep commitment

[27:19.36]to the idea

[27:20.47]and to the ideals of the community.

[27:24.08]Mr. Chairman, the last government

[27:25.45]was well aware

[27:26.56]that Britain's budget contribution

[27:28.33]was grossly unfair.

[27:31.12]They failed to do anything about it.

[27:34.00]We negotiated a satisfactory arrangement

[27:37.24]which will give us

[27:37.86]and our partners time

[27:39.32]to tackle the underlying issues.

[27:41.69]We face many other problems

[27:43.37]in the community,

[27:45.11]but I am confident that

[27:46.27]they too will yield

[27:47.83]to the firm yet fair approach

[27:49.50]which has already proved

[27:51.63]so much more effective

[27:53.30]than the previous government's

[27:55.02]five years of procrastination.

[27:59.16]With each day

[28:00.73]it becomes clearer that in the wider world

[28:03.81]we face darkening horizons,

[28:06.34]and the war between Iran and Iraq

[28:08.87]is the latest symptom of a deeper malady.

[28:13.02]Europe and North America

[28:15.45]are centers of stability

[28:18.23]in an increasingly anxious world.

[28:21.71]The community and the alliance

[28:23.84]are the guarantee to other countries

[28:27.22]that democracy and freedom of choice

[28:30.01]are still possible.

[28:32.95]They stand for order

[28:35.48]and the rule of law

[28:37.41]in an age when disorder

[28:39.22]and lawlessness are ever more widespread.

[28:43.54]The British government intend to stand by

[28:47.29] both these great institutions,

[28:49.97]the community and NATO.

[28:52.80]We will not betray them.

[29:03.96]The restoration of Britain's place

[29:07.56]in the world

[29:09.07]and of the west's confidence

[29:10.69]in its own destiny

[29:13.03]are two aspects of the same process.

[29:16.21]No doubt there

[29:17.42]will be unexpected twists in the road,

[29:20.38]but with wisdom and resolution

[29:23.40]we can reach our goal.

[29:25.99]I believe we will show the wisdom

[29:28.58]and you may be certain

[29:30.04]that we will show the resolution.

[29:33.17]Mr. Chairman,

[29:34.79]in his warm-hearted

[29:36.86]and generous speech,

[29:38.74]Peter Thorneycroft said

[29:40.61]that when people are called upon

[29:42.76]to lead great nations,

[29:45.23]they must look into the hearts and minds

[29:48.17]of the people whom they seek to govern.

[29:51.91]I would add

[29:53.47]that those who seek to govern must,

[29:56.62]in turn, be willing to allow their hearts and minds

[30:00.15]to lay open to the people.

[30:03.74]This afternoon

[30:05.00]I have tried to set before you

[30:07.80]some of my most deeply held

[30:09.83]convictions and beliefs.

[30:12.23]This party, which I am privileged to serve,

[30:15.77]and this government,

[30:17.19]which I am proud to lead,

[30:19.56]are engaged in the massive task

[30:22.34]of restoring confidence and stability

[30:25.12]to our people.

[30:28.20]I have always known

[30:30.04]that task was vital.

[30:33.22]Since last week

[30:35.14]it has become even more vital than ever.

[30:53.50]We close our conference

[30:56.23]in the aftermath

[30:58.81]of that sinister utopia

[31:00.52]unveiled at Blackpool.

[31:03.26]Let Labour's Orwellian nightmare of the left

[31:07.67]be the spur for us to dedicate,

[31:10.20]with a new urgency,

[31:12.44]our every ounce of energy

[31:14.82]and moral strength

[31:16.28]to rebuild the fortunes of this free nation.

[31:29.75]If we were to fail,

[31:32.62]that freedom could be imperiled.

[31:36.97]So let us resist the blandishments

[31:39.85]of the faint hearts;

[31:41.62]let us ignore the howls

[31:43.91]and threats of the extremists;

[31:46.79]let us stand together

[31:49.42]and do our duty,

[31:51.84]and we shall not fail