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"At yesterday's General
Election the Conservative Party gained more seats than at any election for
the last 80 years.
"I'm incredibly proud, not
only of the strong result that we achieved, but of the strong and positive
campaign that we fought.
"We campaigned for hope, not
fear, and people responded to that, giving us two million more votes than
Labour[1].
"We campaigned for change,
not more of the same, and people responded to that, giving us a higher share
of the vote than Labour achieved at the last election when they won a
majority of 60.
"There are many great new
Conservative Members of Parliament who will be coming to the House of
Commons, and I am very proud this will be a new, modern Conservative Party in
Parliament.
"I know it will make a huge
difference to our politics.
"To all those Conservative
Party supporters, members and activists who fought so hard, not just in the
last few weeks, but in the last few years, I want to say a huge thank you,
and to remind you how proud you can be of the result – a bigger increase in
seats than even Margaret Thatcher achieved in 1979, the worst loss of seats
for Labour than at any General election since 1931, and a share of the vote
not far off what Michael Foot got in 1983.
"But however much pride we
can take in that enormous advance, we have to accept that we fell short of
an overall majority.
"As I said last night,
Britain needs strong, stable decisive government and it is in the national
interest that we get that on a secure basis.
"We are at war in Afghanistan
with our troops putting their lives at risk for us every day.
"We are facing a financial
and economic situation of great seriousness as a result of our dangerous
debts and our deficit.
"We need a government that
reassures the international markets, we need policies that will bring
economic recovery, and we need a government that understands that great
change is needed in order to restore faith in our political system.
"Britain voted for change
yesterday, but it also voted for a new politics, it did not vote for party
political bickering, grandstanding and point-scoring.
"Our country's problems are
too serious, they are too urgent for that. So we must all rise to this
occasion, we must show leadership.
"We must sort things out
as quickly as possible for the good of the country.
"Nick Clegg has said that
because the Conservative Party won the most votes and the most seats in this
election we should have the chance to form a government and I thank him for
that.
"So we will now begin talks
with other parties to see how that can be done. One option would be to give
other parties reassurances about certain policy areas and then seek their
agreement to allow a minority Conservative government to continue in office
without the country constantly facing the threat of its government falling.
"This is what is known as a confidence
and supply arrangement.
"It has been done before and,
yes, we can try to do it again. But I am prepared to consider alternative
options.
"It may be possible to have
stronger, more stable, more collaborative government than that.
"There is a case for going
further than an arrangement which simply keeps a minority Conservative
government in office.
"So I want to make a big,
open and comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats.
"I want us to work together
in tackling our country's big and urgent problems, the debt crisis, our deep
social problems, and our broken political system.
"Let me explain my thinking.
First, it is right and reasonable to acknowledge that of course there are
policy disagreements between us, many of which were highlighted in those
television debates.
"To fellow Conservatives who
have fought and campaigned and worked so hard to achieve the massive advance
we have made in this campaign, I want to make it clear that I do not believe
any government should give more powers to the European Union.
"I do not believe that any
government can be weak or soft on the issue of immigration which needs to be
controlled properly, and the country's defences[2]
must be kept strong.
"I also believe that on the
basis of the election result that we achieved, it is reasonable to expect
that the bulk of the policies in our manifesto should be implemented.
"But across our two
manifestos, there are many areas of common ground and there are areas
I believe that we in the Conservative Party can give ground, both in the
national interest and in the interest of forging an open and trusting
partnership.
"We share a strong desire to
make opportunity more equal in this country, and I recognise[3] the high priority that the Liberal
Democrats have given to the proposal for a pupil premium in our
schools.
We agree with this idea, it is in
our manifesto too, and I am sure we can develop a common approach that
recognises the urgency that the Liberal Democrats have attached to this
proposal.
"The Liberal Democrats in
their manifesto have made the achievement of a low carbon economy an
absolute priority and we support this aim. I am sure that we can agree a
common plan to achieve it.
"The Liberal Democrats have
also made proposals to reform our tax system. We both agree that Labour's jobs
tax, as the Liberal Democrat's manifesto puts it, is a damaging tax on
jobs and we would seek to reverse it. It has always been an aspiration of the
Conservative Party to reduce taxes, especially on those who earn the least.
And we are happy to give this aim a much higher priority and work together to
determine how it can be afforded.
"We share a common
commitment to civil liberties and to getting rid immediately of Labour's ID
card scheme.
"On our political system, we
agree with the Liberal Democrats that reform is urgently needed to help
restore trust and that reform must include the electoral system.
"The Liberal Democrats have
their ideas, we have our ideas, for example that all seats should be of equal
size, so that votes can have an equal value in a first-past-the-post system,
and other parties have constructive proposals to put forward as well.
"So I believe we will need an
all-party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform.
"So I think we have a strong
basis for a strong government. Inevitably the negotiations we are about to
start will involve compromise – that is what working together in the national
interest means.
"But no Government will be in
the national interest unless it deals with the biggest threat to our national
interest and that is the deficit. We remain completely convinced that
starting to deal with the deficit this year is essential.
"This has been more than
confirmed by recent events in other European countries, recent instability in
the markets, and recent conversations that we have had with both the Treasury
and the Bank of England.
"The national interest is
clear – the world is looking to Britain for decisive action. The new
government must grip this deficit and prevent the economic catastrophe that
would result by putting off the difficult and the urgent action that needs to
be taken.
"So our big, open and
comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats involves helping them to
implement key planks of their election manifesto, providing the country with
economic, as well as political stability and finding further ways in which
Liberal Democrats can be involved in making this happen
"The outgoing government has
left this country with terrible problems, an economic and financial crisis,
deep social problems, a political system in which people, too many people,
have lost faith.
"The new government will face
the worst inheritance of any incoming government for at least 60 years.
"That is exactly why it's so
important we have strong, stable government that lasts – a strong stable
government that has the support of the public to take the difficult decisions
that are needed if we're going to put this country back on the right track
for a stronger future.
"There is one further point I
want to make. I believe that it's not just important for this country to have
strong and stable government, it's important that we get that strong and
stable government quickly.
"So I hope we can reach
agreement quickly on the big, open and comprehensive offer that I've outlined
today. As I've argued in this General Election campaign, this is a great
country hut we could be doing so much better.
"We don't have to settle for
the debt and the waste and the taxes left to us by Labour. We can put behind
us the economic problems, the social breakdown, the political division and
the distrust that are the poisonous legacy of 13 years of Labour misrule.
"Of course I hoped that a
Conservative majority would be the outcome of this election and that we could
have started today making the changes that I believe our country so badly
needs.
"I know how much the
Conservative party itself and all my colleagues in Parliament and all the
loyal members and activists around the country wanted that too – but I also
know they wanted something more than that.
"They want the best for
Britain. The Conservative party has always been a party that puts the
national interest first.
"And the best thing – the
national interest thing – the best thing for Britain now is a new government
that works together in that national interest and I hope with all my heart
that is something that we can achieve.
"That
is all I have to say for now – I hope you will understand that I won't be
taking questions but this urgent work must begin."
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