E&OE...........
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. May I first of all on your behalf express to the President our gratitude for your gracious hospitality. May I join you in thanking William Hague for the outstanding job that he has done as Chairman of the IDU over the past three years.
Can I salute the contribution to the gathering we have had today made by the National Committee of the Republican Party. It is wonderful to be in Washington. It gives us an opportunity to share our collective passions. It also gives us an opportunity to express our admiration to the President of the United States for his great leadership, particularly since September of last year.
The ties that really bind all of us are common values. Commitments to individual liberty, the centrality of the family in national life, a belief in robust but ethical capitalism, and also a belief that we have a responsibility to expand the horizons of democracy and expand the horizons of the common political values that our parties share. It is important that we meet from time to time to exchange experiences. We have much to learn from one another and we have much to demonstrate to the rest of the world.
Can I simply say to you Mr President, thank you for what you are doing not only for your own nation, for the cause of freedom, but also for mankind generally around the world. The leadership of the United States has been magnificent. Your own personal contribution to the values we all share and hold so dear has been exemplary.
I would like to invite all of you to rise and to honour another toast. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the health of the President of the United States. The President.
[Ends]