Theresa May’s ‘strong leadership’ speech, full transcript

In three days, the British people will choose who they want to lead this country through the next five years. Five years that will define the future of our country for generations to come.

I called this election because, as we face the start of the crucial Brexit negotiations in just a few short days, I believed it would be essential for the British Government to be in the strongest possible position going into those talks. That remains the most critical issue in this campaign.

But of course, when this campaign started, we could never have predicted the tragic turn that events would take. We could never have imagined the appalling depravity that led a cowardly and callous killer to target innocent men, women and children in the way that we saw in Manchester two weeks ago.

Nor could we have envisaged the brutal attack that was carried out on the streets of London on Saturday evening.