Andrea Leadsom

‘I want to guide Britain to the sunlit uplands’ – full text of Andrea Leadsom’s leadership speech

The decision we took on the 23rd June was a great moment in history. Not just a historic opportunity for our country but for Europe as a whole. Perhaps the biggest moment since the Berlin Wall came down. We are not leaving any of our historic ties with our European friends, We are choosing freedom away from the stifling EU institutions. Through NATO we remain bound through the 1949 treaty to come to the defence of Europe’s democracies if they are attacked. The nations and peoples of Europe remain our close friends, staunch allies and key trading partners. I believe, however, that our vote to leave the EU will be a positive wake up call for those European elites who have been far too complacent about:

– Youth unemployment that is wrecking lives in S Europe
– The declining share of world trade that threatens Europe’s progress, and
– The failure of the Brussels machine to respond to globalisation

Because of our decision on June 23, we are no longer bound to that EU model.

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