Mel Stride: Conservatives are the only people who tell the truth, and have a plan for growth that means something

Sir Mel Stride is shadow Chancellor and MP for central Devon.

This morning at Conservative Party Conference I will set out why we are the only party committed to living within our means, and the only ones who can build the economy of the future.

Britain is a great country – a nation that has led the world in science, culture, and innovation. And make no mistake: we can do it again. Our country has so much potential, with the right leadership.

But right now, things are tough.

The Labour government’s tax rises are hitting everyone hard – pensioners, farmers, small business owners. The consequences are catastrophic. Inflation has doubled. Food prices are soaring. Unemployment is at its highest since the pandemic. Over 150,000 jobs have been lost. Businesses are closing their doors. Debt is spiralling out of control.

We stand today in the shadow of an economic time bomb. Labour and Reform are pushing the same reckless plan: more spending, more borrowing, more debt. And with more tax rises looming, it is hard-working families who will pay the price.

This cannot continue.

Britain needs a government that understands the seriousness of the moment. We need leadership, and we need a plan to get Britain moving again. A serious plan for serious times, rooted in optimism but grounded in realism.

Last month I visited Silicon Valley. Over there, the future is not a distant concept. It is happening now. Driverless cars, robots, cutting-edge technology – these breakthroughs are fuelled by ambition and a culture that values risk takers, rewards success, and supports enterprise without smothering it under a mountain of bureaucracy.

Contrast that with Britain today, where high taxes, uncontrolled spending, and a stifling regulatory environment is harming our potential. Business investment is falling. Young people are trapped in a system that encourages dependency rather than opportunity. It is a recipe for decline – and one that the Conservatives reject.

But it does not have to be this way.

There is another path for Britain – a better path – to growth, prosperity, and a renewed sense of national confidence. And that must be matched by economic discipline, personal responsibility, and an unshakeable belief in the creative energy of the British people. An agenda rooted in our Conservative values.

We are the only party of fiscal responsibility. The next generation is already burdened enough. We owe it to them to live within our means and stop piling up debt – and under a Conservative government, we will. So today I have set out how we will get borrowing down and ensure we are living within our means.

We must reward work, not dependency. Welfare must be reformed from the ground up. We will protect the vulnerable, but we will end the injustice of a system that pays people to stay on benefits when they could and should be thriving in work. Too many are signed off with mental health conditions when what they need is support and structure – not a lifetime on benefits.

We need to reverse the unsustainable growth in the size of the civil service. It is now 35 per cent bigger than it was in 2016. That cannot be justified. So we would get those numbers back down again, saving one pound in every four.

And we have set out a host of other savings measures including cutting foreign aid spending, scrapping Ed Miliband’s vanity projects and stopping the asylum hotel scandal. In total, the package I am setting out would reduce the size of government by nearly £50bn a year.

We are the only party with the honesty and courage to make the tough but necessary choices. Choices that secure Britain’s future, not just for today but for generations to come.

Above all, we believe in the people of this country. We know the potential of Britain lies not in government handouts but in the energy, innovation, and ambition of its citizens. Labour’s reckless spending and borrowing is pushing Britain toward decline, while Reform’s fantasy economics has seen them lurch to the left – promising to spend even more on welfare, including lifting the two-child benefit cap.

Britain needs a different way forward – and that way is the Conservative way.

Where Labour choose debt, we choose discipline. Where they choose welfare, we choose work. Where they choose stagnation, we choose aspiration.

It falls to us, the Conservatives, to win back the country’s trust and reverse the economic vandalism of this Labour government. We can and we will.