Theresa May has declared that austerity is over and promised voters there will be higher public spending after Brexit.
Calling for unity within her party, she also said the pursuit of a “perfect” Brexit could derail the departure, in a crucial speech to the Conservative conference on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister, who has been under intense pressure over her Chequers plan for leaving the EU, called for the party to “come together” in the wake of more stinging criticism from Boris Johnson at the Tory gathering.
Mrs May said she is ending austerity, telling the public: “Because you made sacrifices, there are better days ahead.
“So, when we’ve secured a good Brexit deal for Britain, at the spending review next year we will set out our approach for the future.”
The Maidenhead MP said splits over leaving the EU risk derailing the UK’s departure from the European Union entirely.
Her strategy has come under fire from Brexiteers, who claim it will leave the UK tied too closely to EU rules without any say over them.
The former foreign secretary used a high-profile speech on Tuesday to call on the Prime Minister to “chuck Chequers” and pursue a Canada-style free trade deal instead.
But Mrs May, who did not mention Mr Johnson by name, warned against causing division.
It was “no surprise we have had a range of different views expressed this week”, she said.
“Even if we do not all agree on every part of this proposal, we need to come together,” she said.
She warned: “If we all go off in different directions in pursuit of our own visions of the perfect Brexit – we risk ending up with no Brexit at all.”
Attempting to save the Chequers policy, she said it would protect frictionless trade, end free movement, enable the UK to strike new deals with countries like the US and free fishermen from the Common Fisheries Policy.
In a direct message to Nicola Sturgeon, the PM said her party would make the UK and an “independent coastal state once again”.
“You claim to stand up for Scotland, but you want to lock Scottish fishermen into the CFP forever,” she told the First Minister.
“That’s not ‘stronger for scotland’, it’s a betrayal of Scotland.”
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader in Westminster, said Mrs May’s rhetoric on the future opportunities of Brexit does not match the reality.
“No one seriously believes the UK’s best days lie ahead under this disastrous, bungling Tory government – and the sooner Mrs May realises that and commits to averting a hard Brexit the better,” he said.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “No one will believe Theresa May’s claims on austerity when we see overstretched public services, children in poverty and rough sleeping on the rise.”
