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'Reform won't fix Britain or stop hard working people funding Labour's benefits bill'
Reach Daily Express | January 17, 2026 3:39 AM CST

Some things in Britain are broken, but they are not broken beyond repair, and I have a plan to fix them. I know that it can feel bad right now. As I travel around the country speaking to voters, I often hear the same complaints. People say the things that once worked no longer do. That hard work does not always pay. That common sense has been replaced by bureaucracy. Communities feel their towns have changed in ways to which they never consented.

Our great country has lost confidence in itself, and too many politicians talk Britain down instead of showing they have a plan to build it back up. Well, I do have a plan, and I have the team to deliver it. I know that many Daily Express readers will wonder why you get up early and come home late, while others are able to stay on their sofa, living off your hard work and getting expensive cars for free.

Labour and all the other political parties from the Liberal Democrats to Reform and the SNP to Plaid are either unable, or unwilling, to do anything about this. I'm not. We are the only party committed to bringing back the two child benefit cap. A future Conservative government would cut the benefits bill and get Britain working again.

I know how hard it is for young people today, struggling to get a job in Labour's graduate recruitment crisis, knowing that they will never get on the housing ladder. That is why a future Conservative government will abolish stamp duty on the family home. It is a tax that punishes aspiration and gums up our housing market.

Abolishing it will help restore the property-owning democracy that Conservatives believe in. And we can pay for this because of the tough decisions we have taken to find savings elsewhere, such as cutting the welfare bill and shrinking the size of Whitehall.

I know how hard it is for small businesses to survive and how our high streets - the heart of our communities - are dying before our eyes. Too many entrepreneurs feel the system is stacked against them.

That is why a future Conservative government will abolish business rates for thousands of high street businesses. Thriving small businesses mean stronger local economies, more jobs, and more vibrant communities.

I know immigration - legal and illegal - has been far too high, and I am honest enough to say that previous Conservative governments failed on this. That is why I have said we need to take a different approach.

A future Conservative government will leave the ECHR, ban asylum claims for illegal arrivals, establish a removals force, and deport those with no right to be here swiftly and fairly. Only the Conservatives are both serious about restoring control and strengthening our borders, and have a proper plan to do so.

I also know that industries and households have been squeezed by ideological net zero targets that ignored cost, security, and reality. That is why a future Conservative government will scrap the reckless race to net zero by 2050, cut electricity bills for families and businesses, and back British oil and gas by drilling again in the North Sea.

Yes we want to leave a better environment for the next generation. But we also know that a stronger economy depends on affordable, secure power.

And I know that under Labour, Britain cannot properly defend itself. That is why the Conservatives are the only party in Parliament making the case for defence spending to rise to three per cent of GDP by 2030.

We back our armed forces, and we want to see Labour investing in Britain's troops and our defence industries to keep us safe in an increasingly dangerous world, instead of giving away the Chagos Islands and pursuing our veterans through the courts.

Labour offers higher taxes, more bureaucracy, and a refusal to face hard truths. Reform just want to take us back to the political psychodramas of the past. When I give a press conference, I'm announcing a plan to fix our country and make people's lives better. When Reform gives a press conference, it's always to talk about themselves.

Conservatives know Britain cannot be fixed with slogans or grievance politics. It will be fixed with credible, conservative solutions. I will not talk this country down when I know how great it can be. I will tell the truth about what is broken - and then I will fix it.

Britain has faced harder moments than this and emerged stronger every time. Labour are making a terrible mess of the country but, as we have done throughout history, I am confident the Conservative Party will be ready to clean up that mess. We have the team, the plans and the experience to ensure we can get Britain working again.


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