Former Tory Chancellor’s Respect for Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves

He said: “I was growing up in the 1970s and 80s, and we didn't take democracy for granted, because we had the Soviet Union, and we've gone back to that feeling now.

“We had a glorious period after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and now we're back in a global struggle between autocracy and democracy, and I don't have any doubt that democracy will win.

“But the trouble is that in the last century, to get to the point where democracy won, we had to go through two world wars, a Cold War and the Holocaust. The question is whether we're smarter this time around and we can avoid those terrible tragedies.

“I look at President Trump and Nigel Farage, and I think that politicians from the more normal political traditions, whether Labour or Conservative, if we want to win elections, have got to learn to communicate like they do, because those are the guys who are winning elections at the moment.”

He went on to tell event chair Andrew Cassell that the UK is already a great country, with international excellence in many fields such as technology, science and medicine, and that after the recent tough period we need to remember the positives.

He said: “We are a great country. When I say, can we be great again? it sounds a bit Donald Trumpy. I'm not a big fan of a lot of things Donald Trump has said or done, but I don't think he should have a monopoly on the word ‘great’. And my definition of great is a very straightforward one. A great country is a country that is able to shape the world as well as be shaped by it.”

Addressing the issue of migration Sir Jeremy insisted it is a fundamental duty of any government to control its borders and for this to happen it may be necessary to revise aspects of the European Convention on Human Rights.

He said: “There is one world leader who is uniquely qualified to change the international laws governing refugees and asylum seekers, and that is someone who was himself a human rights lawyer for many years. Step forward, Sir Keir Starmer, this will be a perfect thing for him to do.”

However, he insisted on the positives of migration saying: “One of the best things about our country is that over centuries, over generations, we have welcomed the brightest and best people from all over the world, and that has been a great source of strength. It makes our university sector the most respected outside the United States. Our openness is something precious I don't want to lose.”

Sir Jeremy argued that it is vital for the current government to bring down the welfare bill, which he says has ballooned since the pandemic, in order to invest in growth.

Addressing the challenges of running the nation’s finances he had positive words for Rachel Reeves saying: “I wish her well, it's a very, very tough job being Chancellor. I try and stay in touch with her and I think, speaking as a Conservative, that we could do a lot worse inside the Labour Party than Rachel.”

Turning to values that he prizes, Sir Jeremy argued for the importance of being in a country where people of opposing views act with mutual respect.

He said: “One of the best things about this country is that I can have a friendly relationship with Rachel Reeves.

“And I remember at the Privy Council seeing Nicola Sturgeon become a Privy Councillor in front of the Queen.

“It was a remarkable and quite British occasion because there was someone who wanted Scotland to be independent, being treated with total respect by Her Majesty the Queen and treating the queen with total respect.

“That is how democracies should work. This winner takes all approach we're seeing in the United States is a very dangerous slippery slope.”