Stone Conservatives held a Leadership Rally in the Constituency on Saturday August 6th attended by members from all across Staffordshire. See below for Sir Bill's full speech. Following Sir Bill’s acknowledgments to the Association President, Roger Barnard, and Chairman, Steve Walley, and the hosts of the event, he thanked Liz Truss for coming to speak in this watershed leadership election. “Liz has great experience and has been in the Cabinet since 2014, having been the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Lord Chancellor, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for International Trade and is now, of course, Foreign Secretary of our great country. In the great Brexit General Election of 2019, Staffordshire, at the beating heart of England, went blue with the Conservatives winning in every single seat for the first time in its history. We intend to keep it that way, and with Liz we will. She is a proud Conservative with principles, understood by Staffordshire’s common sense down to earth people. This tradition includes those such as the designer Wedgewood in the field of ceramics, John Wilkinson, creator of some of the earliest ironworks, and R. J. Mitchell, the creator of the spitfire, which was essential for our historic victory in the last war. Even Darwin’s opening chapter of ‘On the Origin of Species’, was handwritten at Maer Hall in the constituency. Earl St Vincent, who lived at Meaford, also in the constituency, was Nelson’s commander at the victorious Battle of St Vincent in 1797. On the economy, she understands that enterprise, growth and competition are practical. These are based on the foundations of technological innovation, growth, productivity, competitiveness and tax incentives. Low taxation is practical. The cost of living and energy crisis and the inflation which has followed is no fault of this Conservative Government. It comes from Putin’s murderous war against Ukraine and EU dependency on Russian oil and gas, caused by Germany’s fundamental strategic mistake in making Germany and the EU dependent on Russian energy. Liz is loyal. She was loyal to Boris. She is patriotic and, for myself, as one who knew Margaret Thatcher really well, Liz’s brand of Conservatism is out of the same mould. She is decisive, she is bold, and she is a leader. On foreign policy, defence and security, as we know from her condemnation of Putin and her support for Ukraine, she is like Margaret on the Falklands, putting her principles into action. She insists on at least 3% on defence each year, and I am glad that Ben Wallace is supporting her and is coming here in October. On the EU, she has taken on the successful mantle of Brexit in full with resolve and in the negotiations over Northern Ireland. She has rightly insisted on the integrity of our precious Union of the United Kingdom, rejecting EU claims to subjugate the voters in Northern Ireland to European laws. This was despite opposition from Members of the Cabinet, and together she and I, and the Attorney General, Suella Braverman, though faced with calls to abandon the Northern Ireland Bill, she won - the Bill passed three weeks ago without a single amendment. She has defied Nicola Sturgeon’s calls for Scottish independence. On deregulation and oppressive EU laws, in line with the European Scrutiny Committee Report (of which I am Chairman) of last month, she has backed our freedom to repeal all EU laws which undermine our competitive and economic growth, job creation and levelling up. She intends to repeal these laws by an Act of Parliament by the end of 2023 and at the same time deal with the Parliament Act. On immigration, she supports fully stopping the illegal economic immigrants crossing the Channel and our borders and costing the taxpayer a fortune. She opposed HS2 when she was a Treasury Minister, and has commissioned a massive review. She is now backed by vital Members of the Cabinet, including the former Chancellor, Sajid Javid, and the present Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, and in supporting sound Conservative economic policies. In recent polling, she is well ahead for good reasons, because she backs good common sense Conservative values and principles, which is understood by the Conservative membership. She follows the great tradition of Sir Robert Peel, the famous Free Trader and Staffordshire Conservative Prime Minister with his famous tax cutting over the Corn Laws, which built the 19th Century foundations of our successful economy and international competitiveness leading the world. She can be trusted to do the same today. A new Britain, walking tall in the world based on Conservative values, business and enterprise, with tax cuts now. A new Elizabethan age, a new Britain led by action, pride in our country and delivery. I introduce to you Liz Truss, and in the words of Winston Churchill: “Action this Day” – let us vote for Liz Truss now, as have my family this morning”
