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Boris Johnson – First Speech (24/07/19)

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Boris Johnson’s first speech as Prime Minister, 24 July 2019, at Downing Street.

Transcript:

Good afternoon

I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted.

I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service, but in spite of all her efforts it has become clear that there are pessimists at home and abroad who think that after three years of indecision that this country has become a prisoner to the old arguments of 2016 and that in this home of democracy we are incapable of honouring a basic democratic mandate.

And so I am standing before you today to tell you the British people that those critics are wrong. The doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters – they are going to get it wrong again. The people who bet against Britain are going to lose their shirts because we are going to restore trust in our democracy and we are going to fulfil the repeated promises of parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31.

No ifs or buts.

And we will do a new deal, a better deal that will maximise the opportunities of Brexit while allowing us to develop a new and exciting partnership with the rest of Europe based on free trade and mutual support.

Theresa May – Farewell Speech

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Theresa May’s gave her final speech as Prime Minister, in Downing Street on 24 July 2019

Transcript:

I am about to go to Buckingham Palace to tender my resignation to Her Majesty the Queen and to advise her to ask Boris Johnson to form a new administration.

I repeat my warm congratulations to Boris on winning the Conservative leadership election. I wish him and the Government he will lead every good fortune in the months and years ahead.

Their successes will be our country’s successes, and I hope that they will be many. Their achievements will build on the work of nearly a decade of Conservative or Conservative-led government.

During that time our economy has been restored, our public services reformed, and our values defended on the world stage.

Of course, much remains to be done, the immediate priority being to complete our exit from the European Union in a way that works for the whole United Kingdom. With success in that task can come a new beginning for our country, a national renewal that can move us beyond the current impasse into the bright future the British people deserve.

To serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the greatest honour. The heavy responsibilities are outweighed by the huge potential to serve your country. But you achieve nothing alone.

And as I leave Downing Street, my final words are of sincere thanks. To my colleagues in Government and Parliament. To everyone in the building behind me and across the Civil Service. To the men and women of our armed forces and security services. And to the public servants in our schools, our NHS, our police and the other emergency services. All are inspired by the noble wish to serve their country in the national interest.

I also want to thank the British people. Everyone who loves our great country, who works hard for their family and wants their children and grand-children to enjoy greater opportunity than they did. Thank you for putting your faith in me and giving me the chance to serve.

This is a country of aspiration and opportunity and I hope that every young girl who has seen a woman Prime Minister now knows for sure that there are no limits to what they can achieve.

Finally and most of all, I want to thank my husband Philip – who has been my greatest supporter and my closest companion.

I am about to leave Downing Street but I am proud to continue as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead. I will continue to do all I can to serve the national interest. And play my part in making our United Kingdom, a great country with a great future, a country that truly works for everyone.

Theresa May – speech on the state of politics

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Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech on the State of Politics, on 17 July 2019

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-the-state-of-politics

Transcript:

This will most likely be the last time I will speak at length as Prime Minister and I would like today to share some personal reflections on the state of politics in our country and around the world.

I have lived politics for half a century. From stuffing envelopes for my local party in my school years to serving as a local councillor, fighting a by-election, winning a seat, to serving for 12 years on the opposition front bench, and for nine years in the Cabinet as Home Secretary and Prime Minister. Throughout that time, in every job I have done, I have been inspired by the enormous potential that working in politics and taking part in public life holds. The potential to serve your country, to improve peoples’ lives and, in however big or small a way, to make the world a better place.

Looking at our own country and the world of which we form a part, and there is great deal to feel optimistic about.

Globally, over the last 30 years extreme poverty and child mortality have both been halved. Hundreds of millions of people are today living longer, happier and healthier lives than their grandparents could even have dreamed of. As a world, we have never cared more deeply about the ecology of our planet’s environment. From treating the earth as a collection of resources to be plundered, we have within a generation come to understand its fragile diversity and taken concerted action to conserve it. The UK is leading the way in that effort with our commitment to net zero emissions.

PM’s speech on Brexit negotiations: 6 April 2019

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The PM made a speech about the Brexit negotiations on 6 April 2019, but there is no mention of what she has agreed with Jeremy Corbyn!

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-words-on-brexit-negotiations-6-april-2019

Delivering Brexit has been my priority ever since I became Prime Minister and it remains so today. I want the UK to leave the EU in an orderly way as soon as possible and that means leaving in a way that does not disrupt people’s lives.

My strong preference was to do that by winning a majority in Parliament for the agreement the UK reached with the EU last November. I did everything in my power to persuade the Conservative and DUP MPs who form the government’s majority to back that deal, including securing legally-binding changes to address MPs’ concerns with it.

But that deal was rejected three times by Parliament and there is no sign it can be passed in the near future. So I had to take a new approach.

Because Parliament has made clear it will stop the UK leaving without a deal, we now have a stark choice: leave the European Union with a deal or do not leave at all.

My answer to that is clear: we must deliver Brexit and to do so we must agree a deal. If we cannot secure a majority among Conservative and DUP MPs we have no choice but to reach out across the House of Commons.

The referendum was not fought along party lines and people I speak to on the doorstep tell me they expect their politicians to work together when the national interest demands it. The fact is that on Brexit there are areas where the two main parties agree: we both want to end free movement, we both want to leave with a good deal, and we both want to protect jobs.

That is the basis for a compromise that can win a majority in Parliament and winning that majority is the only way to deliver Brexit.

The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving at all. It would mean letting the Brexit the British people voted for slip through our fingers. I will not stand for that. It is essential we deliver what people voted for and to do that we need to get a deal over the line.

To achieve this I will go to Brussels this week to seek a short extension to Article 50. My intention is to reach an agreement with my fellow EU leaders that will mean if we can agree a deal here at home we can leave the EU in just six weeks.

We can then get on with building a new relationship with our nearest neighbours that will unlock the full potential of Brexit and deliver the brighter future that the British people voted for.

PM’s Brexit speech in Stoke-on-Trent: 14 January 2019

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Prime Minister Theresa May gave a speech on Brexit in Stoke-on-Trent on 14 January 2019.

Tomorrow, Members of Parliament will cast their votes on the Withdrawal Agreement on the terms of our departure from the European Union and the Political Declaration on our future relationship. That vote in Westminster is a direct consequence of the votes that were cast by people here in Stoke, and in cities, towns and villages in every corner of the United Kingdom.

In June 2016, the British people were asked by MPs to take a decision: should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or should we leave? In that campaign, both sides disagreed on many things, but on one thing they were united: what the British people decided, the politicians would implement. In the run-up to the vote, the government sent a leaflet to every household making the case for remain. It stated very clearly: ‘This is your decision. The government will implement what you decide.’

Those were the terms on which people cast their votes. If a majority had backed remain, the UK would have continued as an EU member state. No doubt the disagreements would have continued too, but the vast majority of people would have had no truck with an argument that we should leave the EU in spite of a vote to remain or that we should return to the question in another referendum.

On the rare occasions when Parliament puts a question to the British people directly we have always understood that their response carries a profound significance. When the people of Wales voted by a margin of 0.3%, on a turnout of just over 50%, to endorse the creation of the Welsh Assembly, that result was accepted by Parliament.

Indeed we have never had a referendum in the United Kingdom that we have not honoured the result of. Parliament understood this fact when it voted overwhelmingly to trigger Article 50. And both major parties did so too when they stood on election manifestos in 2017 that pledged to honour the result of the referendum. Yet, as we have seen over the last few weeks, there are some in Westminster who would wish to delay or even stop Brexit and who will use every device available to them to do so. I ask them to consider the consequences of their actions on the faith of the British people in our democracy.

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