Eric Pickles MP, the Conservative party chairman launched the Welsh Conservatives general election campaign at the Parc Hotel, Cardiff this afternoon (Tuesday 6 April).
We reproduce his speech in full below:
“Well this is it.
We’re off.
And doesn’t it feel great?
Great, that at last, after months of dithering and delaying Gordon Brown has finally consented to giving the people of this country a chance to chose who leads this country.
Great, that at last, after thirteen years in government, the Labour Party can finally be judged on its record – one of failing the British people and failing the people of Wales.
And great, that at last, we are on the cusp of real change for this country with the election of a Conservative Government and David Cameron as our Prime Minister.
And I am confident that over the coming days and weeks that we will be able to show how our pledges, our vision and our ideas will make a real difference to the lives of people in Wales and in the country as a whole.
Pledges
How it is a Conservative government that will act now on debt to get the economy moving.
How a Conservative Government will get Britain working by boosting enterprise.
How it is a Conservative Government that will make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe
How it is a Conservative Government that will back the NHS, raise Standards in schools and change politics for good.
So the choice cannot be clearer.
Five more years of Gordon Brown’s tired and discredited government making things worse or David Cameron and the Conservatives with the energy, leadership and values to get the country moving.
A choice between Gordon Brown and his debt, waste and jobs taxes and David Cameron getting the economy working for everyone.
Labour and Wales
And its great to be back in Wales again, only weeks after our fantastic conference in Llandudno.
Thank you Catrin to you and your team for getting us ready to fight this election and may I extend a particular welcome to the four Cardiff candidates who are here today:
Angela Jones-Evans – Cardiff West
Jonathan Evans – Cardiff North
Simon Hoare – Cardiff South and Penarth
Karen Robson – Cardiff Central.
Alun Cairns – Vale of Glamorgan.
And there is nowhere that symbolizes the failure of New and Old Labour more than their failure in Wales.
Because it was in Wales 13 years ago that Labour’s promise was held so high, where Labour’s hope was embraced so keenly.
But it has been in Wales that the once great Labour Party became a Party of the establishment, a Party who took the support of millions of people for granted.
Wales has not just been let down by Labour, ignored by Labour, taken for granted by Labour – it has been abandoned by Labour.
It is shameful that under Labour Wales has the highest proportion of children in severe poverty than any other part of the UK.
Under Labour GCSE results in Wales are worse than the rest of Britain.
Under this Labour Government, Wales has become the poorest part of the United Kingdom – and still they ask for five more years.
13 years of failure would turn to 18 years of disaster.
Well my message to the people in Wales who work hard, pay their taxes and obey the law is simple – join us in kicking out this deadbeat, bankrupt, no-good, washout of a failed Labour Party with a Conservative Party ready, to work for the interests of the people of Wales.
For David Cameron and for us – this election is about giving them that reason to vote Conservative, giving them hope.
That’s the Conservatives mission, that’s the battle we’re engaged in – that we take up, here and now – today and for the next 30 days
It’s 30 days that will decide not just the direction of our country – but the future of millions of hard working, decent people who have been ignored by this Government.
Economy
And at the centre of our case will be the economy here in Wales and across Britain.
Because the choice couldn’t be clearer.
After 13 years of Labour’s top-down, big state approach all we’ve got to show for it is the worst boom and bust in our history.
We’ve got poverty and inequality on the rise and the worst rates of family breakdown in Europe.
If five more years of Labour is the answer I dread to think what the question is.
Does anyone really think that five more years of Labour is the answer to the problems facing Britain?
We just can’t go on like this and the choice couldn’t be more simple.
A Labour Government that thinks the waste at the heart of Government isn’t something to reduce now – or a Conservative Party that will tackle the waste now.
And if anyone says it can’t be done – then tell them this.
We’re proposing to save less than £1 in every £100 the government spends.
Families have been forced to make even greater sacrifices during the recession – if that’s so why not government?
Don’t tell me that can’t be done.
Don’t tell the mums and dads up and down Wales that we can’t save that amount straight away – less than one percent of overall spending.
And if it has to be done by every hard working family up and down the country it has to be done by the Government too.
The difference is that we will do it now – they will wait.
And rather than making the tough decisions in government he’s chosen to put up taxes which will do nothing but kill the recovery in its tracks.
Final Choice
But be in no doubt – this election will be the hardest fought for a generation.
So my advice is not to watch the polls, because we know where the election is really won and lost.
This will be the election that’s won on the doorsteps, in the streets, face-to-face, so it is there that we will fight this election, street-by-street, constituency-by-constituency.
So to the candidates in the room today and across Wales, go with fire in your belly – and there’s plenty of fire here – make this an election when we can say we really changed Britain.
And when you’re feeling a little tired or jaded, when in the dark and tough moments of the campaign, and you will have some, remember that we are the luckiest people in a generation.
We are the generation that has the chance to deliver that change.
To give hope to the millions of those ignored and abandoned by Labour.
To the millions who want to look forward to a hopeful future, one of opportunity and enterprise.
A future where business flourishes – where young people have a chance – where families are stronger – where the NHS is secure – and where our politics changes for good.
So make this an election that we fight to win– not just to win for winnings sake – but to change – introduce real change – to give this country hope again.
Because the best days for this country lie ahead of it.
We just don’t have to settle for things as they are.
We, the people of Britain and the people of Wales, deserve better – and we’re going to fight to get it.”
