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In keynote address, the PM gives a taste of the rhetoric he might employ for an election
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It’s great to be here in Manchester at the best attended conference for years and I know that some of you may have been mildly peppered with abuse on the way in but are you abashed? Are you downcast?
Of course not. We are Conservatives and we get on with serving the people – and speaking of service I should begin by paying tribute to my predecessor Theresa, I know the whole of conference remains full of gratitude to you, and to Philip May, for your patience and your forbearance, and yes, we will continue with the work of tackling domestic violence and modern slavery and building on your legacy
Johnson begins with a dig at his predecessors, Theresa May and David Cameron, by announcing that he as prime minister is presiding over the most successful conference in years. His subsequent praise for May therefore sounds slightly flat and disingenuous – made even more awkward by her seeming absence from the audience. His pledge to carry forward her legacy on domestic violence and modern slavery suggests he only wants to continue with limited aspects of her premiership and his thanks to her husband for his “patience and forbearance” also comes across as slightly insulting. Continue reading...