James Forsyth James Forsyth

The speech that revealed what George Osborne believes

It is a risky business for any serving Cabinet Minister to give a big picture political speech setting out their personal philosophy. It is all too easy for such a gesture to be seen as the start of a leadership bid. This was the fate that befell Theresa May when she made her big speech to the Conservative Home conference 15 months ago.

But last week, George Osborne gave his own credo speech to the Centre for Policy Studies’ Thatcher conference last week. The address, delivered after dinner on the final night of the conference, was the fullest explanation yet of the Chancellor’s political philosophy.

Osborne is far more of a Thatcherite than he is a Conservative and so he was among friends when he made the speech.

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