Prime minister. Throughout that time, in every job ive done, ive been inspired by the enormous potential that working in politics and taking part in politics and taking part in public life holds. The potential to serve your country, to improve peoples lives, and in however big or small a way, to make the world a better place. Looking at our own country in the world of which we form a part, and theres a great deal to feel optimistic about. Globally over the last 30 years extreme poverty and Child Mortality have both been halved. Hundreds of millions of people are today living longer, happier and healthier lives than their grandparents could even have dreamed of. As a world we have never cared more deeply about the ecology of our planets environment, from treating the earth is a collection of resources to be plundered we have in a generation come to understand its fragile diversity and taking concerted action to conserve the conserve it. The u. K. s leading the way and that effort with our commitment net emissions. Zero social attitudes in a country and in the western countries have transformed in recent decades. There are more women in senior positions state than any time in history. When i was born as a crime to be a gay man, legal to discriminate on the basis of sex or race, and casual bigotry with a socially acceptable fact of daily life. All that has changed and greatly for the better. There remains a long way to go to achieve what we should rightly seek, an economy, a society and a world that truly works for all of its people. Where everyone has the security of a safe home and enough to eat an opportunity to get a good , education a fine job to , support their family and the freedom of thought, speech and action to do and be everything their talents and hard work that fit them for. The generation of young people growing up today in the u. K. And around the world have it within their grasp to achieve more in the decades ahead than we can imagine. They will have the chance to harness the great drivers of change in the world today from change in the world today from Artificial Intelligence and data economy, cleaner forms of energy and more efficient modes of transport, to the technological and medical advances that will extend and improve our quality of life. The 21st century has the potential to be a Pivotal Point in human history, when economic social and technological apogees reach a combined with the benefits modified with everyone sharing and enjoying a share. It will not come about without effort. We will all have to work hard. Individually and collectively to reach that better future. Crucially, the full power and potential of a small but strong and strategic state must be brought to bear in that effort , establishing and maintaining the legal and economic structures that allow regulated free market to flourish coordinating its own , intervention and to maximum effect, supporting science and innovation, supplying crucial Public Services and infrastructure, leading and responding to social progress. At our best, that has been the story of the democratic century that we celebrated last year when we marked the first votes for women and working men in 1918. It has been Democratic Politics an open market economy and the , enduring values of free speech, the rule of law, and a system of government founded on the concept of inviolable human rights that is provided the next nexus of that progress in the past. And a healthy body politic will be essential to consolidating and extending that progress in the future. It is on that score that today we do have grounds for serious concern. Both domestically and internationally, in substance and in tone, i worried about the state of politics. That worry stems from a conviction that the values on which our successes have been founded cannot be taken for granted. They may look to us as old as the hills. We might think they will always be there, but establishing a superiority of those values over the alternatives was the hard work of centuries of sacrifice. And to ensure that liberal inheritance can endure for generations to come, we today have a responsibility to be active in conserving it. If we do not, we will all pay the price. Rich and poor, strong and weak, powerful and powerless. As a politician my decisions and actions have always been guided by that conviction. It used to be asked that conservative candidate selection convictione you a politician or are you a pragmatist. Ive never accepted the distinction. Politics is the business of turning your convictions into reality to improve the lives of the people you serve. As a conservative ive never had any doubt about what i believe in, security, freedom and opportunity, decency, moderation , patriotism, conserving what is of value but never shying away from change. Indeed recognizing that often change is the way to conserve. Believing in business but Holding Businesses to account if they break the rules. Backing ambition, aspiration and hard work, protecting our union of nations, and being prepared to act in its interest, even if that means steering a difficult political course. And remaining always firmly rooted in the Common Ground of politics where all great Political Parties should be. I did not write about those convictions in pamphlets or make many theoretical speeches about them, but i sought to put them into action. Getting things done rather than simply getting them said requires some qualities that become unfashionable of late. That have become unfashionable of late. One of them is a willingness to compromise. That does not mean compromising your values. It does not mean accepting the lowest common denominator or clinging to outmoded ideas out of apathy or fear. By and whenng necessary standing up for your values and convictions, but doing so in the real world and in the arena of public life, for others are making their own case and pursuing their own interests. And where persuasion, teamwork and a willingness to make mutual concessions are needed to achieve an optimal outcome. That is politics at its best. The alternative is a politics of winners and losers of absolute and of perpetual strife, and that threatens us all. Today an inability to combine principles with pragmatism and make a compromise when required seems to have driven our whole discourse down the wrong path. It has led to what is, in effect, a form of absolutism, one which believes that if you simply assert your view loud enough and long enough, youll get your way in the end, although mobilizing your own faction is more important than bringing others with you. This is coarsening our public debate. Some are losing the ability to disagree without demeaning the views of others. Online, Technology Allows people to express their anger and anxiety without filter or accountability. Aggressive assertions are made without regard to the facts or the complexities of an issue. In an environment where the most extreme views tend to be the most noticed. This dissent of our debate into rancor and tribal bitterness and in some cases even vile abuse at a criminal level is corrosive to the Democratic Values which we should all be seeking to uphold. It risks closing down the space for reasons to debate and subverting the principle of freedom of speech. And this does not create an unpleasant environment. Words have consequences. And ill words that go unchallenged are the first step on a continuum toward ill deeds. Towards a much darker place where hatred and prejudice drive not only what people say but also what they do. This absolutism is not confined to british politics. It festers and politics all in politics all across the world, and we see it in the rise of Political Parties on the far left and far right in europe and beyond. We see it in the increasing adversarial nature of International Relations which some view as a zerosum game where one country can only gain if others lose. And where power, unconstrained by rules, is the only currency of value. Absolutism at home and abroad is the opposite of politics at its best. It refuses to accept that other points of view are reasonable. It describes bad motives to those taking the different views. It views anything less then one 100 of what you want all the time as evidence of failure, when success, in fact, it means choosing the optimal outcome in any given circumstance. The sustainability of modern politics derives not from an uncovered rising absolutism but rather through the painstaking parking out of a Common Ground. That does not mean abandoning our our principles. Far from it. It means delivering on them with the consent of people on all sides of the debate so they can ultimately accept the legitimacy of what is being done even if it may not be outcome they would initially have preferred. And that is how social progress in International Agreement was forged in the years after the second world war, both at home with the establishment and Injury National Health Service and internationally with the creation of an International Order based on aggrieved rules and multilateral institutions. Consider for example the story of the nhs. The beverage report was commissioned by the coalition government. The Health Minister who published the first white paper outlining the principles of a comprehensive and free Health Service was conservative. A labor government created the nhs and engaging in fierce policy both at the doctors would work for the nhs and with the conservative opposition in the house of commons which supported the principle of an nhs disagreed with the masses. A choice between going back to old arguments are expecting legitimacy of what had been done in building on it. They chose to build on what is being established. An institution that unites our country. Many of the agreements that underpinned the establishment in the aftermath of the second. Orld war the cornerstone of International Law almost broke down over should applydetail not just to it was a personal and was got started from president trumans envoy to persuade the soviet to back down in many states were not which views the world through a prism of winners and losers, which views compromise and corporation to International Institutions and finds weakness, not strength. President putin expressed his sediment clearly on the eve of the g20 summit in japan when they said liberal ideas are becoming obsolete because its come into conflict with the interest of the overwhelming majority of the population. This is a cynical falsehood. No one comparing the quality of life or economic success of liberal democracies after the uk, france and germany is asking the Russian Federation which conclude that our system is obsolete. The fact that he feels emboldened to utter it today indicates the challenge we face as we seek to defend our values. If we are to stand up for the values that are fundamental to our way of life we need to rebuild support for them by addressing peoples legitimate concerns through Actual Solutions that command public consent rather than populist promises that in the end are not solutions at all. In doing so we need to show that from the local to the global the politics of pragmatic conviction that is unafraid of compromise and cooperation is the best way in which politics can sustainably reach the challenges we face. Take the example of how we address the concerns and fears over globalization. The far left including the leadership of our once proud British Labour party would argue that we should scrap an open market altogether and we should be, in no doubt, that we cannot successfully reform the market system to create an economy that works for all the people would increasingly rejected in favor of an alternative the matter what the wider economic and social consequences. But we know it is free and competitive market that drives innovation creativity and risktaking that have enabled so many of the great advances of our time. We know it is business, the pioneers the industry of the future, secures the investment on which that peter depends and that future depends and creates jobs and livelihoods of families up and down our country and we know Free Enterprise can also play a crucial role in helping to make the greatest social challenges of our time , from contributing to the sustainability of our planet to generating new growth and new hope in areas of our company that had been left behind for too long. You do not protect the concept of freemarket capitalism by failing to respond to the legitimate concerns of those who are not feeling its full benefits. You protect freemarket capitalism and all the benefits that it can bring by reforming it so that it works for everyone. That is why of introduced forms to working practice and workers rights to reflect the changes in our economy and israel launched and why i launched the review and modern forms of employment like that [inaudible] economy and why we are delivering the biggest improvements in uk workers rights for 20 years in response to it. Its why have advanced changes in corporate government because business must not only be about commercial success but about bringing wider benefits to the whole of our society too. It is why we put in place a modern industrial strategy, Strategic Partnership between business and government to make a longterm decision that will ensure the success of our country. Of our economy. Crucially a strategy to ensure , that as we develop the industries of the future of the benefits of the trade they will give rise to will reach working people and not just the parts of the country but every part. These are steps rooted in my conservative political convictions that rejection to Free Enterprise but rather they are the very way to restore the popular legitimacy of Free Enterprise and make it work for everyone. I believe taking such an approach is also how we resolve the brexit impasse and the way , to do so is to deliver on the outcome of the vote in 2016 and is no greater regret that that i could not do so. Whatever path we take must be sustainable for the long term, so that delivering brexit brings our country back together and that has to mean some kind of compromise. Some argue i shouldve taken the United Kingdom out of the European Union with no deal on the 29th of march and some pure reversal of brexit but , others to find a way to stop it altogether. Most people across the country have a preference for getting it done with the deal. I believe the strength of the deal i negotiated was delivered on the vote at the referendum to leave the European Union while responding to the concerns of those who had voted to remain. The problem was that when it came time for parliament to ratify the deal our politics retreated back into its binary pre referendum position winner takes all approach to leaving or anything. Or remaining. When opinions have become polarized and driven by ideology it becomes incredibly hard for a compromise to become a rallying point. The spirit of compromise in the common interest is also crucially meeting some of the greatest global challenges of our time. For responsibly harnessing the huge potential of Digital Technology to detecting Climate Change as well as preventing the further proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to building and strengthening International Rule in the face of hostile states. During my premiership the uk has all the way both domestically and internationally and in seeking a new settlement which ensures the internet remains a driver of growth and opportunity but also the Internet Companies responsible comprehensively to respond more concentrate more comprehensively to reasonable and legitimate demands that they take their wider responsibilities to society more seriously. That is why were legislating in the uk to create a legal duty of care and Internet Companies backed up by an independent regulator the power to enforce its decision. We are the first country to put forth such an approach in such a comprehensive approach but it is not enough to act alone. Ultimately we need a realistic global approach that achieves right balance between protecting the individual freedoms of those using the internet while also keeping them safe from harm. That also holds the key to further progress in the fight to protect our planet. Here in the uk we recently built on the 2008 Climate Change act by becoming the first major economy to agree on the net zero target that will end our contribution to Climate Change by 2050. Of course, some wanted us not just make that net zero commitment but to bring it or to bring it forward even earlier but others still question the science of Climate Change or the Economic Cost of tackling it. We were able to come together to agree a target and to support it across the political spectrum and across business and Civil Society it is both ambitious and also deliverable. Just as the nations of the world were able to come together and agree to the historic Paris Agreement for 2013 a settlement which is unraveled with damages all and our planets. Just as we seek to protect the hardfought paris climate agreement so i also believe we , must protect the similarly hard fought jcpoa, nuclear deal with iran, whatever challenges and once again, took painstaking pragmatism and compromise to strike that deal. Of course, there are those who fear a reduction in tension on a reduction in sanctions on a country that continues to pursue destabilizing activity across the region we should address that activity head on. Whether we like it or not a compromise deal remains the best way to get the outcome we all still ultimately seek and to prevent iran and acquiring a Nuclear Weapon and stabilizing the region. Being prepared to compromise also means knowing when not to compromise. On our values honor that we must always be willing to stand firm. Just as we did when russia deployed a deadly nerve agent on the street of salisbury and i Led International action across the world to expel more than 100 russian Intelligence Officers with the largest collective expulsion of russian Intelligence Officers in history. We are here today in st. James square and the location from which Dwight Eisenhower led the planning for dday. The planning for the day. It was standing on the beach of normandy with other World Leaders last month remembering together all the was given in defense of our liberty and value in the most inspired me to come today to give this speech. Eisenhower once wrote people talk about the middleoftheroad as though it were unacceptable. Things are not all black and white and there have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable service and the extreme right and left are in the gutters. I believe that seeking the Common Ground and being prepared to make compromises in order to make progress does not entail a rejection of her values and our values and convictions by one iota, rather its precisely the way to defend them. Not by making promises you cannot keep or just by telling people what you think they want to hear but by addressing the concerns people genuinely hoped and showing that cooperation, not absolutism is the only way to deliver for everyone. For the future if we can recapture the spirit of common purpose as i believe we must then we can be optimistic about what together we can achieve. We can find the Common Ground that will enable us to forge new global agreements on the most crucial challenges of our time from rejecting our planet to harnessing the power of technology for good. We can renew Popular Support for liberal values and International Cooperation and in so doing we can secure our freedom, prosperity and our ability to live together peacefully now and for generations to come. Thank you. [applause] i will take some questions. Ill take questions from the media first and then from the wider audience. John. Prime minister, you spoke about your concern about a trend in politics, away from compromise and towards populism and factionalism. To what extent of your concerns have been borne out by the contest to follow you as leader and if i may, what an extension of brexit be to you preferable if it meant avoiding the immediate harm of a no deal brexit . I know you two questions in there, john. You get one. These are ideas i have been forming for some time now and they reflect what i have seen in politics across europe and across the wider world. I think that i have in Many International forum since i became a minister repeatedly raised the importance of the rules based International Order, for example, of us working together and working within the framework that have enabled us to work peacefully together on some of the great challenges that we face. On the second question you know full well that my view is the best route forward the uk is to leave the European Union with a good deal and i believe we negotiated a good deal and sadly parliament did not take that view or come to majority and it will be up to have her my successor is to find a way to that and to ensure that we can deliver on the vote of the 2016 referendum, leave the eu and do , it in a way that is good for the United Kingdom. Thank you, Prime Minister. Can i just ask you a couple quick ones, if i [laughter] may. Im counting. Im counting. Philip hammond has just said in a tweet that hes terrified of people who look like they could be close to the next administration who think that no deal brings with it no shortterm or mediumterm losses. Do you share that terror . Can ask another one on the broader point of what even what you have been saying. Do you bear any responsibility yourself for some of the corrosive language which you were attacking in your speech . Im thinking of attacks on political elites, citizens of nowhere and maybe limit language like red, white and blue brexit. We look back over the three years as minister is running three wheatfield still the naughtiest thing you ever did . I think thats one of the silliest thing ive ever done is answer that question. There we are. I think that was three questions rather than the two you promised but on the first point you made i said in response to john consistently said that i believe the best route through the uk is for us to leave the European Union with a good deal. I also stand by what i consistently said that no deal is better than a bad deal but i think we had a good deal and will be parliament was unwilling to come behind so that was the majority and it would be for whoever succeeds me to find a way through that and i believe it still must be to to deliver on the vote of the referendum but do so in a way that is in the National Interest but on the issue of language. Look, every phrase i use always has been as perfect as it should be . No. There will be phrases that people will both interpret in different ways from what was intended but in overall what i am saying is what we now see and ive seen it developing over time is a coarsening of our language and i worry to take it too if you like one to further and the spectrum the way in which, for example, we have seen mostly female mps being attacked or people have been charged with criminal offenses for the abuse and the bullying and harassment they have given because of particular views they have held. That happened and that has happened to mail mps and others and what we need is to ensure that our political debate people have different opinions , people want to deliver things in different ways but lets have proper and reasons to debate about those. Lets make clear why we disagree with people but dont get into the stage which we see all too often of ascribing bad motives to someone who happens to disagree with you or about the way to do something. First, discard your deal with describe your deal with the eu is dead and not he said he wants to sort out the Northern Ireland border issue after leaving the eu on october 31. Is that a sensible course of action as a strategy or is he going to collide with reality as one of your colleagues but it and could there be a threat to the union if he does not pursue this path . First of all. Whoever succeeds me as Prime Minister will have to determine with their discussions within parliament and the discussions with the European Union as to how they take that negotiations forward and to what end. If i just explained why i thought it was important to have negotiated the backstop of the heart of the belfast good friday agreement is an essential compromise and the people who are irish can live in Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom but on a daytoday basis in their business and their own personal activities operate without any encumbrance on their operation across that border. I believe it is important that we are able to sustain that into the future and there are various descriptions as you know of how that can be done and people are working actively or alternative Technological Solutions to the border issue but that is why i thought that was important. Tom. Thank you, Prime Minister. Quickly not just for the concerns known what [inaudible] did you play any part in that and how important was it for you to see that on your watch before you go next week . With relation to your speech, you talk about absolutism at home and abroad and who are you referring to particular names and could you rule out you made no reference at all to either donald trump or boris yeltsin. On the first point you raised tom we all know that the attacks that took place in manchester agreement arena where appalling attack and since list. I hope it is a welcome step for the loved ones for the victims and those people who have commanded themselves with such dignity to what has been a deeply distressing and difficult time for them and conducted themselves without dignity as a with that dignity as they search for justice. I want to thank all those who work so hard to come to this point and no doubt will continue to work hard and i think we all now need to see is to see that all involved in this case are able to see that case progress and that case brought to the court. On the issue of absolutism this is a general observation and i have seen it in politics across the world and i think i wanted to speak about it today because its important that we try to bring debate generally back into a more reasoned area so that people as i have just said People Holding different views can have serious debate and discussion with each other and they may continue to disagree but having that serious and reasoned debate is an important part of our politics and that is one politics can be of the best and deliver for people. Ill take questions from the rest of the audience. One right at the back. Thank you. Im virginia, director of women who win and we set this up in 2005 with baroness when they were just 17 conservative women mps. Progress has been glacial and we have four out of five conservative mps are male and we have never had a conservative woman mp in wales. We need your help. Would you come back and help us . [laughter] im bound to point out despite the fact that yes we still want to see more women in parliament and more women conservatives in parliament but we are the only party that has two female Prime Ministers which i think is quite important for the female. You are asking me i will continue to champion the need for getting more women into politics and thats an important part of the debate as well. If you have a politics where people have the same thoughts of background and have the same views and experience you dont get the contributions to the decisions you do when you have a more Diverse Parliament and more diverse experience coming into parliament and singles for business as well but you get better decisions without greater diversity. I from Japanese Investment am bank from [inaudible] considering the very important times in relations not only for japan but investors around the world, Prime Minister what would be your message for investors who are considering the next destination for investment . Thank you. I think my message is come to the uk. What is interesting is the way in which investment in the uk has held up over the past three years, despite the fact that we been going to the brexit negotiations and they have not come to a fruition yet and i think that is a sign of the underlying strength of our uk economy. I think we have seen that underlying strength further in the employment figures we saw this week and we had major announcements a week or so ago about continued investment in the next stage of the automotive sector, electric vehicles. I think the strength that we have in our democracy and rule of law in the ecosystem that we can provide for investors remains there and will remain there. I would think it would be a huge opportunity to invest in the future. Gentleman at the front. Would you say you left the worsey in a better or state since you became Prime Minister and in relation you talked a lot about responsibility and irresponsibly of different political actors these days, yet you dont seem to take responsibly for the effects of your own words have in phrases like [inaudible] which are hurtful and gives the not take a bit more responsibility for your actions . On the second point you made i did make clear that i recognized i should not have use that particular phrase that you quoted. Well, yes i should not have used it in the first place to make but i made clear that i recognized that after the event. I said in answer the claim i get every little phrase i use right but i think we all in politics do have to think carefully about what we or how we express and about the degree of debate we have and the type of debate we have and on the question of the party in the country im disappointed in this matter of the project to me that i have not managed to get brexit over the line. I think the overwhelming view of the public in the uk i just is that they just want it to be done and us to get on to the next stage if you like of the countrys live. And there are huge opportunities for us as i just said once we deliver brexits. Im deeply disappointed that im not been able to deliver brexit and i did everything i could and i put my own job of the line in order to do that and told that if i said i wou stand down and the votes would combine the deal. I said id stand down and im doing so in the votes did not comment that politics. I tried everything i could to ensure we got that of the line and if i thought it was right for the United Kingdom. That is what has driven me and , the National Interest if you look at the conservative party today we have rising membership and particularly more in the members coming into the party so i think theres a strength in the party across country which im pleased to see. Ill take another question perhaps right at the back, gentleman there. Hello, Prime Minister. Im from the chinese embassy. During your tenure you have been , developing relations with china but at the same time there are also views concerning hong kong or terminate so what is your advice to your successor when the deal with china . First of all, i would say that the relationship would we been developing with china has been an important one and we see that i was pleased to take a trade delegation to china to see further investments coming to the uk but also British Companies able to get some extra market in china open up for British Companies which is important. There are issues on which we need to be clear with china and the continuation of the joint declaration in relation to hong kong is one of those. That decoration continues to be in full and we would say to china that it needs to be abided by a respected and continue to be respected. In a sense its like all relationships. We look to develop those economic ties but we also very clear when we feel that there are messages we need to give im sure that will continue into the future but i said that was last question but that probably should have been the last question. Thank you and i think i would say on behalf of all the members of Chatham House here we are very pleased to come here to share these last thoughts with us as said the last major speech likely to be so we appreciate it very much. We hope to be able to welcome you back. One question the United States has come out maybe only tangentially and you spoke in particular in your speech about the importance of the rule of law multilateralism and uk relationship in the u. S. Has been one of those Pillars Holding that particular rules based order to use the phrase together. How concerned are you, to be frank, about the future of the United States that is worried about itself and its own future that has quite a tribal of polarized debate and if the white house is difficult to convincingly these areas you done work with the congress and the first visit person President Trump was to be the Congressional Republicans in the senate so how do you think your successors should be handling this relationship at this critical time. The first thing i would say is that special relationship we have with the United States remains and that is regardless of who sets in the white house the core is at its strongest and deepest security and defense relationship that we have around the world and that has been a bedrock of nato in a bedrock of maintaining peace in europe and will continue to be that for the future. As we look to the question of multilateral institutions and yes i quoted we have the example of the Paris Agreement with the u. S. Pulling out of that but i consistently say to President Trump i hope the rest will go back to the Paris Agreement and we had our disagreement about the jcpoa we continue with france and germany to work to maintain the jcpoa because we believe that is an important part from stopping iran from getting those Nuclear Weapons. What i would say overall people in america is the reason there is that the dichotomy between having a country that is strong and an economy that is strong and being part of multilateral institutions indeed it is the two are symbiotic but being part of the Multinational Institution and be part around the world of a framework of rules that operates can be an important part of helping countries to maintain their strength and strength of their economy. Thank you. [applause] cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up monday morning, we will preview the week ahead in washington with a White House Reporter for the los angeles times, and congressional reporter for the wall street journal. And been friedman, policy director for defense priority on the latest tensions between the u. S. And iran. Sure to watch washington journal live at 7 00 eastern monday morning. Join the discussion. The white house coverage continues monday with minnesota senator democratic president ial candidate amy klobuchar. She is being interviewed at a Washington Post life event. We start live coverage at 9 00 3. M. Eastern on cspan and the casket of John Paul Stevens arrives, he died july 16 at the age of 99. See that live at 9 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan2. On theght, communicators, we will discuss roles venture capitalist play in start up companies with scott cooper, author of the book, secrets of sand hill. Often they have just a powerpoint presentation. Its really an opportunity for the entrepreneur to tell us example for the company, what it could look like at scale and ultimately wide is the right team to go after. Processintellectual where we get to learn interesting things and make a decision about whether its a team that we should back for that particular opportunity. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. On the communicators on cspan2. Robert mueller testified to congress on wednesday about possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Trump and russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. Cspan. Org or listen wherever you are with free cspan radio app. Before the hearing, this into the complete Mueller Report at cspan. Org on your laptop or mobile device. Courtesy of a media company. President trump met in the oval office with team usa athletes who competed in the 2019 Special Olympics world games in abu dhabi
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