On the first day of Conservative Party Conference 2020, we have been setting out how the we are transforming our country fundamentally and permanently for the better. We will not be blown off course by the pandemic, but will continue to deliver on the priorities of the British people, and build back better from coronavirus.
We have an opportunity to unite and level up our country, delivering lasting changes with more homes, plans to transform skills, more hospitals, more police, more schools, a greener economy and a fairer society.
Today at Conference:
Boosting Connectivity Across the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister has set out plans to better connect all four nations in the UK. Good transport links within our country are vital to the strength of the Union – which is why we have launched an independent review to make sure we have the right connections to support, sustain and strengthen communities across the UK.
The Prime Minister has asked Sir Peter Hendy, the chair of Network Rail, to conduct an independent review on how we can quickly improve transport infrastructure across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England–improving connections such as the A1 and M4, creating new ones, and bringing communities closer together.
The review will cover road, rail, air and sea links and provide independent advice on a wide range of possible option to improve the quality and availability of transport links across the UK. It will explore options such as reviewing air links within the UK, the possibility for a new fixed link between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, boosting rail and road links to Scotland and cutting journey times to North Wales.
We are investing £27 billion to upgrade England’s roads, launching a £1.7 billion Transport Infrastructure Investment Fund, spending £5 billion to level up local transport connections and embarking on the biggest rail modernisation programme since Victorian times
For more information on the review, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-launches-review-to-boost-connections-across-the-uk.
Generation Buy
The Prime Minister has announced his plans to create a ‘Generation Buy’. We will create long-term fixed-rate mortgages with five per cent deposits, to help young people get onto the housing ladder even if they have only a small deposit.
Two million people in this country cannot currently afford a deposit, but would be able to meet mortgage payments. There has also been a withdrawal of high loan-to-value mortgages over recent months, which is preventing households with low and medium levels of equity from buying their first home or moving up the ladder. We will therefore develop plans to encourage new mortgage products that can overcome these problems, while providing suitable consumer security.
To date, more than 1.4 million people have used Help to Buy ISAs and more than 263,297properties have been bought using the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. Most of the home purchases under the scheme were made by first time buyers, and the total number of first-time buyers is now at a twelve-year high.
464,700 families have benefited from First-Time Buyers’ Relief since it was introduced in 2017, saving a total of £1.1 billion. The temporary stamp duty cut announced by the Chancellor to stimulate the housing market will mean that nine out of ten people buying a home before 31 March 2020 will pay no stamp duty at all.
Our reforms to shared ownership will make it easier for people to accumulate a stake in their home, rather than at 10 per cent increments as previously required. Half of the new homes that we be built under our Affordable Homes Programme will be shared ownership
New Conservative Party Headquarters
The Party Chairman has announced that we will open a new Conservative Party headquarters in Leeds, as well as launching a new Blue Wall Fund to support our candidates in those areas to continue delivering for local people.
After the Conservative Party gained more than 40 seats in the Midlands and North at the2019 General Election, we committed to opening a new campaign headquarters closer to some of our new voters. We will therefore open a new headquarters in Leeds in 2021.
We have also launched a new Blue Wall Fund to support Conservative candidates in some of the seats we gained for the very first time at last year’s General Election. Members, activists and supporters can donate to the fund, which will be used to help MPs and their associations who need extra support for campaigning because they are in traditional Labour areas with no well-established activist base or campaigning infrastructure. For more information on the new Blue Wall Fund and how to donate, please visit: https://www.conservatives.com/news/we-have-launched-our-blue-wall-fund.
Additionally, for any more information on the new Conservative Party headquarters and to view the Co-Chairman’s comments, please visit: https://www.conservatives.com/news/conservative-co-chairman-announces-new-headquarters-in-the-north.
Truly Global Britain
The Foreign Secretary reiterated that, now that we have left the EU, we can re-establish our rightful place in today’s world as a truly Global Britain.
To view the Foreign Secretary’s full speech, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/conservatives/videos/995676687566996/.
Conservative Party Conference 2020 Handbook
To access the Conservative Party Conference 2020 Handbook, please visit: https://www.conservatives.com/conference/handbook.
