The Challenge of Our Times
In the last four years, Britain has recovered her confidence and self-respect. We have regained the regard and admiration of other nations. We are seen today as a people with integrity, resolve and the will to succeed.
This manifesto describes the achievements of four years of Conservative government and sets out our plans for our second term.
The choice before the nation is stark: either to continue our present steadfast progress towards recovery, or to follow policies more exstreme and more damaging than those ever put forward by any previous Opposition.
We face three challenges: the defence of our country, the employment of our people, and the prosperity of our economy.
How to defend Britain's traditional liberties and distinctive way of life is the most vital decision that faces the people at this election.
We have enjoyed peace and security for thirty-eight years—peace with freedom and justice. We dare not put that security at risk.
Every thinking man and woman wants to get rid of nuclear weapons. To do that we must negotiate patiently from a poaition of strength, not abandon ours in advance.
The universal problem of our time, and the most intractable, is unemployment.
The answer is not bogus social contracts and government overspending. Both, in the end, destroy jobs. The only way to a lasting reduction in unemployment is to make the right products at the right prices, supported by good services. The Government's role is to keep inflation down and offer real incentives for enterprise. As we win back customers, so we win back jobs.
We have a duty to protect the most vulnerable members of our society, many of whom contributed to the heritage we now enjoy. We are proud of the way we have shielded the pensioner and the National Health Service from the recession.
Only if we create wealth can we continue to do justice to the old and the sick and the disabled. It is economic success which will provide te surest guarantee of help for those who need it most.
Our history is the story of a free people—a great chain of people stretching back into the past and forward into the future.
All are linked by a common belief in freedom, and in Britain's greatness. All are aware of their own responsibility to contribute to both.
Our past is witness to their enduring courage, honesty and flair, and to their ability to change and create. Our future will be shaped by those same qualities.
The task we face is formidable. Together, we have achieved much over the past four years. I believe it is now right to ask for a new mandate to meet the challenge of our times.