As it happened: PM's party conference speech

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Boris Johnson has finished his online speech to the Conservative party conference. Here's what you missed:

• The PM said he had had “more than enough” of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government was working "night and day to repel this virus"
• He hit back at briefings to newspapers on his health, suggesting it was "drivel" that his bout with Covid earlier this year had "robbed me of my mojo"
• He warned it would not be possible to return to the world as it was before 2019, warning previous pandemics had been the "trigger" for social and economic changes
• He vowed to "fix the injustice" of care home funding, adding crisis had “shone a spotlight" on the plight of the sector
• He vowed to "fix our broken housing market" through transformation of the "sclerotic" planning system and boosting 95% mortgages to first-time buyers
• And he said the UK would "build back greener" after the pandemic, including through greater investment in offshore wind

This was a virtual conference speech in which the prime minister's gaze extended over the horizon -- to the point when our national conversation is no longer dominated by Coronavirus.

It was clearly an attempt to reassure Conservative MPs and activists that the Boris Johnson they elected as their leader, and the country enthusiastically embraced as prime minister at the last election, hadn't disappeared.

So there were the colourful turns of phrase, the sentences that would have generated laughter in the hall, the reassurance he had fully recovered from his bout of the virus.

And then it was the big picture: the agenda, alongside delivering Brexit, that delivered that thumping majority back in December last year.

So: talk of enterprise, talk of home ownership, a green tinged economic recovery.

Was there less in this than a conventional conference speech?

Yes: it was shorter, there was no audience, no razzmatazz.

It was also delivered in the teeth of a pandemic, with a grim autumn and winter beckoning - where the government, like the rest of us, remain hostages to the fortune, or lack of it, of what the pandemic might bring.

He was obviously speaking to his Conservative audience - offering them a reassurance that he doesn't want to be closing pubs early and putting restrictions on peoples' lives.

And he was making the point that the type of state intervention we've seen during the pandemic is not going to be forever.

It is also interesting that he has a very optimistic message.

But there is an awful lot to fix.

Lots of people are still focused on what is happening with coronavirus now.

Seeing the problems that have happened - do people trust his government to deliver these very ambitious things.

Responding to Mr Johnson's speech, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner says: "The British people needed to hear the prime minister set out how he and his government will get a grip of the crisis.

"Instead we got the usual bluster and no plan for the months ahead.

“We end this Conservative conference as we started it: with a shambolic testing system, millions of jobs at risk and an incompetent government that has lost control of this virus and is holding Britain back.”

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Coming to the end of his speech Boris Johnson acknowledges that times are tough but adds "it is a measure of the greatness of this country that we are simply not going to let it hold us back or slow us down."

"Even in the darkest moments we can see the bright future ahead.

"And we can see how to build it and we will build it together."

And with that he leaves the podium.

A de-rigueur chunk of any leader's speech at a party conference is the big principles thing, what we stand for compared to the other lot.

It reminds the audience in the hall why they were drawn to the party in the first place, and reassures them those at the top believe the same stuff they do, whatever the pressures of leadership, government or budgets.

So the Prime Minister talks of the importance of enterprise, the desire for home ownership, a pride in British history, his commitment to keeping the United Kingdom together: big picture Conservative values, in contrast to Labour and the Scottish National Party.

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Boris Johnson accuses the Labour Party of wanting "to edit our national CV to make it more politically correct".

He says the Conservative Party "believe passionately" in the UK, and says Labour "flirt with those who want to tear our country apart".

He accuses Labour of wanting to try and take the UK back into the EU, and he says the party has "sniped from the sidelines" during the pandemic.

He says that he hopes people arriving in the country in 2030 will arrive on British made zero carbon jets, and rent clean energy powered electric vehicles.

He adds that in 2030, the UK will be a country which is more united, outside of the EU.

He says it should be a country where people are "embraced" no matter what their race, gender or orientation.

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Mr Johnson now turns to housing.

He says it is a "disgraceful truth" that home ownership levels among younger people has plummeted.

"Millions of people are forced to pay through the nose for a home they can't truly love," he says.

He promises to change the planning system but also says first time buyers will be able to take out a long-term fixed-rate mortgages of up to 95% of the value of the home.

He says it will be the biggest expansion of home ownership since 1980s and promises to turn "generation rent into generation buy".

He then accuses Labour of disliking home ownership.

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Mr Johnson cautions against "drawing the wrong conclusions" from the pandemic, and relying permanently on the "uncle sugar" of the taxpayer.

He says it was "the private sector" that stepped in to manufacturer things like masks during the early days of the crisis.

He says the expansion of the state seen this year would only be expected in "times of war or disaster".

He says the government has been "forced" into "erosions of liberty" that would not normally be the case.

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Mr Johnson now moves on to his pre-trailed announcement about investment in wind farms.

He urges the audience to imagine a future of "green collar jobs in wind, solar nuclear, hydrogen and carbon capture storage".

"With help of basic natural phenomena we will build back greener," he promises.

"This government will lead this green industrial revolution."

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"It is in crises like this that new approaches evolve," the prime minister says.

"Last week we grasped a nettle... and broke down barrier between further education and higher education," he says referring to government moves to make it easier for people to access funding for further education courses.

He goes on to say that "the Covid crisis is a catalyst for change" adding "we need to give people the chance to train for the new jobs that are being created every day."

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Boris Johnson says the government is "pressing on with its plan for 48 hospitals" between now and 2030.

He says the government needs to "get on" with hiring 40,000 more nurses, and states there are 14,000 more nurses under the current government in the past year.

He says the UK needs to "care for the carers, as they care for us".

The government has recruited 5,000 of the additional 20,000 police officers they want on the streets, he adds.

He says he and the Home Secretary believe the UK justice system is "hamstrung" by "lefty do-gooders" meaning that justice cannot always be served.

The government wants to look at more "one to one teaching" for those who are falling behind, and those who have extra abilities, he adds.