'We're not for returning': Mordaunt channels Thatcher in Tory speech

‘We are not for returning’: Penny Mordaunt channels Margaret Thatcher in rallying call to Tories to ‘fight’ against ‘militant union-backed’ Labour who ‘want to drag Britain back to the 80s’ as she joins leadership jostling with impassioned speech

Penny Mordaunt today channelled the spirit of Margaret Thatcher as she issued an impassioned rallying call on the final day of the Tory conference.

The Cabinet minister warned Conservatives they face ‘the fight of our lives’ as she warned that Sir Keir Starmer had ’emboldened militant trade unionism’.

Ms Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, told the Manchester gathering that Labour wanted to drag Britain back to the ‘battles of the 1980s’.

But, altering one of Mrs Thatcher’s most famous conference speeches, she declared: ‘We are not for returning’.

Ms Mordaunt attracted strong support in both of last year’s Tory leadership contests and her tub-thumping speech this morning suggested she still holds an ambition to lead the party.

Penny Mordaunt today channelled the spirit of Margaret Thatcher as she issued an impassioned rallying call on the final day of the Tory conference.

The Cabinet minister warned Conservatives they face ‘the fight of our lives’ as she warned that Sir Keir Starmer had ’emboldened militant trade unionism’.

Ms Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, told the Manchester gathering that Labour wanted to drag Britain back to the ‘battles of the 1980s’

She joined what many have viewed as leadership jostling between the those eyeing up the Tory crown, should Rishi Sunak falter at the general election.

Ms Mordaunt followed Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch in delivering a well-received conference speech.

Her full-hearted address saw her appear emotional as she spoke of the ‘courage’ of Falkland War veterans who set sail from her Portsmouth constituency.

She told Tory members to ‘stand up and fight’ as they continue to trail Labour in opinion polls ahead of the general election, which is expected next year.

Ms Mordaunt said: ‘What I have to say to you today is not for the faint-hearted.

‘We face the fight of our lives and our country needs us again, to stand up and fight. 

‘Stand up and fight against the odds, against the polling, against the sneering commentary, against the inevitability of decliners and the despite-Brexiters.’

She added: ‘We are the party and country that transformed the sick man of Europe into a titan on the global stage, who stood up and fought against militant trade unions and broke their chokehold on Britain.

‘A few brave people with courage and conviction and love of country who thought about the long-term, not short-term popularity, who knew what needed to be done and took on bullies to achieve it.

‘Margaret Thatcher and every single person that stood with her and fought for a better future.’

Ms Mordaunt warned that Sir Keir and his Labour Party were ‘the sons and daughters’ of Arthur Scargill and said they ‘are readying for a rematch of the battles of the 1980s’.

Amid continued NHS strikes, she claimed Labour wanted to ‘turn the BMA into the NUM’.

She also said that Sir Keir, following the general election, would ‘lie down’ with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey –  ‘the man who makes Tim Farron look like a giant’ – and SNP leader Humza Yousaf – ‘the man who made Nicola Sturgeon look competent’.

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