I will be blogging on this speech live, (so do excuse any rambling). I don't think I can stress enough this speech's importance, in that it must give the electorate that final push towards actually voting for The Conservatives. It seems to me that many people are still unsure about Cameron and his party and so he must
address this. Anyway without much further ado, here we go:
So we kick off with the standard cringing propaganda video played to some very
clubby grimy music...make it stop! Out comes William Hague who introduces the shadow cabinet as if they are some sort of football team...they all appear a bit awkward as they come out of the (political) tunnel. I notice the women have been spread evenly across the line to give the appearance of there being more of them...and now..my god..they've stolen
Bono off Labour! That is a surprise.
Finally Hague introduces Cameron after a video detailing his success as leader of the Conservatives...Cameron enters to
genuinely excited applause. He gets straight into it, talking about 'how bad things are' but how he wants to show 'how good things can be'. He reiterates similar words to what we've been hearing 'we will be tested' and 'its a steep uphill climb', but he tells us 'the views from the top will be worth it'.
He quickly moves onto the issue of the troops in
Afghanistan. A sore issue for Labour. He promises better political leadership (Richard
Dannett) and
equipment. He also promises more troops...a good move I think and a bold one. A drawn out applause of appreciation from the crowd directed towards the troops fighting abroad.
We move on talking about not playing it safe, and making the now fairly well known 'chum' joke. He speaks emotionally about the death of his son and how it made him challenge his motives he tells us his wife is what drives him...this may be targeted at those who want to know Cameron 'the man'. This links in with his traditional views on family (community and country) Cameron's three favourite things which he claims Britain needs 'more than ever in our history'.
The first 'change' is used...more of that to come me thinks. Reaffirming his Conservative values and is now arguing for smaller government using the vetting scheme as an example and making a joke about Baroness Scotland to
illustrate the pitfalls of having too many laws. The
Conservatives will solve their problems with 'a stronger society'-I'm not sure how that works.
We're on to the economy now and Cameron lays out the options. 1. default on the debt NO. 2. encourage inflation NO 3. the only option-pay down the
deficit...no waiting. He has a go at Labour for
spending more on the
interest on our debt than on eduction. He says the responsible thing to do is cut ministers pay, freeze public sector pay and make the rich pay.-all very safe policies. Raising the pension age will 'help us help pensioners more'. This is all about taking tough decisions.
A boring
spiel about
entrepreneurs-it
comes down to
Cameron wanting to release
Britain's potential. This boring bit is followed by a sparking attack on Brown who created the checking
system that failed us and lead to the recession.
Cameron now talks about how Gordon Brown has failed the poorest in Britain taking 96pence in the pound from the very poorest. In case you you missed that he says it again (slowly) and that is followed by a big applause. Cameron says that IDS is the man we can trust on this issue-I believe him. IDS will be in
charge of fixing England's broken society.
Now a very vicious attack and a painfully direct attack on Labour 'don't you dare' he says lecture us on poverty when you have so contributed so much to inequality...he is very passionate and receives a quick standing ovation.
Suddenly we are back to the calm voice talking about health visitors and education which comes with a good sound bite-'stop
treating children like adults and adults like children'.
Cameron defends his welfare reforms without seeming too hard...this is followed by his favourite topic
NHS which he says is
a lot better than 'the alternative'. He won't change the idea of the ''
NHS' but he will change the service. The fault of it lies with..you guessed it...big government. He wants to give doctors back
responsibility but also to make them more accountable..The Conservatives are the party of the
NHS 'always'.
We're back on to 'the breakdown of Britain' he contributes it to the
bureaucracy in the police system, but says he can't make society perfect he can only reform it. He talks about education as a parent not a politician and says he hopes that every penny of the tax payers money followers his child into the school. He attacks Balls for wasting the education budget in Whitehall. Parents of those in
state schools 'will get what they want' under the Conservatives.
Cameron is passionate about the union of the United Kingdom and 'will never do anything to put it at risk'. He talks about an Organic ( a very conservative word) Britain. He talks of British values including generosity which ties in with his pledge to
ring fence the budget for international development. He's coughing
a lot now between the different sections. Parliament is in decline he says (due to expenses scandal) and he says he wants to
build a new politics...decentralisation, transparency and accountability...all things that are also needed by the EU...here we go. He says it's best to use the EU where they can help but also return democracy...is this possible?...William Hague will have to find out.
He concludes by philosophising on what it is to lead. Blair was media obsessed. Brown is too dominating. Cameron?- He won't make fake promises..he says that if you work hard you will be rewarded etc...he gets an applause for promising to stand by those who attack criminals. What will the Conservatives stand for? If you take responsibility you will be rewarded. He repeats the view from the summit line and describes his vision for England. His final line is that it is not government that makes things happen, it is the people it is us.
Well thanks for reading this..if you are still reading. Overall I thought it was a very strong speech but also very serious with little to no jokes at all. By far the best thing in the speech was his
ferocious attack on Labour's claim to be the only party of equality..I'm sure that will be the main feature on the news...Well until next year!
