Dr Liam Fox MP, the former minister for defence, told an NI Conservatives’ dinner in East Belfast last night that they are the only party, “which can revolutionise Northern Ireland politics for the better”.
“It is only Conservatives who are prepared to offer the people of Northern Ireland a chance to vote for or against a party of government at Westminster”, Dr Fox emphasised. “It is only Conservatives who can change the outrageous situation whereby citizens of this part of the UK have had no meaningful say in who sets their taxes, organises their defences or negotiates with Europe on their behalf.”
Asked about the Northern Ireland economy, the former defence secretary said that “it is extremely important to lift the dead hand of bureaucracy off the shoulders of business owners”. He pointed to “onerous employment law” and “a culture of employment tribunals” as major constraints on creating private sector jobs.
Dr Fox also defended the government’s welfare reform saying that it is “absolutely right” that families who work should be better off than if they were on benefits and he stressed that cutting national debt is an “imperative” for the health of the UK economy.
The senior Conservative delivered his remarks to an annual dinner of East Belfast NI Conservatives. The association’s chairman, Richard Brown, said that Dr Fox’s visit was a “great success”.
“We had well over 120 people at a very well attended dinner”, Richard noted. “They thoroughly enjoyed Liam Fox’s speech, which was invigorating, thought provoking and insightful”.