Theresa May: Tories need new ideas to prevent 'national calamity' of Corbyn government
2 min read
The Conservatives need to come up with new policy ideas in order to avoid the "calamity" of a Jeremy Corbyn government, Theresa May has said.
In a speech to the centre-right Centre for Policy Studies think tank, the Prime Minister said it was a "national tragedy" what had happened to Labour under Mr Corbyn's leadership.
She said Labour was very different from the party which faced Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
"Antisemitism growing unchecked, equivocation when our country’s security is threatened, moderate MPs are the target for deselection and harassment," Mrs May said.
"What has happened to Labour is a national tragedy. But it would be a national calamity if they were ever able to do the same to our country.
"To stop that, Conservatives don’t just need to expose what Labour has become under Jeremy Corbyn, we also need to beat them in the battle of ideas."
The Prime Minister insisted the "real intellectual energy today is to be found on the centre-right".
She said: "We are not hidebound by doctrine or shackled to an ideology. Of course, we are always guided by our principles - security, for families and the nation, freedom of thought, action and speech, and opportunity for everyone in society to make the most of their talents.
"And guided by those principles, we take a practical approach to the world as we find it. It is about conserving the best of our inheritance, but being unafraid of change and indeed being ready to lead change in a Conservative direction.
"And when you take a look at what is on offer from the Labour party today, it is clear that there has never been a more important time to do just that."
Mrs May's appearance before the CPS comes as she is under increasing pressure to secure a Brexit deal.
She will chair a crucial meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow during which she will update her top team over the progress with negotiations with Brussels.
But she still faces the threat of ministerial resignations over the issue of the Irish border, with her euroscpetic colleagues anxious at the prospect of the Prime Minister agreeing to a deal which could keep the UK locked into a customs union with the European Union indefinitely.
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