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  • Here at the Conservative party conference in Manchester,

  • the slogan is pretty obvious: Get Brexit Done.

  • That's why all the Tories have gathered here

  • to rally behind Boris Johnson and his plan

  • to get the UK out of the EU by October 31.

  • On the main stage at this year's party conference,

  • the message is fully behind Boris Johnson and his plan

  • to try and get a new Brexit deal without that tricky Irish

  • border backstop, or leave without a deal

  • at the end of October.

  • Getting Brexit done

  • But what does the rest of the party think?

  • Well, let's go behind the scenes to see what people are saying

  • at the fringe events, where the real debates of party

  • conference happen, and the hotel bars where the actual plotting

  • takes place.

  • This Brexit event is typical of the kind of things

  • you see at Conservative party conference.

  • This is the Stand Up for Brexit rally,

  • featuring three of the party's most prominent Brexiteers,

  • Jacob Rees-Mogg, Andrea Jenkyns, and Steve Baker.

  • Punters have come here to listen to their views on Brexit

  • - why we need a clean break with the bloc.

  • It's the kind of place where emotions are whipped up,

  • opinions are formed, and decisions

  • are made that will affect the future by the party.

  • Against that pressure is the IMF, the OECD, and other sets

  • of incomprehensible initials.

  • We revolted.

  • And we said we will not be told what to do by acronyms.

  • We are not having it.

  • We're in a better place than we were a year ago

  • because leading our great party we have someone with guts,

  • or balls as we like to say up north.

  • What I will say to you is this.

  • I have not come this far to vote for Brexit in name only,

  • at any price.

  • So if I look at this deal and it is not a Brexit worth having,

  • I will vote against it.

  • And if it costs me the Conservative whip, so be it.

  • It's pretty tub-thumping stuff.

  • You know, it's trying to get everyone's opinions

  • going on Brexit in a way.

  • We cannot have this continuation of uncertainty in the country.

  • It's a fantastic event.

  • Let's hope we don't have to have another one next year.

  • We need to deliver Brexit by October 31

  • and sort out everything else.

  • Just wanted to say good to see you on the front porches.

  • Oh, you are kind.

  • Thank you so much.

  • Those people, that they might be quite disappointed

  • if Mr Johnson comes back with a deal that looks suspiciously

  • like Theresa May's Brexit deal.

  • Well, that's not going to happen.

  • It's going to be a different deal, as we all know.

  • And what is very interesting is that when the question was

  • raised did they want this all to be

  • ended by the 31st of October, they all said yes.

  • They just want Brexit to happen, deal or no-deal.

  • So I think they are very much with the prime minister.

  • But it's not just at fringe events

  • the real action happens at party conferences.

  • In the main hotel, party activists, MPs, and even

  • ministers gather to plot over drinks.

  • We're off to go and try and catch a cabinet minister who's

  • been doing just that.

  • Liz Truss, the message of this is

  • Tory party conference is Get Brexit Done.

  • And when you go around the fringe events, as many

  • of them you've been speaking at, people

  • want to get Brexit done, but often not with a deal in a much

  • tougher line.

  • How do you reconcile those two things?

  • Well, of course, we want to get a deal.

  • And I think there's a very good prospect we'll get a deal.

  • The EU is clearly moving.

  • But we're prepared to leave without a deal.

  • And the key thing is that we move on.

  • I think everybody in the country is fed up

  • of hearing about the Brexit negotiations.

  • What they want to see is us move forward.

  • And of course my role as trade secretary is on the next phase

  • getting the fantastic new deals with countries

  • like the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand.

  • But do you think there's any kind of danger

  • this language we've been hearing,

  • the surrender act, invoking all these warlike metaphors,

  • that you're creating a bit of a mob mentality here?

  • This is just colourful political language.

  • And I think that's exactly what politics should be about.

  • The reality is people have become

  • bored with too much technocracy, too much managerial speak.

  • And we want to say it like it is.

  • Because the fact is that the surrender act that's been put

  • forward by the Labour party is essentially saying,

  • that rather than us making decisions here in Britain,

  • those decisions should be made by the EU,

  • so it would be surrendering control to the EU.

  • Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

  • You're all very welcome.

  • Now, I'm going to disappoint all the journalists here.

  • I want to make the case for moderation.

  • Oh, you disappoint your audience.

  • But is the Conservative party in a mood for compromise?

  • If Boris Johnson does strike that new Brexit deal,

  • it's going to require some tough trade-off.

  • And normally at fringe events these activists

  • love tub-thumping speeches, but this year the mood

  • is ever-so-slightly different, with their man, a Brexiter,

  • in Number 10, are these activists

  • an MPs willing to accept some trade-offs to get Brexit

  • by the end of October?

  • As long as we have control of our own borders

  • and as long as we're not paying in massive amounts of money

  • and not paying in for things that we're not using anymore,

  • then it will be fine.

  • The problem is obvious when you add

  • the backstop, which fundamentally says it will

  • continue as much as needed.

  • So that's where your issues are.

  • If the nips and tucks, as you describe,

  • actually followed that, then there will be no problems.

  • It just depends what they are.

  • Steve Baker is it true Brexit believer,

  • and even he was saying, in fact, you

  • know we have to be maybe moderate a bit

  • to get a deal over the line.

  • Exactly, and that's the worry.

  • That's the worry.

  • If Boris brings back a withdrawal agreement that's

  • been a little sort of tweaked around waiting

  • around the edges, I'm going to be very disappointed,

  • and I will be unable to support him.

  • Of course this conference is about more than just Brexit.

  • The Tories are keen to try and put forward

  • their messages on the NHS, education, and policing.

  • And when you hit the fringes, there

  • are lots of other different events too.

  • Be it on foreign policy or how to empower local communities

  • who feel left behind.

  • But the fact is, Brexit is the matter that defines everything.

  • If Boris Johnson doesn't deliver on that pledge

  • to leave the EU by October 31, he's going to be in trouble.

  • All of the activists here are betting on him

  • to do what he said and get the UK out of the bloc.

  • And if he doesn't, both his premiership

  • and the future of the party will be in serious peril.

Here at the Conservative party conference in Manchester,

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