Dear Bruges Group,
"In 2016, when 17.4 million people voted to leave the European Union, they voted for a different sort of country. A country with a sovereign parliament, in control over its future.
While the Conservative Party delivered Brexit, we did not respect the spirit of the referendum. We did not take full advantage of the regulatory opportunities, nor did we take Northern Ireland out of its legal limbo.
But most importantly, we did not take back control of our borders.
As Immigration Minister, I increased deportations by 70%, reduced small boat arrivals by more than a third, and personally negotiated the largest ever reduction in legal migration - 300,000.
But it wasn't enough. I did not think that the Government was taking the issue seriously, and so I could not support the Rwanda Bill and had to resign.
If you are serious about securing the borders, you must be willing to do whatever it takes. That is why we must leave the ECHR and the jurisdiction of the activist Strasbourg Court so we can fully restore parliamentary sovereignty. And it's why we must end our open-ended legal migration by creating a legally binding cap on numbers. If we do not regain voters trust on this issue, we will remain in opposition.
As well as restoring our credibility on immigration, I have a proper plan to get the economy growing again and reform our public services. I want to end welfare dependency with tougher sanctions, cut the Civil Service by 100,000 and hold NHS managers to account for poor performance. We should treat the NHS as public service to be reformed, not a religion to be worshipped.
I believe we should abolish low-value degrees and reinvest the money into apprenticeships to make sure that young people are getting the skills that industry needs.
I want to bolster our National Defence by meeting a new 3% target for spending, funded by cutting foreign aid.
And I will end CCHQ stitch-ups and empower members to decide selections. With Jacob Rees-Mogg as party chairman, we will overhaul CCHQ and put members back in the driving seat.
The polling consistently shows that I am the best placed candidate to beat this failing Labour Government. According to the most detailed MRP poll to date, if an election were held tomorrow and I were leader, we would rid Labour of their majority.
The polling shows I am the best candidate to win back votes from Reform, Labour and the Lib Dem's, with a credible set of policies on immigration, public services and the economy which hold a wide electoral appeal."
Statement from Barry Legg, Chairman of the Bruges Group
"Robert Jenrick is the only candidate in the Conservative leadership election contest to provide solutions to the serious problems that our country faces. If you are a member of the Conservative Party I urge you to vote for him immediately."