It’s a great pleasure to be with you in Belfast this morning … and to launch the Conservative Party’s Northern Ireland manifesto for this General Election.
This manifesto sets out what the next Conservative Government will do build a brighter, more secure future for Northern Ireland…… and a stable, prosperous and peaceful Northern Ireland….… a Northern Ireland where politics works, the economy grows and society is more united.
And let’s be in no doubt … this General Election is the most important in a generation.
There’s a clear choice … continue with the strong leadership of David Cameron and the long term economic plan that’s turning the United Kingdom around.
… or choose the weak leadership of Ed Miliband with a return to the policies of more spending, more borrowing, higher taxes and more debt that crashed our economy in the first place.
Five years ago under Labour the UK was on the brink … staring into an economic abyss.
Five years on our country is back on the right track.
Under the Conservatives, the UK is now one of the fastest growing major economies in the world.
We’ve halved the record deficit we inherited from Labour.
Inflation is at zero.
Interest rates are at near record lows.
We have more people in work that at any time in our history … including record numbers of women in work.
More jobs created in the UK than in the rest of the EU put together…. on average a thousand jobs created very day since David Cameron walked into Number 10.
Under the Conservatives the UK is back on its feet and getting stronger by the day.
And none of this has happened by accident.
It’s taken the strong leadership of a Prime Minister and Government prepared to take difficult decisions.
But above all it’s taken the resilience and sacrifice of people across the United Kingdom.
It’s been a supreme national effort … and here in Northern Ireland people can be proud of the contribution you’ve made.
Yes … we recognise that times have been difficult for very many people.
That’s why we’ve tried to help working people with the cost of living wherever possible.
In Northern Ireland we’ve cut income tax for 676,000 people and taken around 81,000 people out of income tax altogether.
We’re helping savers and first time buyers.
The state pension has gone up by over £900.
And here in Northern Ireland we delivered on our pledge to help those savers and investors cruelly abandoned by Labour following the collapse of the Presbyterian Mutual Society.
But times would have been even tougher if we’d buried our heads in the sand and continued with the reckless spending and mountainous debt of Labour.
And in Northern Ireland we are seeing the fruits of Conservative-led recovery.
Business confidence and activity is on the rise.
Employment is up by 32,000 … while unemployment has come down in each of the past twenty-six months.
The economic pact between the Executive and the Government is helping to rebalance the economy, boosting the private sector, increasing bank lending and underpinning efforts to build a shared society.
Many of Northern Ireland’s home grown companies … the likes of Randox and Wrightbus … are thriving.
The G8 Summit showcased Northern Ireland to the world as a great place to visit and do business … helping to deliver record levels of foreign direct investment.
And we’ve passed the legislation that to make it possible for the Northern Ireland Executive to lower corporation tax here … to attract even more investment, deliver more jobs and spread greater prosperity across the community.
But it’s not just on the economy that we’ve made progress.
The Stormont House Agreement reached at the end of last year provides the potential to move politics in Northern Ireland forward …… by putting the Executive’s finances in order … dealing with the legacies of the past … and making devolution work better.
On security we’ve continued to stand by the brave men and women of the PSNI who do such a magnificent job in keeping us safe and secure … by giving them significant additional resources to counter the terrorist threat.
And of course we’ve done all of this while sticking firmly to our constitutional guarantee that Northern Ireland will remain part of the United Kingdom for as long as its people want it to.
We said we’d never be neutral on the Union … and the Conservative Party believes profoundly that all of us … England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland … are stronger and better together.
But all of us know that the recovery we are seeing is still work in progress … which could be easily reversed by taking the wrong decisions.
So we need to stick to the course we’ve set … and continue with our long term economic plan.
As this manifesto sets out, a Conservative Government will continue to work to implement outstanding commitments under the economic pact … and continue to do what we can to help the private sector grow.
We’ll complete the devolution of Corporation Tax … so long as the Executive fulfils its financial obligations under the Stormont House Agreement.
Devolution of Corporation Tax was conspicuously absent from Labour’s 102 word manifesto for Northern Ireland published earlier this week.
So the message is clear.
Only the Conservatives can be trusted to deliver Corporation Tax powers … a potential economic game-changer for Northern Ireland.
Elsewhere we’ll continue to help working people by ensuring that those working 30 hours on the minimum wage are taken out of income tax altogether.
There’ll be no increases in rates of VAT, income tax or National Insurance.
And by the end of the Parliament, no 40p tax till you earn £50,000.
The state pension will continue to rise and we’ll protect pensioner benefits.
We’ll continue to work to see the full and faithful implementation of the Stormont House Agreement … with no side deals.
We’ll legislate to implement the Agreement’s provisions on the past … and ensure that there will be no one-sided re-write of history.
And a Conservative Government will always do everything we can to back the PSNI in the fight against terrorism, including keeping up to date their ability to access communications data.
So, yes, Conservatives have a plan for a better future for Northern Ireland.
And Northern Ireland can play a key role in helping us to deliver that future … moving on from austerity and towards greater prosperity.
It can do this by returning Conservative MPs from Northern Ireland to help secure a majority Conservative government in Westminster.
At this election, the Conservatives are the only national party sufficiently committed to Northern Ireland to put up candidates here. And I pay tribute to all of the excellent Conservative candidates working so hard
We are the only major party that offers Northern Ireland the opportunity to participate fully in the politics of the United Kingdom…… something denied them by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats
So every vote for the Conservatives at this election is a vote to keep the whole of the United Kingdom on the right track.
It is a vote to put Northern Ireland at the heart of UK politics, with David Cameron as Prime Minister … fully committed to Northern Ireland and to keeping our country together as one United Kingdom.
It is a vote for a brighter, more secure future for Northern Ireland.