Rallying cry to faithful from Theresa May in Telford visit
Home Secretary Theresa May told an audience in Shropshire that seats like Telford would be the ones that made the difference at the next general election.
In a rallying pre-election cry, she told a local audience at last night's dinner organised by Wrekin Conservatives: "We have been in coalition with the Liberal Democrats for three-and-a- half years and I don't want us to be in coalition again."
Earlier in the day she visited crime-fighting company SmartWater, based at Telford's Nedge Hill Technology Park, which she praised for its cutting edge forensic technology.
She was applauded at the dinner in Hadley for her persistence in pursuing the deportation of Abu Qatada who was first arrested in the UK over alleged terror connections in 2001 and fought deportation since 2005 until this summer.
Mrs May said: "We should be able to deport first and hear appeals later."
On a wider scale, she added: "The biggest issue is those who come here legally and then stay. We are changing that."
She also pledged: "We will go into the next election with a declaration to scrap the Human Rights Act."
Having just heard the news of a life sentence for the Ukranian student who murdered an elderly Birmingham man and plotted mosque bombings, she said: "Pavlo Lapshyn carried out appalling acts of violence and terror, robbing the family of Mohammed Saleem of a loved one. Terrorists, no matter what their ideology or the form their acts of terror take, are criminals and will be dealt with as such."
The Home Secretary said the government remained committed to the values of security, freedom and opportunity.
And while she said wasn't able to elaborate on the Andrew Mitchell "Plebgate" matter because of the on-going investigation, she called it "the most extraordinary state of affairs."
Other guests included Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard and Telford's Parliamentary candidate Lucy Allan.