Decide or decline.
That is the choice.
We must choose the future.
And this future can't just be about prosperity for one corner of our country.
I grew up in London, and I am full of wonder at the way it has become a global capital,attracting the young, the talented and the ambitious from across the world.
That is a huge strength for the whole of Britain.
But I am also the first Chancellor for almost forty years to represent a constituency in the northof England - and I can see the risk of our capital city's dominance.
It is not healthy for our country or our economy.
The answer is not to pull down and hold back our greatest global asset - that would be crazy.
The answer is to build up the rest of our country.
To create a Northern Powerhouse of the cities across the Pennines.
To connect up the South West.
And to put the Midlands at the centre of our great manufacturing revival.
People know that the disparities between different parts of our country have grown up overmany decades under Governments of all colours.
Let's treat people as adults and not pretend we can reverse something like this overnight.
But equally, let's not give up and say it can't be done.
Look what Michael Heseltine achieved in the docks of Liverpool and London.
This Party of Progress knows what it takes to create flourishing economies.
Successful businesses.
Modern high speed transport.
Big science investments.
Top universities, and the strong leadership that comes with powerful elected mayors.
Those are the ingredients of a Northern Powerhouse.
That is how we deliver prosperity and security for families across the nation.
And it is one of my driving missions to do everything I can to build it.
Let us choose today to make reducing the gap between north and south, London and the rest,one of the central ambitions of the next Conservative Government.
There is one final choice we should make.
A choice this Party of progress always makes.
And that is to trust people with their own money.
That's why in my Budget this year I applied that philosophy with far-reaching new freedoms inthe way people can access their pensions.
These freedoms are based on the simple idea that people know better how to spend their ownmoney than governments do.
This Party that gave people the right to buy their own home - is the Party that is now givingpeople ownership of their own pension too.
But I want to go further.
There are still rules that say you can't pass on to the next generation any of your pension potwhen you die, without paying a punitive 55% of it in tax.
I could choose to cut this tax rate.
Instead, I choose to abolish it altogether.
People who have worked and saved all their lives will be able to pass on their hard-earnedpensions to their families tax free.
Effective from today.
The children and grandchildren and others who benefit will get the same tax treatment on thisincome as on any other, but only when they choose to draw it down.
Freedom for people's pensions. A pension tax abolished. Passing on your pension tax free.