Top 100 Theresa May Quotes
#1. The British people have spoken, and there will be a different future for the U.K. - different but a brighter, more optimistic future. We may have to go through some difficult times to get there, but get there we will.
Theresa May
#2. I think it's important to do a good job and not to feel that you've got to make grand gestures, but just to get on and deliver.
Theresa May
#3. UKIP talk a lot about immigration - but they don't have a serious plan for action.
Theresa May
#4. I have grown used to the focus on my clothes and my shoes.
Theresa May
#5. The concept of doing something with child benefit, of changing the rules around child benefit, is something that has been being discussed for some time.
Theresa May
#6. Brexit means Brexit.The public made their verdict.
Theresa May
#7. Sometimes, things you wish had happened don't, or there are things you wish you'd been able to do but can't.
Theresa May
#8. Local people do want to see more police on the streets.
Theresa May
#9. We are ensuring that we are checking people who are coming in to the U.K.
Theresa May
#10. I'm sick and tired of government ministers in this Labour government who simply blame other people when things go wrong.
Theresa May
#11. The country voted to leave the European Union, and it is the duty of the Government and of Parliament to make sure we do just that.
Theresa May
#12. If the police need more help to do their work, I will not hesitate in granting it to them.
Theresa May
#13. We're getting rid of bureaucracy, so that we're releasing time for police officers to be crime fighters and not form writers.
Theresa May
#14. I think for voters what matters is the values that drive the government.
Theresa May
#15. As late as the 1980s, female officers were issued with uniform and kit which included a handbag, complete with a smaller truncheon to fit inside, and it wasn't until 1995 that our first female chief constable was appointed.
Theresa May
#16. It is all around us, hidden in plain sight. It is walking our streets, supplying shops and supermarkets, working in fields, factories or nail bars, trapped in brothels or cowering behind the curtains in an ordinary street: slavery.
Theresa May
#17. One girl subjected to FGM or forces to marry is one girl too many.
Theresa May
#18. Sham marriages have been widespread; people have been allowed to settle in Britain without being able to speak English; and there have not been rules in place to stop migrants becoming a burden on the taxpayer. We are changing all of that.
Theresa May
#19. We have a very clear position in the U.K. against torture, and we should maintain that.
Theresa May
#20. As we conduct our negotiations it must be a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services but also, to regain more control of the numbers of people who are coming here from Europe.
Theresa May
#21. Today I can announce a raft of reforms that we estimate could save over 2.5 million police hours every year. That's the equivalent of more than 1,200 police officer posts. These reforms are a watershed moment in policing. They show that we really mean business in busting bureaucracy.
Theresa May
#22. David Cameron has already said, and I have said, that a Conservative government would be giving the security agencies and law enforcement agencies the powers that they need to ensure that they are keeping up to date as people communicate with data.
Theresa May
#23. And it is crucial of course that chief constables are able to make decisions within their budgets about how they deploy their police officers to the greatest effect to ensure that they're able to do the job that the public want them to do.
Theresa May
#24. The last time Boris Johnson did a deal with the Germans he came back with three nearly new water cannon.
Theresa May
#25. If you can speak English, and you can get a place on a proper course at a proper university, you can come to study in Britain.
Theresa May
#26. While we have come a long way, we must go further if we are to ensure greater diversity and truly modern police forces that reflect the communities they serve and provide police officers able to tackle not only traditional crime but also the changing face of crime.
Theresa May
#27. I was looking at a photograph of the 1997 election campaign yesterday, and I thought: 'My God. Did I really have that hairstyle? And that Tory blue suit?'
Theresa May
#28. One area in which we can be certain mass immigration has an effect is housing. More than one third of all new housing demand in Britain is caused by immigration. And there is evidence that without the demand caused by mass immigration, house prices could be 10% lower over a 20-year period.
Theresa May
#29. I'm very fortunate. My husband is hugely supportive, and he is very happy getting on with his career.
Theresa May
#30. Today, there's an expectation that you get to know public people. In the past, it was much more what you did and how you presented yourself.
Theresa May
#31. We know of officers who develop inappropriate relationships with victims of domestic abuse. They have ignored their professional duty and their moral responsibility.
Theresa May
#32. I believe it's important that we ensure that the police have a modern and flexible workforce. I think that's what is necessary, so that they can provide the public with the service that they want.
Theresa May
#33. What's important is that we do this in the right timescale to get the right deal for the U.K. We shouldn't invoke Article 50 immediately.
Theresa May
#34. Anti-social behaviour still blights lives, wrecks communities and provides a pathway to criminality.
Theresa May
#35. Our manifesto to the British people promised to finish the job of police reform. And that is exactly what I intend to do.
Theresa May
#36. I've been clear that Brexit means Brexit.
Theresa May
#37. You can't solve a problem as complex as inequality in one legal clause.
Theresa May
#38. We will talk to the CIFAS members, financial institutions, about the possibility of closing accounts of people who have no right to be here. If you're going to create a hostile environment for illegal migrants ... access to financial services is part of that.
Theresa May
#39. I look forward to continuing the debate about Britain's future - in Parliament and across the country.
Theresa May
#40. I am very grateful to my colleagues for their support. There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone.
Theresa May
#41. Nobody wins when the police are sent to look after people suffering from mental health problems; vulnerable people don't get the care they need and deserve, and the police can't get on with the job they are trained to do.
Theresa May
#42. I completely understand why people are concerned about immigration. There's no silver bullet, no one thing you can do to suddenly deal with all the problems and concerns with immigration, and that includes leaving the E.U.
Theresa May
#43. The Conservative Party's always stood in every seat and I think it's important to us.
Theresa May
#44. Targets don't fight crime; they hinder the fight against crime.
Theresa May
#45. The Government cannot just be consumed by Brexit. There is so much more to do.
Theresa May
#46. We can bring immigration down to sustainable levels.
Theresa May
#47. What is absolutely clear is that we have, with the U.S., an extradition treaty which is important, I believe it is an important treaty, for both sides, the United States and the United Kingdom. It is a treaty that I believe is balanced and we work on that basis.
Theresa May
#48. So we mustn't lower our guard in any sense because of what has happened in terms of the death of Osama Bin Laden and we are certainly not doing that. The terror threat level here in the U.K. remains at severe and we're very conscious of the need to continue that.
Theresa May
#50. We should no longer seek to have Budget surplus by end of Parliament. We should avoid tax rises.
Theresa May
#51. Obviously, given the objective that we have, what I would hope is that people would be able to see that actually we had reduced the numbers of people, the net number of people, coming into the country. People would, presumably, see that, but it's difficult to say how.
Theresa May
#52. I support selecting as many candidates as early as possible for lots of reasons. First of all I think it is important that every voter - regardless of where they live in the country - should have the opportunity to vote Conservative should they wish.
Theresa May
#53. Poverty is not just about income: it's about aspiration. It's not just about giving people a couple of extra pounds a week, welcome though that is.
Theresa May
#54. My pitch is very simple. My name is Theresa May, and I think I'm the best person to be Prime Minister of this country.
Theresa May
#55. It's also advantageous for the Party because it helps us to build a base in those areas where we have not in, recent times, been as active as we'd have liked. It means that opposing parties don't get a free run but are challenged to prove themselves to voters.
Theresa May
#56. On gay adoption I have changed my mind.
Theresa May
#57. Now there is a growing feeling, it's something that David Cameron led on actually, he said this some time ago, that MPs should not be voting on their own pay.
Theresa May
#58. There is nothing inevitable about crime and there is nothing inevitable about anti-social behaviour.
Theresa May
#59. Quite rightly, the public expects to see forces serving their communities, not chasing arbitrary targets.
Theresa May
#60. The U.K. courts were very clear that Abu Qatada posed a threat to our national security - that's why we were pleased as a government to be able to remove him from the United Kingdom.
Theresa May
#61. Obviously local people will have their local voice through the police and crime commissioners that they've elected to determine their local policing.
Theresa May
#62. It does not make sense that everybody should duplicate efforts when we could be working together.
Theresa May
#63. If we are going to realise our ambition of ending the harmful practices of FGM and forced marriage, the role of young people in pushing for change is crucial. We also need to ensure that everyone, from government to civil society, is playing their part.
Theresa May
#64. Politics is changing and as the demographics of different constituencies change so we need to be awake to the possibility of making gains where we have not traditionally done so.
Theresa May
#65. I think that probably in some areas the Labour message about some of the things that they said we were going to do - and which we weren't going to do - cut through.
Theresa May
#66. Reducing net E.U. migration need not mean undermining the principle of free movement. When it was first enshrined, free movement meant the freedom to move to a job, not the freedom to cross borders to look for work or claim benefits.
Theresa May
#67. People have to make journeys, what we want is people to have alternatives in public transport so that they can make a choice about the sort of way in which they're going to travel.
Theresa May
#68. I believe in marriage. I believe marriage is a really important institution, it's one of the most important institutions we have.
Theresa May
#69. I know I'm not a showy politician ... I don't go drinking in parliament's bars. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, I just get on with the job in front of me and you can judge me by my record.
Theresa May
#70. We need to bring control into movement of people coming into the U.K. from the E.U.
Theresa May
#71. In our fields, on our fishing vessels, in our factories and our homes, there are people deprived of their freedom and trapped in a life of unimaginable suffering.
Theresa May
#72. The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration.
Theresa May
#73. My night out would be with my husband, wherever he chose to take me.
Theresa May
#74. I think major reorganisation is not something the government's about to do.
Theresa May
#76. I think we all agree that the comments Donald Trump made in relation to Muslims were divisive, unhelpful and wrong.
Theresa May
#77. I have not watched WAGs World, I have not watched the BBC's Upstairs, Downstairs, either. It would be Downton Abbey, I think.
Theresa May
#78. I'm not sure I should reveal the sources of my clothes.
Theresa May
#79. If you are from an ordinary working class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realise.
Theresa May
#80. If, before 2020, there is a choice between further spending cuts, more borrowing and tax rises, the priority must be to avoid tax increases. They would disrupt consumption, employment and investment.
Theresa May
#81. I'd personally like to see the Human Rights Act go because I think we have had some problems with it.
Theresa May
#82. It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country - and not the judges.
Theresa May
#83. Any attempt to wriggle, especially from leadership candidates who campaigned to leave the EU by focusing on immigration, will be unacceptable to the public.
Theresa May
#84. Look, we constantly live looking at the issue of the threat of terrorism.
Theresa May
#85. A lot of men in politics suddenly woke up to the issue of women in politics when they realised: hey, there are votes in this!
Theresa May
#86. What we're also doing is helping police forces in terms of issues like procurement and IT, so that savings can be made in those areas which I think is the sort of thing that everybody is going to want us to be doing.
Theresa May
#87. We all know the stories about the Human Rights Act ... about the illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because, and I am not making this up, he had a pet cat.
Theresa May
#88. I am willing to consider powers which would ban known hooligans from rallies and marches and I will look into the powers the police already have to force the removal of face coverings and balaclavas.
Theresa May
#89. I'm not willing to risk more terrorist plots succeeding and more paedophiles going free.
Theresa May
#90. Retailers have an important part to play in preventing knife crime - enforcing age restrictions and displaying knives safely is crucial.
Theresa May
#91. There must be no attempts to remain inside the E.U., no attempts to rejoin it through the back door, and no second referendum.
Theresa May
#92. I want a counter-terrorism regime that is proportionate, focused and transparent.
Theresa May
#93. The universities have got a job here as well in making sure that people actually understand that we're open for university students coming into the U.K. There's a job here not just for the government, I think there's a job for the universities as well to make sure that people know that we are open.
Theresa May
#94. In tough times, everyone has to take their share of the pain.
Theresa May
#95. Unfortunately, some judges evidently do not regard a debate in Parliament on new immigration rules, followed by the unanimous adoption of those rules, as evidence that Parliament actually wants to see those new rules implemented.
Theresa May
#96. Communities need to feel that they can accommodate people. Rather than feeling that it's not possible to integrate and that the stress and strain on housing and public services is too great.
Theresa May
#97. Countries across the world are taking action now to help them track paedophiles and terrorists who abuse new technology to plot their horrific crimes.
Theresa May
#98. The internet is changing all forms of communication, and this definitely includes political communication.
Theresa May
#99. I don't tour the TV studios. I don't gossip over lunch. I don't drink in Parliament's bars. I don't wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me.
Theresa May
#100. Just as the police review their operational tactics, so we in the Home Office will review the powers available to the police.
Theresa May
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