Describing the historic Brexit vote as a "once-in-a-generation chance" to transform the country for good, Prime Minister Theresa May today said her government would trigger the process of leaving the EU bloc by the end of March and appealed to Britons to "seize the day".
Unveiling her vision for Britain at the Conservative Party's annual conference here in central England, less than three months after she became prime minister, May pledged to build a "stronger, fairer and brighter future".
She said her vision was of a country "where everyone plays by the same rules and where every single person, regardless of their background or that of their parents, is given the chance to be all they want to be".
She urged people whichever way they had voted in the June 23 referendum to leave the 28-nation trading bloc "to come with me as we rise to meet this moment, come with me and together let's seize the day".
May, who succeeded David Cameron in July, said Article 50 will be triggered no later than the end of March and a "Great Repeal Bill to get rid of the European Communities Act" will be introduced in the next Parliamentary session.
"Our laws made not in Brussels but in Westminster," the 60-year-old tough-talking leader said.
"It's going to be a tough negotiation. It will require some give and take," she said.
The vote to leave the EU, she said, demonstrated not only a desire for greater control but also reflected the deep divisions that had built up in the country over generations, with working people too often ignored by the "privileged and powerful".
"It was not the wealthy who made the biggest sacrifices after the financial crisis, it was ordinary working class families," she said.
May said only the Conservatives can build a "united Britain" in which "fairness is restored" and opportunities are shared more equally.
The prime minister said the UK must change after the "quiet revolution" of the Brexit vote.
Labour were now seen as the "nasty party" and only the Tories would "stand up for the weak... Up to the powerful". Government should be a "force for good" to help working people, she argued.
"It feels like your dreams have been sacrificed in the service of others," she said.
Promising to build a "united Britain rooted in a centre ground", she said her government would protect jobs and "repair" free markets when they did not work properly.
Setting out a "responsible capitalism" agenda, she said the government would "go after" businesses that regarded paying tax as "an optional extra", challenge those which recruited "cheap foreign labour" at the expense of British workers and, in a reference to the collapse of retailer BHS, condemn those who "take out massive dividends while knowing that the company pension is about to go bust".
Previous Tory leaders have sought to reduce state intervention, but May said her government would take action to identify injustice, find solutions and drive change.
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