Conference, the last two years have not been easy. Like many of you, I was devastated by the referendum result. Like many of you, I’d campaigned passionately to stay in the EU. Not for the technical benefits – important though they are. But because I’m an internationalist.
Because I believe that nations achieve more together than they do alone. I believe that the greatest challenges facing our nation – armed conflict, terrorism, climate change or unchecked globalisation – can best be met together with our EU partners. And the greatest opportunities – medical research, scientific advancement, art and culture – can only be realised together with our EU partners.
Those values did not die on 23 June 2016. And those values must guide our every step as we move forward. We cannot allow Brexit to be driven by narrow and divisive Tory ideology. That’s why we have not ducked the challenge of Brexit. We could have wished away the result. But instead we stepped up.
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