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Thank you. Thank you.
Well thank you very much. I will say I have a great position to
be speaking between some Olympic medal winners and a gold medal Prime Minister.
Now, for Sebastian -- I hope he's still here -- I wasn't thrilled the last time I saw
Sebastian in Singapore when he led the London bid over New York's. But I will say that
he and the people of Great Britain and of London deserve enormous amount of credit.
They staged one of the most magnificent Olympic and Paralympic events ever, and all of the
world is a beneficiary of it.
Now it really is a pleasure to be here, and thank you for letting a Yank crash the party.
I was actually thinking of- about jumping out of a helicopter with Boris and parachuting
in with him, but the last time Boris suspended in air it didn't work out so well.î
And it's great to be back at the Conservative Party Conference. I was with you in 2007 in
Blackpool. My former wife grew up not too far from Blackpool -- in Yorkshire -- although
she would say it was very far from Blackpool.
Her father was an old RAF wing commander, and during the War, my mother-in-law was a
radio- radar operator for the RAF. Now, I'm not whether sure she could tell the difference
between a German fighter plane from a Canadian goose, but somehow we did managed to win the
war, so all's well that ends well.
Over the years my ties to the U.K. have remained strong. My two daughters have British passports,
and my company, which currently employs 2,600 people across Great Britain, is building a
new headquarters, designed by Lord Norman Foster, right in the heart of the City of
London. So that special relationship that has always existed between the U.K. and the
U.S. is something that I've experienced in a very personal way.
And one of my political heroes has always been -- I'm very proud to say -- the son
of a New York City native, Sir Winston Churchill. Now Churchill belonged to two parties in his
lifetime, while always being an independent, and having been a Republican and a Democrat
and an Independent in New York, I can relate to that. Putting the common good ahead of
party politics and the next election really was at the core of Churchill's approach to
leadership. It was an approach I've always believed we need more of at every level of
government all around the world, especially now.
We all know these are difficult times. The shifts in the global economy have presented
leaders with tough choices on spending and taxes, on managing deficits and on unleashing
the forces of innovation. From everything I've seen, the U.K.'s first coalition government
since Churchill is meeting these challenges head on. In the face of the most challenging
economic times we've experienced in decades, this is a government that is clearly not afraid
to lead.
And in 2010, when David Cameron entered 10 Downing Street, the British economy and the
entire European Union was in dire straits. Since then, as we keep reading, most national
governments have tried to ride out the storm by simply battering down the hatches and hoping
that clear skies will return quickly. But very few governments have charted new courses
that will lead them to clear skies. And I think the United Kingdom has been an exception
and the Conservative Party has been the reason.
Prime Minister Cameron -- together with his Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne
-- are creating a new course for Britain. It's not easy work, and I can appreciate
how hard it is to step into a crisis and make the tough decisions to overcome it. I first
took office three months after the attacks of 9/11. We lost people that day from more
than 90 countries that day, including 67 citizens of the U.K., and we will always be grateful
for the support you gave us in the weeks and months that followed.
It's easy now to forget now, but back then, people said New York City's best days were
behind us. But we didn't accept that. We believed we could build a stronger future,
and we made the tough decisions we knew were necessary to do it. That meant raising taxes
and cutting spending. And let me tell you: that didn't make me the most popular man
in New York.
But those who confuse popularity with leadership sacrifice progress for power. We see that
all too often in politics, but fortunately for Britain, not with Prime Minister David
Cameron. He understands that if you do what you believe is right, over time, even if people
don't support a particular policy, they'll respect you and support you.
It's like a former mayor of New York City used to say: ëIf you agree with me on eight
out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12, go see a psychiatrist.'
Leadership is not about a checklist of issues. It's about taking on big challenges and pushing
bold ideas that in the end make society stronger, safer, and more economically secure.
You don't have to agree with every idea to recognize that David Cameron is taking on
those big challenges. And he's providing leadership in three areas that I see clearly,
even from the other side of the pond.
First, he's refused to take no for an answer when it comes to government reform and accountability.
I'm talking especially about his education reforms, his NHS reforms, his welfare reforms
and his police reforms. For too long, governments just threw money at these areas, and when
that didn't work, the answer was always more money. But we've learned from experience
that governments must focus on the product that comes out of an agency, not on the tax
revenue that goes into an agency.
In New York City, we've seen how accountability and innovation have led to transformations
in public safety, public education, and public assistance. Crime in New York City is down
more than 30 percent compared to a decade ago. High school graduation rates are up 40
percent. And the welfare rolls are down 25 percent. And that didn't happen just because
we spent more money. It happened because accountability and innovation have become an integral part
of the work.
Now, implementing these reforms was not easy. I don't think the reforms have been easy
here, either. It never is. There will always be doubters, detractors, and doomsayers. But
I also know that tough problems are not solved by waving a magic wand, and that charting
the right course rather than the easy course takes courage. And I don't have any doubt
that David Cameron has the courage of his convictions, and I believe that he is charting
the right course for Britain.
The second area where his leadership has been especially strong is in making government
more business-friendly. And here again, simply spending more money is not the answer. The
best way to spur economic growth is not by ramping up government spending -- it's by
knocking down barriers to private sector investment.
And Conservative Party's work to simplify regulations will create jobs at no cost to
taxpayers. The same is true of your work to reform planning laws to expand opportunities
for investment. Both of those strategies have been important priorities for New York City
-- and they're part of the reason why we've been outpacing the rest of the U.S. in job
growth.
In New York City, we're also working to attract more R&D investment in technology and bio-science
-- and your plan to expand tax credits for R&D is a smart investment in the future. Of
course, the first rule of economic management is the same as it is in medicine: Do no harm.
So I couldn't agree more with your opposition to the tax on financial transactions. If you
want to send financial firms out of the country, a tax on transactions is as good a way to
do it as any. That may not be the popular thing to say -- but in a global economy, it's
the reality. And you are right for standing up and saying it.
Third, and finally, David Cameron has been a leader in creating a government that lives
by the values it preaches. That's all too rare. Too often, we hear those in governments
around the world preach of fiscal responsibility, but then run up huge deficits. We hear them
preach of personal responsibility, but then blame everyone but themselves. We hear them
preach of making the hard decisions, but when it comes time to spell out the details, they
then kick the can down the road.
Not David Cameron. He has governed with integrity. He has not just promised change, but he has
delivered it, and he's been a Conservative in the very best sense of the word. David
Cameron has refused to buy into the ësomething for nothing' philosophy that is so common
world politics, and he's refused to saddle the next generation with debts they cannot
afford. As a result, you are making real progress on the very toughest issues -- determined,
hard-earned progress -- and you should be proud of that.
The United Kingdom and the United States have weathered many a storm in our shared histories,
and we will both weather the current economic crisis. We are rooting for this coalition
government to succeed because America succeeds when Britain succeeds, and vice-versa. We
may be economic competitors, but we're in this together. And we will always be allies
first, through thick and thin, and through war and peace.
The tough decisions you are making honoring Churchill's legacy of putting national interest
ahead of party politics, and that, I believe, you will lead you to a better and brighter
tomorrow.
Thank you, and good luck. You're lucky to have David Cameron.