INNL Chris Heaton-Harris Tory conf Oct 3 2023

News Letter

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris addresses a reception for the NI Tories at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Video taken by Ben Lowry

Transcript

00:00 [Applause]

00:05 Good evening everybody. I've always wanted to be a disruptor in the BBC so this is a

00:11 special ender. James from BBC London, you're more than welcome to. There are also journalists

00:16 in the room, former Secretary of State, I see Theresa Villiers here, I know Julian Briggs

00:20 has had a look back over there, briefing the press as we speak.

00:24 [Laughter]

00:26 Things never change, should they? There are the Chairman of the 1922, a whole host of

00:33 ministers around here at the front, I saw Nigel Holmeson just came in, he's back in

00:37 at the front. Just to show Martin, the Irish ambassador to the courts in James, thank you

00:43 very much indeed for coming, a whole host of EU ambassadors, you are all more than welcome,

00:47 but more welcome than that are all the individual members of the Northern Ireland Conservatives,

00:52 the sponsors obviously, and some people who actually rocked up two weeks ago to the investment

00:57 conference, liked what they saw and have already put their money where their mouth is, so to

01:03 the Frosts who are just down here on the right, because I know Tim has brought a semi-primitive

01:09 business in Northern Ireland.

01:12 [Applause]

01:16 Just demonstrating actually what great businesses there are and what investment is needed in

01:21 Northern Ireland and what a special place it is. Now we're here because we're Conservative

01:25 and Unis, because the party is Unis to its core, because British, we recognise that this

01:31 special place, Northern Ireland, is integral to the United Kingdom. As British as Finchley,

01:36 as one famous lady once said, it's a vibrant, thriving part of our country and a place I'm

01:43 privileged to be the Secretary of State for and call my second home. Now over the past

01:48 year I've travelled right across the place, I've been to loads of businesses, all sorts

01:52 of wonderful places, one or two bars, one or two distilleries, there's always been something

01:59 there and obviously seen some amazing landscapes. There's no wonder that this place has been

02:06 the backdrop of so many blockbuster TV series. But in my mind what makes Northern Ireland

02:12 special, apart from the bars, is its people. Some of the friendliest, wittiest folk that

02:20 you'll ever come across and always, always willing to give a hand.

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