in 2009 we said goodbye to harry patch, the last survivor of the generation of soldiers who risked their lives for britain in the great war. as we mourned him, we remembered too all those who have laid down their lives in the defence of this country we love.
last year was particularly tough for our forces in afghanistan, and we face some more difficult months ahead. in late december we were reminded at this decade’s end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al qaeda and the taliban at the epicentre of global
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igger, aiming for even greater things.
there are some who say we must plan for a decade of austerity. if that happened it would also be a decade of unfairness where, while the privileged few can protect themselves, the majority lose out. i believe we can create a new decade of prosperity with opportunities fairly shared amongst all those who work hard and play by the rules. that is why we are fighting so hard to secure and sustain britain’s recovery.
the last 18 months have been difficult, and too many people were hit by a crisis that originated in the us housing market and then came rolling across the atlantic towards us - a crisis that hit britain hard because the financial sector is such an important part of our economy. but this is a nation of fighters and believers who meet each challenge with strength and sacrifice. we fought back against recession because we stood together and did not leave people isolated to face a difficult future on their own.
britain has learnt the bitter lessons of previous recessions - and that’s why this government was not prepared to see whole communities decimated by worklessness, with towns losing not just their incomes but their identities. we were not willing to lose a generation of young people to unemployment, with their hopes shattered even before their life’s journey had begun. and we were not going to tolerate decent people doing an honest days work losing their businesses and their family homes because it was impossible for them to make ends meet. and so we chose to intervene and not pass on by - and if the e*perience of the last recession had been repeated, people’s chances of having a job would have been four times worse after they became unemployed, repossessions twice as bad and company insolvencies two and a half times worse.
the decisions taken by alistair darling and all the ministers of this government have meant that we have already seen off the worst of the recession. there is no denying it has been painful for some - and there are still tough times ahead.
but we can be incredibly proud that britain’s dynamic entrepreneurs have defied the recession to start up ……(未完,全文共7964字,當(dāng)前僅顯示2796字,請(qǐng)閱讀下面提示信息。
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