These are the key moments from the Prime Minister’s Tory conference speech

Boris Johnson has vowed that the country is moving towards a “high-wage, high-skill, high productivity and low tax economy” in his keynote speech at the Conservative party conference.

The Prime Minister also made a series of pledges on tackling the “huge hole” in finances, planting more trees, tackling people traffickers and planting more trees.

5 key moments

Boris Johnson hit out at “decades of drift and dither” from previous governments lacking the “guts” for major change as he pledged to fix the social care crisis.

He admitted his changes to the economy after Brexit will at times be “difficult” but insisted they will result in a fairer “high wage, low tax” system.

The Prime Minister said a “tide of anxiety” is washing into A&E departments and GP practices, as he defended his multi-billion pound tax hike to pay for NHS and social care.

He also urged people to go back to their workplaces after working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In other announcements, Mr Johnson shared an ambition of trying to “rewild” parts of the country as he welcomed otters and beavers returning to rivers. He also pledged to fight people-trafficking gangs at “home and abroad”.

What the Prime Minister said on...

Working-from home

“As we come out of Covid, our towns and cities are going to be buzzing with life because we know that a productive workforce needs the spur that only comes with face-to-face meetings and water cooler gossip.

“If young people are to learn on the job in the way they always have and must, we will and must see people back in the office.”

Wages and skills

“That’s the direction in which the country is going now – towards a high-wage, high-skilled, high-productivity and, yes, thereby a low-tax economy. That is what the people of this country need and deserve.

“Yes, it will take time, and sometimes it will be difficult, but that is the change that people voted for in 2016.”

‘Levelling-up’