we will clear the logjam and end the political paralysis of the last 3.5 yea rs political paralysis of the last 3.5 years and start the process of bringing our country back together. but what would corbyn do? indeed. he would prolong the arguments about brexit, more political navel—gazing, parliamentary games rather than delivering on the priorities of people. labour talk about offering real change, but the kind of change they are offering is not the change we need. change from a growing economy to a broken one. no thank you. change from record employment

to dole queues around the block. no thank you. change from personal choice and freedom to state—run monopolies. no thank you. all their ideas, all their policies are rooted in the past. ours look to the future. there is in power the state... —— theirs empower the state... —— theirs empower the state... our policy support real people. corbyn has got policies and plans. he has got lots of them. he has got plans to seize the property of businesses and charities, renationalise great suedes of our economy, for example. —— great parts

of our economy. hitting hard workplace pensions and savers just like you. he has lots of plans but he does not have a plan to deliver brexit, unable to say even which way he would vote in a referendum that he would vote in a referendum that he would vote in a referendum that he would call. boris has negotiated a good deal. a great deal. a deal thatis a good deal. a great deal. a deal that is supported by every single conservative candidate at this general election, a deal that would provide resolution and would let us refocus on the priorities of the people who elect us. but labour offer more dither and delay. and because jeremy corbyn offer more dither and delay. and becausejeremy corbyn has abandoned scotland, and undermine scottish labour, his only chance of power is by cutting a deal with nicola sturgeon. and we know what her price

would be. another divisive referendum on dripping scotland from the united kingdom, destroying the most successful political union in world history. another once in a generation decision retaken. we say no. anjo an jo swinson? just anjo swinson? just as bad. saying the liberal democrats would ignore the liberal democrats would ignore the 2016 referendum result completely. we should not be glib about this, we should think, what kind of precedent does that set? if

you do not respect the vote, you do not respect the voters. you cannot bring the country back together if you tell people you will ignore the result of the referendum that they voted in. we need to bring this country back together, and we bring people together by ensuring that communities right across the uk can grasp the opportunities of a world —class grasp the opportunities of a world—class education, of a strong economy and a booming jobs market. we bring people together by protecting and investing in the public services on which we rely, we bring people together by unlocking investment and celebrating and supporting the growing number of businesses in the uk that create our nation's wealth. that is how you bring people back together.

and this is notjust a moral imperative, it is economically vital because unlike labour, we have a leader who understands the symbiosis between a strong economy and world —class between a strong economy and world—class public services. you cannot have one without the other. we have a leader who is confident in britain's bright future, and eager to help our country grasp the opportunity ahead of us. we have a leader of the party united, united behind the desire to get brexit done and serve every community, every region, every nation of the united kingdom. our manifesto presents an agenda for government characterised by the energy, by the optimism and

ambition the prime minister is famous for, and you will be hearing a bit more about that manifesto from him ina a bit more about that manifesto from him in a minute, but at the general election on december the 12th, lets vote conservative so we can get on with delivering that positive agenda for britain, and now, before the prime minister comes on stage, a short video. ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. so, as the party chairman, james cleverly said, they will play a short video before the prime minister takes to his feet to officially launch the conservative party manifesto. you can see that had started playing for delegates in the room. this is happening in telford in shropshire, one of those key marginal constituencies which will be a source of great focus during this election. if i tell you

that the conservatives help that seatin that the conservatives help that seat in 2017 with the majority of just 720, you might realise why they are taking an interest in launching their manifesto in telford. looking on twitter, it was interesting that we did not hear much about the ma nifesto we did not hear much about the manifesto from james cleverly. what we heard, as many people on twitter we re we heard, as many people on twitter were pointing out, was a critique of the labour party manifesto and criticism for the lib dems, james cleverly talking about the anti—democratic approach, as he sought, of ignoring the brexit referendum result, and he promised to revoke article 50, criticism from him for the lib dems, and great deal of focus on jeremy corbyn him for the lib dems, and great deal of focus onjeremy corbyn and the labour party policies. talking about the neutral stance that jeremy corbyn has promised on brexit. james cleverly referring to it as dither and delay, he spoke about renationalisation and the threat, as

the conservatives would see it, of that, and praise for the brexit deal of borisjohnson, that, and praise for the brexit deal of boris johnson, making that, and praise for the brexit deal of borisjohnson, making the point that all of the conservative party candidate standing in the selection believe in that brexit withdrawal deal, and that tying in with the fa ct deal, and that tying in with the fact that get brexit done, as you see in the background by the podium, is the real message of this ma nifesto is the real message of this manifesto launch. —— this election. the manifesto itself, if you saw with norman smith earlier, had the title, get brexit done, unleash britain's potential, so the feeling that brexit will be the dominant theme of what the prime minister has to say on a few moments time. i imagine he will be reiterating the promise that he wants to get brexit done by the end ofjanuary, and bring the eu withdrawal bill back to the house of commons before christmas. there will be talk of

brexit. we know as well, because some of the information from the ma nifesto some of the information from the manifesto has been released in advance, there will be what they call an ambitious programme for government, including record investments in infrastructure, science funding and skills. we are also likely to hear about the triple tags lock that the conservatives have been talking about, essentially meaning that the rates of income tax, national insurance and vat would not rise under a conservative government. —— tax lock. they say £1 million boost to childcare as promised and we can hear it all from the prime minister now, the audience taking to their feet as the prime minister prepares to outline the details of the conservative party ma nifesto for details of the conservative party manifesto for the 2019 election. letsjoin manifesto for the 2019 election. lets join proceedings back manifesto for the 2019 election. letsjoin proceedings back in

telford. cheering good afternoon, everybody. good afternoon. thank you very much. thank you very much. boris, boris! wonderful to see everybody here today, thank you for coming. we are now, as you know, less than three weeks away from the most critical election in modern memory, when the sta kes for election in modern memory, when the stakes for this country have seldom been higher, and the choice has never been starker. because in the last few days, we have heard from every other party, they have launched their manifestos, and we have heard how they would keep us stuck in the same rot, how they would consign this country to get more delay and yet more frustration and parliamentary paralysis, and how they would refuse yet again to honour the will of the people, how

they would refuse, every other party, to get brexit done. the lib dems want to revoke brexit, the scottish nationalists want to cancel brexit and have another referendum on scotland as well, and as for labour, they will plainly give into nicola sturgeon and weighs the whole of next year in two more referendums, one on scotland and one on the eu. except thatjeremy corbyn will not tell us whether he would even be willing to advise people to vote in favour of his own deal. he used to be indecisive, now he is not so sure. laughter. do we want that kind of leadership, my friends, do we wa nt kind of leadership, my friends, do we want more delay, dither and drift and deadlock and division? do we

wa nt and deadlock and division? do we want 2022 to be another year of defeatism and despair? no, we do not, we want to move forward because this country has an incredible future. here it is. cheering i believe the partial group —— the partial blueprint for that future. this is the road map to take us forward because unlike any other party standing in this election, we will get brexit done with a deal thatis will get brexit done with a deal that is pre—cooked, ready to go, often ready, as i keep saying, approved not just by often ready, as i keep saying, approved notjust by our friends often ready, as i keep saying, approved notjust by ourfriends in the eu but by every single one of the eu but by every single one of the 635 conservative candidate standing at this election, a deal that will allow us to deliver all the opportunities of brexit, from freeport to free trade, cutting vat on sanitary products, improving the welfare of animals. get brexit done and we can restore confidence and

certainty. get brexit done and we will see a wave of investment into this country, get brexit done and we can focus our hearts and minds on the priorities of the british people, because it is this one nation tory party that has embarked on the biggest cash boost for the nhs fora on the biggest cash boost for the nhs for a generation, and today on this manifesto, we pledge 50,000 more nurses, and their bursaries, and 50 million more gp surgery appointments, and today we make this guarantee to the british people, we will tackle crime with 20,000 more police officers and tougher sentencing, and we will sort out our immigration system with a points—based australian style system, that we will invest millions more every week in science and schools, in apprenticeships and infrastructure, and control our debt at the same time. and that we can

reach, and we will reach, net zero by 2050 with clean energy solutions. we can do all these things, this is the kicker, we can do all these things without raising income tax, vat or national insurance contributions. that is our guarantee. and in this manifesto... applause there is a vision for the future. there is a vision for the future. there is a vision for the future of this country in which we unite our amazing country and level up across the country with infrastructure, education and technology, and it is appropriate that we are in telford, because it was here or hereabouts, more than 200 years ago, that the fires of coalbrookdale created the first industrial revolution and this whole region was a giant crucible in which colossal —— colossal

quantities of hydrocarbons were burnt to melt eyed and in turn it into steel and turn water into steam and power. it is incredible that once again in the west midlands a new industrial revolution is taking place, not by burning coal or emitting c02, but thanks to british ingenuity, we can make a move so efficiently from anode to cathode, i think... possibly vice versa, but thatis think... possibly vice versa, but that is the right idea, that after decades of trying to make electric cars, we can now do it and we can make electric buses, and it will not be long before we will be making electric or part electric planes. we in this one nation conservative government do not want to wait for this future. we believe that after 3.5 years of being held back by a broken parliament, it is time to unleash the potential of the whole

country and to forge a new britain. i know and every survey confirms, that genius, talent, ability, flair, are all distributed eventually, throughout the united kingdom. 0pportunity throughout the united kingdom. opportunity is not distributed evenly and i believe passionately that with education infrastructure and technology we can tackle that unfairness, we can unleash the potential of this whole country and make those investments, precisely because we one nation conservatives also support a dynamic market economy, and that is why we are cutting taxes for small businesses, and why, when people get up at the crack of dawn, to prepare their family business, and when people ta ke family business, and when people take out a mortgage to fund a new venture or when they risk everything ona venture or when they risk everything on a but infrastructure or pry

trying to find a new market, we don't sneer at them we cheer for them. applause that is the choice, that is the choice at this election. that is the choice, between out—and—out retrograde and destructive socialism and sensible one nation conservativism. you can come with us, and have a government that backs our armed forces as a power for good around the world, or you can have jeremy power for good around the world, or you can havejeremy corbyn and the labour party who say they want to scrap them. we can support our police, putting more on the street, support them in fighting knife crime. they say, stop and search is inappropriate and oppressive. we wa nt inappropriate and oppressive. we want higher wages. and we are raising the living wage by the biggest ever increase. corbyn and

mcdonnell mean higher taxes for everybody in this country, £2400 extra. we stand up for the people of this country when other nations threaten us with harm, and it was incredible that when russia ordered the salisbury poisoning, corbyn seemed to take the side of moscow. above all, above all, and here is the most important difference we face in the next few day, we will get brexit done. and we will end the acrimony and the chaos, whereas they wa nt to acrimony and the chaos, whereas they want to rip up our deal, and negotiate a new one. but we don't yet know of a single labour mp or indeed any other mp, who would support this deal. in fact we don't even know if anybody believes in mr corbyn's new deal apart from mr corbyn, and not even he believes in

it! can you imagine the negotiations, that would take place, if this, the corbyn sturgeon coalition would come in, what are they supposed to think in brussels. bonjury monsieur they supposed to think in brussels. bon jury monsieur corbyn, how are you? tell us bon jury monsieur corbyn, how are you ? tell us about bon jury monsieur corbyn, how are you? tell us about this deal that you? tell us about this deal that you want. what do you mean? you don't really want it? what do you mean, you don't really believe in it? you are not going to advocate it? you are not going to advocate it? who does believe in it? not monsieur starmer, not madame abbott? who does believe in it? cheering and applause it is farcical. it is farcical. it would be farcical, it would be comical, if the consequences, if the consequences of that approach were

not so disastrous for this country and for our prospects next year. let's give that madness a miss. i wa nt let's give that madness a miss. i want you to imagine what the country could be like injust ten want you to imagine what the country could be like in just ten years time, if we can get a working majority on the 12th december. i wa nt majority on the 12th december. i want you to look forward to a britain where the streets are safer, where the air is cleaner, where we built 40 where the air is cleaner, where we built a0 new hospitals as a result of the decisions taken in the last three month, a britain where ten—year—olds are no only doing better at reading and writing and math but better across the whole country and where in ten years time scientists are starting to reap the reward from our plans to double spending on research, from al to the factory for batteries that we will inaugurate to new space ports in cornwall, and scotland, that will send british made satellites into the heavens and driver one of our most exciting industry, a britain

where we are uniting and levelling up. where great new infrastructure is helping to rebalance the economy, delivering not just is helping to rebalance the economy, delivering notjust northern powerhouse rail and a metro style system for the whole of the west midlands, a britain where left behind towns have recovered their vibrancy, and their commercial life and optimism, with shops and businesses made possible by better transport and fantastic broadband, and then this turn where better infrastructure is allowing better transport, is allowing us to build tens of thousands of superb new homes, hundreds of thousands, on brownfield sites, giving young people the prospect of home ownership they currently don't have and which every survey shows is what people this this country want. a britain where the landscape is made more beautiful, by the planting of millions of trees, that will help us to deal with climate change, and in ten yea rs to deal with climate change, and in ten years time, i confidently prof

sighs that people will be passionately proud of their scottish identity. and their welsh and northern irish and yes, their english identity, and that will be a great thing. but we will all be citizens of a proud, strong and whole united kingdom. applause more united. more united than ever, flying the flag that represents the best of our values from democracy in the rule of law, to the freedom to love whoever you choose, from championing education for every girl in the world, to protecting the planet's wildlife from the tragedy of habitat loss and extinction, and a britain thatis loss and extinction, and a britain that is able to lead the world in

tackling climate change and reducing our c02, as tackling climate change and reducing ourc02, asi tackling climate change and reducing our c02, as i say to net zero by 2050, not because we hate capitalism, and want to destroy it, and want pointlessly to make an enemy of enterprise, but because the private sector makes the brilliant technical breakthroughs that enable us technical breakthroughs that enable us to cut c02 and pay for great public services and create great high skilled jobs. and that is the vision that we are offering. to make this country the greatest place to live, to breathe, to be, to raise kids, to start a business, the greatest place on earth. and i propose, isn't that our vision? i propose, isn't that our vision? i propose we get on with it now, i don't want to waste, i don't want to waste 2020 in two more referendums. i want it to an exciting and productive year, a year of prosperity and growth. do you want to wa ke prosperity and growth. do you want to wake up on friday 13th december and find a nightmare on downing street? a corbyn sturgeon coalition

of chaos? i say let's go carbon neutral by 2050 and corbyn neutral by christmas. cheering and applause let's go, thank you, let's go for sensible, moderate but tax cutting one nation conservative government and take this country forwards. thank you all very much. applause thank you. thank you. thanks everybody. thank you. we are

going to take some questions from the media now, and i am going to go first to robert peston of itv if he is here. robert. mrjohnson, you are proposing 3 billion a year of extra public service spending, compared to labour's promise of £83 billion a year. equally you are proposing £8 billion a year of increased investment, compared to £80 billion a year proposed byjeremy corbyn. so anybody who wants to see a definitive end to austerity improvements in public service, they will vote for labour aren't they? well, robert, icouldn't will vote for labour aren't they? well, robert, i couldn't disagree with you more because if you look at this agenda it is a radical agenda,

this agenda it is a radical agenda, this is a new conservative government, we are not only, by, 20053 you will see a 29% increase in spending just on the nhs, the funding we are putting into the nhs and which we will begin, we will continue as soon and which we will begin, we will continue as soon as we are and which we will begin, we will continue as soon as we are back in downing street, if i am lucky to be backin downing street, if i am lucky to be back in downing street in december, we will be investing, as i say, the biggest ever cash boost to the nhs. 50,000 more nurse, 50 million more gp appointments and we are bringing back the bursary for nurses as well. i believe absolutely passionately that it i believe absolutely passionately thatitis i believe absolutely passionately that it is ourjob as one nation conservatives, to support a step change infunding, conservatives, to support a step change in funding, of our great public services, particularly the nhs, and that is what we are going to do. yes, of course, it is true that we are doing it in a sensible way, and we are making big commitments now, big commitments over the lifetime of the parliament and particularly on public services and particularly on public services and infrastructure, but we can only do that because we manage the

economy sensibly, and we have a dynamic and growing economy. applause and...i applause and... iam applause and... i am sorry to say, i am sorry to say, that some of the spending commitments i have seen from mr corbyn and the labour party really, i think they staggered even some of his most left—wing supporter, and they would put up spending to 1.2 trillion, you would have a tax bill for every person in the country of £2a00, and what i think people need to understand is at this crucial moment we are able to make big investments in our infrastructure, make big commitments because we have got interest rates low, and when the markets look at commitments of the scale that labour is making, i am afraid they will mark us down, they will say to this country you can't have interest rates that low and that will mean mortgages go up for

everybody, in addition to people's tax burden. neverforget, folks, that whenever labour has left office they have left the public finances in ruin, it was true last time, it is true throughout history and unemployment... unemployment... applause unemployment always ends under a labour government higher than when they began, all labour governments end with an economic crisis, the only difference with corbyn and mcdonnell is they propose to start with an economic crisis and make it worse. applause and neverforget, applause and never forget, they applause and neverforget, they would miss the golden opportunity to get brexit done, because that is what is really going to lift the inertia and

uncertainty from our economy next year, get it motoring in the way we wa nt year, get it motoring in the way we want and they would squander that yearin want and they would squander that year in yet another referendum on the eu around another one on scotland, which would not only be political and democratically damaging but disastrous. next please, laura kuenssberg from the bbc. thank you. you won the leadership of your party by making a big promise of brexit you then broke, despite saying the buck stopped with you. now you are trying to win the country with a list of promises and significant extra spund spending. do you accept beyond this room and your party, there is a big lea p room and your party, there is a big leap of faith for the country to trust you. we are working very hard to secure a working majority, because and get a parliament that works for the people of this country, because i think that when, yes, it is true that parliament did vote to stop us from leaving the

european union in the way that i wa nted european union in the way that i wanted on october 31st, that was a decision taken by mr corbynjo swinson, the scottish nationalist, they decided to vote against our plan to come out. we have a great deal toe do that now, and you know, —— to do that now. the biggest issue at this election is really whether people have any confidence in politics any more, and i think the reason that confidence and trust in politics has been so undermined is because for three—and—a—half years they have seen politicians, engaged in co nsta nt they have seen politicians, engaged in constant prevarication, procrastination, dither and delay, when the people of this country voted to get brexit done. and we are the only... we are the only party... we are the only party at this election that has a prospectus to do

that. we have a deal that i say is ready to go. let's get on and do it. that is the way to bring our country together and to enable us all to focus on the priorities we care about, particularly the nhs. sky news. thank you, prime minister. 0n theissue news. thank you, prime minister. 0n the issue of trust, and trust being undermined, are you not part of the problem? in the leadership race, you promised an income tax cut for higher earners, now dropped from the ma nifesto, higher earners, now dropped from the manifesto, he also promise do or die to leave the eu on october the 31st when you did not have the majority in parliament to deliver on that promise. three times the conservative party extended article 50. voters laughed at you in two recent television performances when

you said that treating politics is important. do you understand why many people simply do not trust your ? i have to say, i repeat my point, i was absolutely determined to come out on october the 31st and people we re out on october the 31st and people were amazed, all the sceptics and critics turned out to be totally wrong, they said we would not get a deal and would not be able to change the withdrawal agreement, and we did. iwas the withdrawal agreement, and we did. i was confident we would be able to do that. what happened, if you remember, was that parliament decided to give a first approval to that withdrawal agreement, which everybody said was impossible and the sensors they voted to extend yet again. iam the sensors they voted to extend yet again. i am afraid it was parliament that pass that law. i think it was a great mistake. that is why, i am afraid, we need to fix this broken parliament, get a working majority, and get that deal over the line. it

isa and get that deal over the line. it is a great deal, it enables us to do everything we want, and i hope we can get on and do it. i also hope we can get on and do it. i also hope we can get on with our new parliament because we want to do some great things to help people on taxation. yes, it is true that we are not prioritising tax cuts for high earners at the moment, we are looking, of course, at the moment to do what we can to help people with the cost of living and that is why we are lifting the living wage by the biggest ever amount and why we are cutting national insurance contributions, and look at the difference between us and the labour party, the only other potential prime minister, i am afraid, is jeremy corbyn, supported by nicola sturgeon. every independent analysis i have seen suggests that his pledges which have been added to every day would lead to massive tax increases for people across this country. we are cutting taxes, managing things sensibly, putting

huge investment into the nhs and public services, we will continue to do that throughout this parliament. the shropshire star. good afternoon, mrjohnson. when jeremy corbyn came to telford recently, he pledged to save the accident and emergency unit in telford, it is one of the concerns of people here. what is your response to that? thank you. i am looking at matt hancock because i know that we have kept the accident and emergency open and we will ensure it is open, i will insist on that and i know that matt hancock will be happy to give you more details about that afterwards. we will certainly make sure that the

accident and emergency in telford is kept open. cheering and by the way, as i tend to repeat, we can only do that because we run a strong and dynamic economy and if you want to make long—term funding commitments to the nhs, which we passionately do, we have to continue to run the economy sensibly, and not go after wealth creators as though they were somehow enemies of this country. people who run businesses, people who get up early to get their shops ready, they are doing a fine thing and we should be supporting them. 0k. tom newton dunn from the sun. thank you, prime minister. there is no mention of maintaining troop levels in this manifesto as there was in the 2017 manifesto. are

you... ? no. onto my second question and 90s. let me elaborate on my first answer but have your second question. under your fiscal rules, ifi question. under your fiscal rules, if i have got this right, the deficit will almost certainly rising every single year of the next parliament, so i wondered what happened to the party of fiscal credibility? first of all, on the armed services, as i made clear repeatedly, we will not be cutting our armed services in any form, we will be maintaining the size of her arm services and i am delighted to see the secretary of state for defence nodding fervently on the front row. we are increasing funding for the armed services and maintaining our nato 2% commitment and more. we will be increasing our funding by a5% above inflation every year of this parliament because we believe in our armed services.

applause i have travelled around the world and they are loved. the armed services of the united kingdom are perhaps the most admired export that this country has in some parts of the world than they do a fantastic amount of good. i think our attitude of supporting our armed services, protecting veterans, from vexatious cases against them that have happened long ago, when no new evidence has been produced... applause helping military families with the cost of childcare, our attitude is to support and protect our armed forces, and i contrast that with jeremy corbyn and the labour party. mr corbyn has said at various times he would disband our armed forces and cannot imagine circumstances in which he would wish to use them. there is a sharp distinction there.

0n there is a sharp distinction there. on your point about fiscal discipline and prudence, we are maintaining fiscal discipline, and we will keep that coming down, and you heard i was attacked from the other end of the spectrum just now. . . other end of the spectrum just now... not a tight but invited to comment from the other end of the spectrum by robert. —— not attacked. we are doing this sensibly, this is a dynamic and positive government, we believe in the future of the country to do great things and we think now is the time to invest in public services, in education and the nhs and infrastructure, but to do it in the nhs and infrastructure, but to do itina the nhs and infrastructure, but to do it in a way that maintains the long—term prosperity of the uk economy. that is what we will do. the daily telegraph. thank you, prime minister. during the

leadership campaign you made a very eye—catching pledge to raise the higher rate of income tax from 50,000 to 80,000, the threshold. you have dropped that. are you taking traditional tory voters for granted, and if not, is there anything you can offer them the onto what is in the manifesto? can you set a date on when britain will leave the eu? thank you, gordon. first of all, i have not lost any of my tax zeal. just so you know. when i was running london, we cut our share of council tax, i believe in cutting taxes where you can which is why we are cutting tax on national insurance, which helps everyone in the country, every taxpayer, that is why we raise the personal allowance, and we believe in cutting taxes. at this particularjuncture, when believe in cutting taxes. at this particular juncture, when people, believe in cutting taxes. at this particularjuncture, when people, as a result of the economic disaster

left by the last labour government, when people have been going through tough times and people want to see spending on the nhs, i think it is right to focus our tax cuts on people who need them most. i hope you will agree with that. that does not by any means... of course, we are cutting taxes and we are cutting them on smes, on businesses, and business rates on the high street, to stimulate growth and employment because that is also the right thing to do. we are a party that believes in driving a dynamic economy, and thatis in driving a dynamic economy, and that is the way forward. gordon, you asked another question which has momentarily... let's be clear, if we are lucky enough to be returned with are lucky enough to be returned with a working majority on december the 12th, december the 13th, as i say,

we have this deal ready to go. it is just add water. laughter. it is that. we can get the whole thing completed in a matter of days if not weeks and we are out by january the 31st. cheering i contrast that... i contrast that with the miserable, like timetable of mr corbyn, he would have another negotiation for another three months, then a six—month referendum campaign, i have made the point already about the great vacuity, at the heart of his policy on brexit. we do not know what he would try to achieve through the second deal,

apart from dither and delay and more uncertainty, at the cost of the whole uk economy, so we will get it donein whole uk economy, so we will get it done injust a whole uk economy, so we will get it done in just a few weeks' time. jason, daily mail. thank you, prime minister. 0n the steps of downing street a few months ago you said you had a plan to solve the long—term crisis in social care. there is no sign of that in this manifesto, there is money to stop the system falling over and warm words about the future. we have had a long line of prime ministers who have talked big on this and ended up bottling it. will you join them or will you give us a cast—iron guarantee today that by the end of the next parliament you will have a long—term system in place? since this new government came into office we have allocated about 1.5 billion towards addressing the social care issue, both for adult and child social care and helping local councils with the massive pressures that they face. we

will put another billion every year in the life of the parliament into fixing that. we will also do what people in this country expect us to do, to build on a growing national consensus about the way forward, and we will reach out across party, and we will reach out across party, and we will reach out across party, and we will be optimistic in the way that we do that, and try to bring people together, and we will have a long—term plan that achieves two things. first, it ensures everybody has dignity and security in their old age, and secondly, that nobody has to sell their home to pay for the cost of their care. that will be our policy. that is the right way forward is for this country. our policy. that is the right way forward is for this countrylj our policy. that is the right way forward is for this country. i am going to go to the guardian.“ forward is for this country. i am going to go to the guardian. if she is here.

cani can i ask about the conservative pa rty‘s can i ask about the conservative party's decision to change its online twitter feed to fact checking uk, as an example that it has been accused of being fake news. does that undermine trust in the conservative party? well, i am afraid that the twitter —— sphere is not my province. i can say that i am informed that labour have some sort of operation which is very similar to this, but... you know, i do not follow this twitter stuff with perhaps the attention you would like. i will apprise myself of the detail of this, but when it comes to, asi

detail of this, but when it comes to, as i say, when it comes to trust in politics, and the facts of the selection, what we need to know, there is one giant fact which we continue to chase down, there is one elusive... like the hunting of the snark, or the quest for the answer to firm at‘s last theorem, or the riddle of the sphinx or the bermuda triangle, the one fact that we wish to discover, the fact that we search for in the great minestrone of labour policy on brexit, is what is the position of the leader of the labour party on whether he wants to come out of the european union. —— fermat's last theorem. if you cannot supply a fight with barely 18 days to go until poll is open, i do not see how you can credibly take this country see how you can credibly take this cou ntry forward see how you can credibly take this country forward or get a deal. that

is the issue. the mysteries continues to deepen, i invite, all wonderful colleagues to redouble their efforts to send out search parties, to find this elusive, this like shergar, this... laughter this fact that i think a great deal depends on members of the public would be fascinated to know, because u nless we would be fascinated to know, because unless we know that fact it is very ha rd to unless we know that fact it is very hard to make sense of anything that labour says about their plans for next year. listen, everybody thank you very much. i want to say, this is... this is... applause this is going to be a... a very very important election, it will be a very very close fought, a very close fought election and we must contest every seat and campaign for every vote and make our case respectfully

and humbly to every elector, what we wa nt to and humbly to every elector, what we want to do, and i think you have heard it from me already, but what we wa nt heard it from me already, but what we want to do is very simple. we wa nt to we want to do is very simple. we want to honour the democratic processes of this country, we want do that because it is right thing—in—itself but it is also right for our country and our economy now, we wa nt for our country and our economy now, we want to focus on the priorities of the british people, above all, the nhs and the cost of living. we wa nt to the nhs and the cost of living. we want to get brexit done and unleash the potential of this whole country. thank you all very much. applause so there we are, the prime minister ending his address to the delegates gathereded there in telford, with the title of that manifesto get brexit done unleash britain's potential. you can see warm handshakes from people there who we re handshakes from people there who were here to listen, cabinet members jumping to their feet, were here to listen, cabinet members jumping to theirfeet, no doubt were here to listen, cabinet members jumping to their feet, no doubt on their way to speak to various

journalist, one of those is norman smith who listened to all of that launch. norman, the prime minister described it at the beginning of his speech at the most critical election in modern history, what did you make of the promises he was putting forward , of the promises he was putting forward, that might help the conservatives win that election? well, it was striking, it was almost a sort of cursory manifesto launch, i thought. just 1a minutes, the actual manifesto document doesn't seem actual manifesto document doesn't seem to contain any particular new policies is beyond that one stand out announcement we got on recruiting 50,000 more nurses, bringing back nurse bursaries for between 5,000 and £8,000 a year, almost cherry picking a labour policy there, and i thought trying to sort of, mrjohnson how are you going to pay for the 50,000 nurses? well he is urging us to study the

ma nifesto. well he is urging us to study the manifesto. it won't take too long, it is only 59 page, a lot of it taken with pictures on each page. there wasn't much that surprised us in that manifesto, beyond that one announcement of 50 thousand nows, why that is interesting is that is more than double what labour were proposing, they were proposing 20,000 more nurse, we will look at how the money for that adds up. labour are promising to spend more than the tories on the nhs, but it seems borisjohnson than the tories on the nhs, but it seems boris johnson is than the tories on the nhs, but it seems borisjohnson is going to recruit more nurses and bring the nurse bursary back, the other two areas were i thought he was wobbly in the q areas were i thought he was wobbly in theq & areas were i thought he was wobbly intheq&a areas were i thought he was wobbly in the q & a social care. again, no firm policy announcement for long—term reform, beyond an aspiration to kick—start cross—party talks again and put an extra £1 billion each year, and the other big u—turn, that promised to raise the tax threshold for higher rate

earners, to £80,000. instead mr johnson said he would prioritise any tax help on lower income earner, so he confirmed raising the threshold to nine—and—a—half thousand for national insurance but that pledge, which was one of his benchmark policies when he stood for the tory leadership about trying to help middle—income earners by raising the higher rate, that is gone, no more, however, interest, when he was challenged over that and he said now was not the right time to make that sort of commitment he was applauded by tory members and supporter inner the hall. it seems to me, the tory party are prepared to forgive for that, they are prepared to accept now is perhaps not the time for those sort of tax cut, so perhaps he can ride that and then the overarching message hammered home again and again and again and he had great fun with jeremy corbyn again and again and again and he had great fun withjeremy corbyn and how he would negotiate this elusive deal, let's get brexit done, that

remained the core defining message of this manifesto. interestingly on that point, as well, he did make a specific moment of saying that all conservative candidates standing in this election are right behind that withdrawal deal and trying to make the point there is no room any more for dissenters within the party. no, and he has been pretty clear in his own mind about what the timetable now is. he says if gets a majority, then the brexit bill will be brought back in the first week when parliament returns after the election, i think on december 16, so before christmas, and it will be through parliament before january, enabling us to leave onjanuary before january, enabling us to leave on january 31sts, on the before january, enabling us to leave onjanuary 31sts, on the next before january, enabling us to leave on january 31sts, on the next stage, he remains absolutely convince head is going to be able to secure the new trade deal by the end of next year, and he says to doubters you thought i would never get a deal, i did geta thought i would never get a deal, i did get a deal, so, you think i

won't be able to get a trade deal, i will be able to get a trade deal, so they seem confident they are going to be able to deliver, and that was i suppose the message that brexiteers want to hear and that is the message hopes some remainers wa nt to the message hopes some remainers want to here, this whole brexit saga will come to an end and is not going to go on and on and on. that remains the defining message of team johnson in this election campaign, and it was the message i think he wanted to underscore again and again in this ma nifesto. indeed. norman i know you will stay there for us, and rustle up some guest, we will back to you in a short while. for now, thank you very much indeed. we are going to stay with this, because let us try and crunch some of the numbers in the conservative manifesto. we are joined by pauljohnson from the institute for fiscal sturdy, i joined by pauljohnson from the institute forfiscal sturdy, i know you will have been having a good look and listen to that. perhaps we

can look and listen to that. perhaps we ca n start look and listen to that. perhaps we can start with boris johnson's look and listen to that. perhaps we can start with borisjohnson's claim this is the biggest cash boost to the nhs that the conservative party are proposing. well in cash terms broadly true but of course in real terms, once you take account of the fa ct terms, once you take account of the fact that spending is higher than it was in the past, it is not such a big increase, it is a substantial increase, it is bigger than we have seen over increase, it is bigger than we have seen over the last ten years but it is not in line actually with the average of what the nhs got in the a0 or 50 years before that, so it was a clear move towards more funding, but to say it is the biggest increase ever is i think misleading relative to for example the very large increases that the nhs got during the last labour government. and of course, a alongside that there were plenty of promises about other areas of increased funding, there was talk about new hospitals, new police recruitment, and so on, so when you have looked at some of the spending

promise, make take us through some of the ones that have caught your eye and how you interpret them? . of the ones that have caught your eye and how you interpret them? i eye and how you interpret them? .i think eye and how you interpret them? i think ina eye and how you interpret them? i think in a way the problem for the conservatives is the big increases they are talking about are ones that we re they are talking about are ones that were already announced back in the spending round in september, so, yes, there is a significant additionalfunding for yes, there is a significant additional funding for the nhs, there is considerable additional funding for schools and the police, if you look at this manifesto, there is very very little beyond what was announced back in september, so if you are thinking about, if you are another part of the public service, there is nothing in there for you, and given that the spending round for most areas of public services only went through to next year, what this seems to imply is that outside of schools and hospitals, there is not going to be much to go around, in the remaining four years of parliament, so in that sense a lot of the, a lot of the austerity, a lot of the cuts we have seen over

the last decade, in things like justice and local government are pretty much baked in, if you take this manifesto at face value. 0ne this manifesto at face value. one of the options of course, always open to governments is taxation and if you are going to put up spending normally it follows you —— will need to paul nuttall up taxation but we have heard about this triple tax lock, a commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance or vat, what do you make of that?i think it's a disappointing promise. it is tying the hands of a chancellor for the next five years in terms of the most obvious increases that you could put into place if you wanted transparently to raise more money, and, you know, i think one of the disappointing parts of the whole debate here is that if we wa nt of the whole debate here is that if we want those public services that all of the parties are promising and particularly in the face of a population that is getting older and

health costs that are growing some taxes will have to rise, you can raise taxes and i suspect we will see them rise outside of those, but all that is saying we won't do this in the most transparent way forward we will find other ways of raising taxes, if we need to, so i think thatis taxes, if we need to, so i think that is one of these, one of these promises rather like labour's promises rather like labour's promise not to affect anyone outside of the top 5%, that is really about implying someone else is going to pay for any improvements rather than being clear and transparent about the fact we are going to need some tax rises over the next few years.i thought it interesting listened to michael gove on bbc, on andrew marr this morning that he mentioned the fa ct this morning that he mentioned the fact that fund for some of these investments will come from the fact in his view, by getting brexit done, that will boost the economy and therefore will be be more money swilling round to be spent. how easy

is it to quantify that kind of prediction? extremely hard. the sorts of, the sorts of forecast that these numbers are based on, certainly the numbers that the budget and so on are based on, do assume already that it gets done and we get the kind of deal that mr johnson's talking about. it is possible that things will get better once that certainty is there, that business investment will return, on the other hand, this is a hard kind of brexit we are looking at, and almost certainly will involve less growth than we would have got had we stayed within the european union because we will be coming out of the customs union, that makes trade more expensive and that is likely to make us more well off than we would have been, subject to the fact we have lost a bit of economic growth and so it may be that some of the big hits have already happened. ok, paul johnson from the ifs, thank you for

giving us your time this afternoon. we will have lots more from telford and our assistant political editor norman smith in a moment. stay with us, first let us look at the weather. here is darren. thank you, the next few day also be mild, there will be further rain at times and there will still be a lot of cloud, and that has been the case today. cloudy sky, drier than yet. mursty and murky, the rains clearing the north east of scotland. we have rain on the horizon here in the far south west but ahead of that with the cloudy skies to end the day. temperatures typically nine or ten. there has been a few breaks in the cloud here and there and we will see more overnight because the breeze will freshen a bit. but at the same time we have thickening cloud and rain coming into the south—west, not far away from northern ireland by the end of the night. ahead of that scotland, north east england could see temperatures downs to four degree, much milder to wales and the south—west, the rain moves northwards tomorrow, most of the

rain in northern ireland in the morning, not much for scotland, the bulk will by a cross england and wales, every now and again may get late sunshine in the far south—west, the best of any sunshine likely to be in the far north of scotland. temperatures on the mild side. highs of 12 or 13.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 3: boris johnson launches the conservatives' election manifesto in telford, pledging to "get brexit done" and "forge a new britain." we are now, as you know, less than three weeks away from the most critical election of modern memory, when the stakes for this country have seldom been higher, and the choice has never been starker. the manifesto also promises to to train 50,000 new nurses, at a cost of £750 million a year. but gone from the manifesto is any pledge to help middle income earners by raising the higher rate tax

threshold. now is not the