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It鈥檚 great to be here, many thanks to Joel for the invite.

Thanks to Barclays for hosting us today.

And thank you all for coming along.

I know you鈥檙e all busy people with businesses to run.

But this is a very good opportunity for me to tell you what government is up to, and for you to tell me what more we need to do.

Like most of you I鈥檓 a businessman at heart.

I鈥檓 a relative novice at politics.

I spent the first 20 years of my adult life working in international finance.

Some would say that鈥檚 not a good thing.

I remember when I became culture secretary in 2014, some leading lights of the arts world asked 鈥渨hat does this banker know about culture?鈥�

At least I think they said 鈥渂anker鈥�.

I don鈥檛 know if you saw, earlier this week, the new list of Britain鈥檚 most and least-trusted professions.

Nurses, doctors and teachers are at the top, the people the public thinks are most likely to tell the truth.

And down at the very bottom, the least-trusted professions included government ministers, politicians generally, and of course bankers!

Three out of three for me!

For my next job, I鈥檓 going to become an estate agent.

Joking aside, I know that everyone in this room went into business or politics for the right reasons.

We all want to make things better.

It might mean passing laws or allocating funding that make a difference.

It might mean delivering a service or a product that nobody else can deliver.

We鈥檙e all here because we want to serve our communities in the best way we can.

From what I鈥檝e seen today I think that鈥檚 particularly true of smaller businesses here in Cornwall.

It鈥檚 a place that has a very strong sense of identity and community, and a very real pride in that.

And that鈥檚 something I applaud.

The last time I was back in the south west of England was in October, .

And I talked about how all the counties in the south-west of England can achieve even more when they work together on issues that affect all the people who live here.

This seemed to upset a few people, certainly on Twitter, who thought I was talking up some kind of regional assembly idea.

I think the comment that hurt most was 鈥渨hat do you expect from someone who went to university in Devon!鈥�

But the critics couldn鈥檛 be more wrong.

Cornwall is a unique place. A very special place.

By far the biggest county in southern England, it has its own history, its own culture, its own needs.

I鈥檝e absolutely no interest in steamrollering Cornwall into some kind of forced regional identity.

The failed vision of a South West Assembly has rightly been consigned to the scrapheap of history, and there it will stay.

Of course, that doesn鈥檛 mean Cornwall exists in isolation.

Devon lies just across the Tamar.

The rest of the South West and the United Kingdom lie beyond.

And, while it鈥檚 vitally important that we protect and respect the Cornish identity, there are undoubtedly areas in which working across boundaries can bring benefits to the people of this very special county.

In 2016 people live, work and shop across county lines, across national borders even.

Supply chains and customer bases for even the smallest companies can stretch for hundreds or thousands of miles.

Joined-up, strategic thinking can bring huge benefits to employers, employees and the general public alike.

There are plenty of cases where that鈥檚 happening already.

Thanks to Devon and Cornwall Police you have some of the lowest crime rates in the country.

Exeter and Plymouth universities operate in both counties too, with numerous projects that help people right across the south west and beyond.

It just shows how locally-led co-operation is much more effective than top-down, Westminster-imposed regional government.

Which is precisely why I鈥檓 an enthusiastic supporter of the Cornwall Devolution Deal.

The devolution deal was conceived locally, refined locally and now it鈥檚 going to be delivered locally.

It will bring the county closer together and give it a stronger voice when dealing with the wider south west and the rest of the UK.

And, most importantly, it puts power over decisions that affect Cornwall right back where it should be.

In the hands of Cornish people.

That doesn鈥檛 mean central government is just leaving Cornwall to get on with it, to sink or swim alone.

We鈥檙e still very much on your side.

For starters, we鈥檙e signed before the UK鈥檚 departure from the EU.

You don鈥檛 need me to tell you that this move is particularly important for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The area has an allocation of almost 拢350 million in the current European Regional Development Fund round, nearly 拢160 million of which has already been allocated.

This guarantee gives Cornish businesses the certainty they need, allowing you to plan for funding that鈥檚 already in place and even apply for further EU funding right up until the moment we leave.

And let me be very, very clear that we WILL be leaving the European Union.

The majority of people in Cornwall voted for it, the majority of people right across the UK voted for it.

There will be no backdoor attempts to remain a member, and certainly no second referendum.

Now, you鈥檙e all business leaders.

You know as well as I do that you don鈥檛 go into a negotiation with all your cards on the table 鈥� at least not if you want a good outcome!

When I worked in finance, I knew that the key to landing the best deal was always having better information.

Knowing the stuff the guys on the other side of the table didn鈥檛.

It gave us leverage, it gave us power and it repeatedly gave us success.

So I can鈥檛 give you the inside track on our negotiating position.

We won鈥檛 be giving you a running commentary on every twist and turn as the negotiations unfold.

But know this.

We鈥檙e going to secure a deal that works for all British businesses.

Large and small, international and local, online and high street, in the service sector, in tourism, in the creative industries, in manufacturing, in fisheries, in farming鈥�

Nobody will be left behind.

Of course, there鈥檚 more to life than Brexit.

You might not believe it from reading the papers recently, but it鈥檚 true!

So our commitment to Cornwall鈥檚 economy goes beyond simply steering you through our departure from the EU.

Over the past few years we鈥檝e invested tens of millions of pounds in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly through Local Growth Deals.

The latest round of funding will be announced shortly, but to see the kind of impact it can make you just have to look at the Newquay Growth Area, which I visited earlier today.

拢2 million from the first Local Growth Deal paid for transport improvements that have opened up the enterprise zone and created countless jobs for Cornish people.

In the grand scheme of things it鈥檚 a relatively small amount of money.

But thanks to the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) it was carefully targeted exactly where it would make the biggest difference.

And that鈥檚 what local growth funding is all about.

Local business leaders working with local political leaders to deliver local economic success

You鈥檝e got a great LEP here in Cornwall.

I know that your brilliant local MPs are really closely involved with it.

And if you鈥檙e not already engaging with the LEP I鈥檇 urge you to do so.

After all, you understand Cornish business needs far better than any politician or Westminster bureaucrat. But I know there are some things that ALL businesses want and need.

Top of that list is a strong, stable, growing economy.

And that鈥檚 exactly what this government has helped give you for nearly 7 years now.

The economy is 14.3 per cent bigger than it was in 2010

The deficit has been cut by two-thirds.

In 2014, we were the fastest growing economy in the G7.

And in 鈥�2015 only the US did better than us.

But this isn鈥檛 just a paper recovery, something of interest only to economists.

It鈥檚 changing real lives.

Since 2010, the number of unemployed people in Cornwall has halved.

Nationwide, more people are in work than ever before.

We鈥檝e gone from a record-breaking recession to record-breaking employment.

The number of households in which nobody works has fallen by more than 20%t.

And more than a million private sector businesses have been created, a 20% rise.

We want that success to continue.

So we鈥檙e cutting Corporation Tax to 17%, the lowest in the G7.

We鈥檙e doubling Small Business Rate Relief and cutting the Business Rates of 900,000 smaller properties.

We鈥檙e increasing the Employment Allowance by 拢1,000, helping half a million businesses.

And we鈥檙e helping small businesses secure the funding they need in order to grow, with the British Business Bank supporting more than 拢3 billion of finance.

Businesses leaders like the people in this room are capable of doing great things.

All you need is the right conditions, the right environment.

And I鈥檓 proud to say you鈥檝e got a government that鈥檚 totally committed to giving you just that.

Maintaining that success for another six, seven, eight years or more is not going to be easy.

There are storm clouds over the global economy.

There are challenges ahead.

And leaving the European Union will be a momentous change for many businesses in this country.

But we鈥檙e here today to talk about moving forward in business.

Not looking back, not pondering what might have been.

So let鈥檚 look forwards.

Let鈥檚 move forwards.

And let鈥檚 work together.

So I don鈥檛 want to just stand here and talk at you all afternoon.

I鈥檇 much rather hear from you.

The truth is, in this job, it鈥檚 very easy to spend too much time stuck in London surrounded by politicians, lobbyists and Civil Servants.

If we鈥檙e going to make Brexit work, if we鈥檙e going to make LEPs work, if we鈥檙e going to maintain Cornwall鈥檚 incredible record of success, we can鈥檛 just be a government of Westminster navel-gazers.

That鈥檚 why this government got behind initiatives like the creation of the Tourism Industry Council.

It gives the people who actually work in the tourism sector a direct line to government.

And it helps us all work together to deliver the change you need.

Nobody knows Cornwall better than you.

Nobody else knows as much as you do about what investment is needed where, about what regulations are causing you problems, about what infrastructure needs updating in order to let the economy grow.

So there鈥檚 no point me coming here and just giving you the usual sales pitch for half an hour or more.

I鈥檇 rather have a conversation.

I鈥檇 rather hear what鈥檚 on your minds.

If we talk together we can work together.

And if we work together we can do what we鈥檙e all here today to do.

We can build a Cornwall that works for everyone.

Thank you.