Two years ago today, the Conservative Party celebrated our biggest majority at an election since Margaret Thatcher. Millions of people across the country were inspired by our message of hope and unity and they placed their faith in us – in many instances for the first time in a generation. I am filled with sorrow to see us squandering this goodwill and trust.

Across a range of issues, today’s Conservative Party is in the wrong place and heading in the opposite direction of Conservatism.

Conservatives know that state interventions of any kind can have harmful consequences – this is precisely what makes us Conservative in the first place. Conservative governing is about unleashing and enabling the vast potential, generosity, wisdom, energy and talent of individuals in the community.

Yet before knowing the extent to which the omicron variant will escape vaccines or cause harm, the Government is panicking and rushing to impose restrictions again, causing mental anguish and precipitating huge damage to swathes of our economy that bring meaning to our lives, our families and our friendships.

If we panic every time there is a new variant, we will make entire sections of our society uninvestable, such as airlines, hospitality and tourism—many of the things that give us joy, hope and something to look forward to. These industries will collapse if, having protected the population with vaccines, we do not return to the stability, certainty and predictability in our lives that will come from living with Covid like we have long lived with the flu – the Conservative approach.

Yet today the Prime Minister is treading the dangerous path of introducing domestic covid certification. Of course, I will vote against all the measures on Tuesday. But I cannot in good conscience stop there when we are falling into such a ghastly trap, creating a two-tier Britain where we turn back the clock and tolerate businesses turning away customers from communities which have shown an unfortunate hesitancy to take up the offer of a vaccine.

This debate goes to the heart of the nature of the society that we are creating. Conservatives don’t create societies where people must live and work in fear that a minister might, without notice, impose restrictions on them. They create societies with freedom and hope.

Conservatives don’t treat us as empty vessels or mere automata, as problems to be managed, but as individuals who deserve the dignity of choice and the meaning in our lives that comes from taking responsibility in all our relationships. That’s what levelling up ought to be about.

Conservatives shouldn’t limit the ability of young people to get on the housing ladder, yet we’re doing precisely this by allowing Government to spend far too much taxpayers’ money. When the Government creates excess money through Quantitative Easing, ultra-low interest rates and credit expansion, it inflates the price of assets for those who own them, making them more unreachable for everybody else. Conservatives should be protecting and lifting up the poor and the young, not the owners of inflated assets.

Conservatism is about striving to pass a better legacy on to the next generation. Age-related spending is only heading in one direction, and placing a greater burden on young, working age populations is unjust and morally wrong. Parents and grandparents must be encouraged to help create a more hopeful and joyful future for their children and grandchildren, with lower taxes on those still building their lives and their assets.

Conservatives want to save and protect the planet from global warming, but they also know that all radical Government-mandated solutions need scrutiny, sober debate and frankness with the public about how much they will cost. Otherwise, as with the cycles of lockdowns and restrictions, it will be society’s poorest and most vulnerable – neglected entirely by the Labour Party – who will suffer the most harm as a result.

On race relations and culture, we have been too hard-edged, failing to speak to those who still suffer racism even in our exceptionally equal and open society. Of course we must defeat cancel culture and the idea of critical race theory, but we won’t do it by slapping down footballers who are protesting injustice.