In every election I have fought, Conservatives have argued you can have better public serviceswithout borrowing and spending more.
That it's about making government more efficient and effective.
And Labour have argued you cannot.
I believe that the record of this Government has settled this argument for good.
Labour were wrong.
And we were right.
Theresa May has reduced the Home Office budget by almost 20%, but crime is down.
Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan have cut the Education Department bureaucracy in half, butschool standards are up.
And please join me in thanking our outstanding Conservative Treasury team who are helpingachieve this:
David Gauke, Andrea Leadsom, Priti Patel, Paul Deighton and my brilliant PPS Rob Halfon.
So, to eliminate the deficit and finish the job, we will reduce Whitehall spending by at least thesame rate for the first two years of the next Parliament as we have done through thisParliament.
That will save at least ?13 billion.
We will go on restraining public sector pay.
And there will have to be less welfare spending too.
Welfare makes up a third of the entire government budget.
We are going to live in a country where the elderly have dignity in retirement and thevulnerable and people with disabilities are protected.
But we can't afford to live in one where we spend ?100 billion on welfare payments for people ofworking age.
?100 billion.
When we have such debts?
Even with the reforming decisions that Iain Duncan Smith and I have taken, benefits have risenmore than earnings since Labour's Great Recession.
That is not sustainable for any nation.
And it's not fair either.
So I can tell you this today.
Working age benefits in Britain will have to be frozen for two years.
This is the choice Britain needs to take to protect our economic stability and to secure abetter future.
The fairest way to reduce welfare bills is to make sure that benefits are not rising faster thanthe wages of the taxpayers who are paying for them.
For we will provide a welfare system that is fair to those who need it, and fair to those who payfor it too.