Conference Special Daily Politics

Morning folks. Welcome to this final Daily Politics conference

special with the Tories in Birmingham. It's our last special

of the autumn, the party conference season of 2012. And all eyes today

on the Prime Minister, sink or swim. Do or decline. David Cameron will

warn that Britain is in a new global race and needs to raise its

game to survive. After the Prime Minister's birthday

balti with Sam Cam last night Mr Cameron makes his speech to

conference in around half an hour's time. We will bring it to you live

here on BBC2. Party members are already filling

up the conference hall, that's our live shot from Birmingham. They're

getting ready to hear their leader. We will be talking to the Culture

Secretary, Maria Miller, Business Minister Michael Fallon and former

Tory Chancellor, Norman Lamont. And Adam will test the mood of the

Conservative Party's foot soldiers. What do you want to hear today?

the Conservatives, Tory values, and also the good work they've done.

They've taken tough decisions for the long-term view for society and

Britain. All that's coming up before 1.00.

With us for the duration, former Conservative Chancellor Norman

Lamont. Welcome back to our show. So, David Cameron will get to his

feet around 11.30, maybe after this morning, he is going to finish the

Tory conference. It's been sombre and downbeat, like the economy, he

is struggling to revive in the last few minutes the Prime Minister's

made his way from the conference hotel into the conference centre.

He's expected to talk for around 50 minutes. Looks like he will be

painting with a broad brush from the bits that have already been

officially leaked to the media. Britain may not be in the future

what it has been in the past, he will warn conference and the

country, unless it's prepared to take difficult, and painful

decisions. Among which he naturally includes the coalition's policy of

cutting the deficit. So much, so predictable. But also a more

personal touch when he talks about his late father, and his son, Ivan,

who died over three years ago aged six after battling epilepsy and

cerebral palsy. Back to policy. Speaking to the BBC this morning,

the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, was also on about the UK

facing a choice. The risk is we don't keep up with the world

changing. The world's changed in a significant way over the last few

years and people know that. It's more intensely competitive.

Countries that have grown economies like China, India, Brazil, do

present a more competitive challenge. So, are we going to do

what we have been setting out at this conference and the last two

years, revamping our education system, bringing down business

taxes or go back to borrowing a load of money that we haven't got

which was really the only recipe at last week's conference? That's the

choice. Thafrs the foreign haebg. -- that

was the Foreign Secretary. We are told he was one of the arc

architects of this conference and the mood it should have. Back to

the politics of decline? I think what this conference is about,

about two things, as one of the ladies you interviewed said.

Firstly, it's about reconnecting with the Conservative Party,

emphasising that the Government holds conservative values. The

reason is that inevitably, within a coalition, David Cameron has a

difficult task of having to pay attention to the Liberal Democrats,

as well. Unfortunate compromises have to be made. He has to face two

ways at once and has to assure two audiences, the country that he is

doing what is in the country's interest and the party that there

are Conservative values at the heart of this Government and that

he is a true Conservative. So the Conservative Party faithful need to

be reassured that a Conservative Prime Minister is a Conservative?

The Government has been making compromises, obviously, with the

Liberal Democrats. They understand that, the party faithful aren't

stupid. People do not always understand. They forget the

difficulty that David Cameron faces day-to-day in running a Coalition,

also sorts of compromises have to be made and the party need to be

reassured that the party wants to win an outright majority at the

next election, that we are on course to do that, that the economy

will revive. He is not very popular with the back benches and the the

party faithful, is he? I think this anxiety about, are the Liberal

Democrats having too big a say, you know, does exist but people don't

really see the pressure he is under in two directions. It's very

difficult task to do, actually. the personal bit, why talk about

his father, why talk about the sad loss of his son? He's been leader

of the Conservative Party now for seven years. If he doesn't think we

know him by now, we will never know him. Well, I suppose that is what

people think the public expect and want to hear. Politics has to come

personal, very touchy-feelly. you like that? I am not sure I

would do it in that particular way but I don't have his particular

background. I have noticed that all leaders of all - I don't know if

you have been watching, I am sure you have, the US presidential

election. It's quite extraordinary the extent... Is that a good thing,

we want to bring that to British politics? We are not going quite as

far as Mitt Romney's six-year-old son waving to the convention. I

don't think is a good thing. It's good to have you aboard with us, we

will talk more. Yes, David Cameron got a big task ahead, of course,

let's get a sense and flavour of the mood at conference and talk to

Kevin Maguire from The Mirror and Quentin Letts of the Daily Mail.

Norman Lamont was talking there about the compromises made in

Coalition from the Liberal Democrats for David Cameron, but

what about his birthday yesterday having to sit through Boris's

thunderous speech and having to prepare his own? Yes, Boris was

unexpectedly loyal. Everyone was waiting for the rappier to be

wielded and that didn't happen. Going back to what Lord Lamont was

saying, there is a reason that David Cameron isn't universally

popular with his parliamentary party. He doesn't have the powers

of patronage. He can't give out jobs. He can't because necessary a

Coalition. In the same way as a leader of the country, he can't

spend money. He doesn't have that power of patronage. Politics is

very different at the moment from what we have had in the last 15

years when it was splurge time and when Prime Ministers could give out

lots of jobs to their mates. It's very different now for Cameron. He

doesn't have that power. That is why it's so important, that's why

he has to fill in the time, the air time, by talking about his personal

story and his beliefs. This is what happens when politicians can't

spend money. I think that's great, as a right-winger, it's a relief

they're not spending our money. That's what the Tories haven't done

this week. They haven't been giving away lots to the electorate, good

for them. As well as having to deal with his own party and obviously

the Liberal Democrats, he's now answering Ed Miliband, Kevin

Maguire, and trying to reclaim the centre ground. He found money for a

council tax bauble, so there's money when they want it. You are

quite right. Ed Miliband staked out the centre ground. The

Conservatives say that's not true, he is actually on the left and that

is true to some extent but David Cameron himself this week has moved

to the right and he's done than with a harder message on welfare

and unemployment rights, even shooting those huskies he used to

hug. He is in Tory tribe here where they're not entirely confident in

him and he has to reassert his authority, that's what he has to do

and the reason he talks about his father is he knows it humanises him.

When you are given a much tougher message and you are going to look

like the nasty party, you talk about your family and Ed Miliband

did it, Gordon Brown used to do it, Tony Blair went so far to have a

baby in Downing Street to prove he was a family man. We might be

cynical in the media but voters like it. There was a little bit of

an opportunity for David Cameron to enjoy his birthday, he went out for

a curry with Sam Cam and the birthday cake that I recognised.

The photograph of all those loyal aides laughing hard. But can I come

back to my rant earlier, there was a missed opportunity today, the

Culture Secretary, Maria Miller, gave a speech, it's the most

vaccous piece of work I have heard for a long time. She has a

responsibility, a duty, to talk to us about the culture that she

believes in and the possibilities of the wider cultural world.

did she misthe opportunity? All she talked about... She's not very

good! She talked about the Olympics and Union Jack, feeble. She should

be talking about the brilliant possibilities of culture as a

Conservative for culture to draw up - to give opportunities to the poor

and she didn't do that. That's the problem that the Tories have got.

They've no cultural soul. You will have a chance to watch her again,

because we are interviewing her later in the programme. Good luck!

So, something for to you look forward to. Kevin Maguire, what

about the G-word - growth? Is that going to be talked about is there a

sense the sunny uplands will come in the future? A lot will be, the

tough decisions, blame Labour, he presents himself as a broom. We saw

Boris Johnson was more of a Dyson sucking up the good news. He will

present himself as I am the man that will take you through, there

is light at the end of the the tunnel, we will be OK if you stick

with me and take this terrible medicine. Growth will below, living

standards aren't going to soar, but 12 months' time could be a

different narrative for David Cameron. All right, thank you I

think we are going to speak to you after the speech. So go and get

your seats. Now, David Cameron may have been treated to a curry at a

Birmingham balti house last night but we think he is probably miffed

his wife didn't get him what he really wanted. He is desperate to

get his hands on one of these. Cheers. A Daily Politics mug.

all nick it, you know! I know. But as regular viewers of this

programme will know you can't buy these mugs, no, you have to steal

them! You have to win them in our competition. Mrs Cameron, it's not

too late but you will have to work out when this happened, like

# for the day I die # I am going to touch the sky

# Strong enough to hold the weight of time

# Love enough to leave some of us Yeah, Blair, what are you doing?

# I don't feel like dance dancing What do you do with a problem like

# It's Chico time. # To be in with a chance of winning,

send your answer to our special quiz e-mail address. You can see

the full terms and conditions on our website.

So, David Cameron David Cameron has made his away across to the

conference centre from the hotel. There he comes, this is a few

minutes ago. Hand in hand with Sam Cam, as she's known to her friends,

the the Prime Minister's wife. Suitably dressed in blue for the

Conservative Party conference. The Prime Minister looking relaxed, or

attempting to look relaxed. He's done this six times before, this is

his 7th speech as leader of the Conservative Party and that takes

him to the secure area of the conference. He is going to start

speaking, we think, in around about 15 minutes' time. We can now talk

to the Business Minister, he's been on this programme more than me, I

think, Michael Fallon, live from Birmingham. Welcome, Mr Fallon. Now

you are a Minister I think this is the first time we have talked to

you, say something, Michael, so we know you are there. I am here.

do you agree with Norman Lamont that Mr Cameron needs to reconnect

He has been meeting the Tory faithful. The Tory faithful like to

hear it straight. They will hear that from him in a few moments'

time. This is a serious speech. We face some quite serious challenges

and we can come through them. are in decline at the moment, is

that correct? No. He is saying we face some very serious challenges,

not least from the newly-emerging economies of the Far East. We have

to take the tough decisions. That means no longer spending on

unaffordable public sector pensions, or welfare systems, but only

concentrating on the future. He is going to say, "We are in a global

race today." That means an hour of reckoning for countries like us.

Sink or swim. What are the tough decisions has he got to take to

stop the decline? These countries that we are competing with don't

have the great deficits that we inherited, they don't have welfare,

unreformed welfare systems, they don't have huge public sector

pension liabilities. We have started to take those decisions. We

need to go on getting the benefit system under control. We need to go

on taking the tough decisions and only spend public money on the

future, investing in infrastructure, roads, railways, power stations. If

we do that, and reforming our school system and so on, if we do

that we can face up to these challenges and get through. He is

going to say, "The Conservative Party is for everyone." It echoes

the one nation theme that your party used to champion but Mr

Miliband seems to have run-off with your clothes. Is it a mistake, or

is it not a mistake to allow the opposition to dictate the terms of

political trade for you? Well, you know, we have always been a one-

nation party. That was coined by a Conservative, by Disraeli, 100

years ago. We have always lived up to that. We have been a party of

North and South, white, Black, Asian and so on. We have always

been proud to be a National Party. I don't think Mr Miliband can claim

that. He is not well represented in the South of England. He is still

in the pocket of the trade unions. He is not leading a one-nation

party. David Cameron is. Hold on. You have only got one seat in

Scotland. You regularly poll 14% of the vote. You have a handful of

seats in Wales. You have no seats in any major northern city. In what

way are you a one-nation party? have more parliamentary seats in

Wales. We are trying to come back in Scotland. Long-term, we have

been in decline, so have Labour. Labour are on the way back now.

Well, we have both been losing share to the Scottish National

Party. We have always put ourselves over as a one-nation party.

Miliband can't do that because his party is financed by the trade

unions and his policy-making is dominated by the trade unions. He

was elected by the trade unions. opposed to hedge funds and private

equity like your own party? One man, one vote, every member had a vote.

That wasn't true... I'm talking about the money? It was the trade

union vote that decided it should be Ed Miliband and not David

Miliband. We give every single member of our party one vote.

Nobody can buy our party. Are you in favour of gay marriage? Well, we

are consulting on gay marriage... I'm asking you. Well, fine. I don't

want to see, speaking personally, I don't want to see ever the Churches

forced to accommodate gay marriage ceremonies if they don't want to do

so. If we change the law, we have to be sure they can't be compelled

to do that in future. That is what they are most concerned about.

you in favour of civil gay marriage? Well, I need to be very

satisfied on that particular point, that they are not going to be

forced to conduct a marriage ceremony, whether they are

Catholics, or Church of England, or whatever, inside a church. At the

Spectator Party Conference Party last night, Cabinet Ministers were

talking about how they could get Andrew Mitchell to step down as

Chief Whip, some even talking on the record like Iain Duncan Smith.

Will he survive to the weekend? Look, I was at the party last night.

I didn't hear anybody talking about Andrew Mitchell. He has apologised

for what he said. The police officer concerned in that incident

has accepted the apology. We should all move on. I really don't think

that is the most important thing that you can find from this

conference. Let me tell you what Iain Duncan Smith said. He said,

talking of the possibility that maybe he should be sent to be High

Commissioner of Rwanda, he said, "Yeah, good idea, there are no

gates in Rwanda!" That is on the record. I ask again, will Mr

Mitchell survive the week? Look, I'm not sure that was on the record.

I think you are re-telling tittle- tattle from drinks parties at a

Conference. This Conference has been debating some serious issues.

What Andrew Mitchell may or may not have said three weeks' ago hasn't

been the big topic of conversation here. He has apologised. The police

officer has accepted the apology. We should move on. His job is

secure? Look, the Prime Minister has said that it is over now. We

should move on. The apology has been accepted. He shouldn't have

lost his temper like he did. But the apology has been accepted now.

I don't think there is much more to it than that. OK. I notice you

didn't say his job was secure. We will leave it there. Enjoy Prime

Minister's Speech. God forbid we should report tittle-

tattle on drinks parties! They are online, sometimes the only

way you can find out is by what he calls "tittle-tattle".

Now, it's not been a terrific year for the Conservatives one way and

another. With U-turns over the Budget, fallout from the reshuffle

and that embarrassing story about plebs. Of course, we here have

covered it all in glorious technicolor. You can always rely on

us. To the review of the past 12 months. We have hired our own

expert critic to gave us his If the last 12 months was turned

into a film, what would we call it? The Hills Are Alive With The Sound

of Europe? Or Carry On Up The The year started so well for David

Cameron when he stood up to Europe and vetoed the fiscal treaty. As

the year wore on, there was public frustration at the lack of progress

on the economy. There was also a worry that the coalition seemed to

be squabbling on everything, from House of Lords reform, to wealth

taxes. There were the dizzying number of U-turns which raised

questions about the Government's competence. And then, of course,

there was the big event, the Budget, which reinforced the sense that the

Conservative Party was a party of the rich. Not only are Cameron and

Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, they are

two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition and no

passion to want to understand the lives of others. That is their real

crime. The real hammer blow for David Cameron was Nick Clegg's

decision to withdraw support for changes to the constituency

boundaries. After failing to get his treasured goal of Lords reform,

the Deputy PM torpedoed a plan that would have given the Tories 20

extra seats at the next election. Cameron accepted Clegg's act

because he knows Clegg is probably only Liberal Democrat Leader who

can keep the coalition on track. David Cameron's great fear is that

the Lib Dems will conclude that only Vince Cable can restore their

party's fortunes and Cable's heart is very much on the left. Up until

now, David Cameron's leadership has been secure. There hasn't been an

alternative. Some people are beginning to wonder whether the

Olympotastic Mayor of London might be that alternative. Boris has won

in a Labour-leaning city twice. Once in the middle of a recession.

If David Cameron can't improve things, and if Boris can get into

Parliament, then suddenly, just perhaps, all bets are off. You did

win more medals than France! Yes. And more medals than Germany and

Australia! More medals, ladies and gentlemen, more medals per head,

more medals than any country on Earth. Above all, you brought home

the truth about us and about this country. When we put our minds to

it, there is no limit to what Britain can achieve. David

Cameron's now absolutely determined for his Government to be about much

more than cuts. In the reshuffle, he put Ministers in all the key

economic departments, absolutely focused on delivery, delivery,

delivery. He still needs a plan that is bolder. He needs to have a

plan that shows that he is rising above the squabbles of the

coalition. And he needs an agenda that looks equal to the big

challenges of our times. The last time the Conservatives won

a general election was in 1992. Then, John Major didn't just focus

on economic prosperity, but sharing that prosperity, too. He convinced

the British people that we wouldn't just benefit the already-haves, but

that everyone would benefit - blue collar workers included. The other

similarity is Labour was led by someone who didn't look prime

ministerial. In more ways than one, 1992 should be David Cameron's

model. Tim Montgomerie.

Norman Lamont, how worrying is it when former Welsh Secretary told a

fringe meeting this week that the Conservative Party's losing its

reputation for competence? There have been, obviously with the

Budget and with the railway fiasco, there have been a number of

unfortunate things. The most important thing is the economy, the

economy, the economy. And the budget deficit reduction programme.

I know people get bored out of hearing this said again and again.

The Government don't have the luxury of forgetting about it. It

is the central problem facing the country, facing the Government.

Ordinary people may forget about it, but the Government can never forget

about it. There won't be real growth, increasing prosperity

unless that programme continues. Therefore, I think boring though

sometimes journalists may consider it, it is very important for the

Government to repeat the message about the huge crisis and deficit,

the huge debts that they were left. All right. Thank you.

Only a few minutes to go before the Prime Minister gets on his feet.

Can we dip into the Hall? You can see they are showing a video. It is

BBC policy - that is not a video - otherwise it is slow-moving! They

do show videos in the run-up. It is the BBC policy not to show videos

of any of the party conferences. The hall will be full. this is what

they live for, the delegates. We get excited by it, too. Nick

Robinson is there for us. Welcome. Great to talk to you. We have a

rough idea that the country is in decline unless we take the tough

decisions and we are taking the tough decisions, that is what he is

going to say, isn't it? Well, that is part one of it. Part two is the

more upbeat bit. There were a deliberate attempt to say, "You may

not like the Conservatives, but they are gritty, they are realistic,

they are being honest with you about what the problems facing the

country is." That is why you got the sort of speech you got from the

Chancellor. That is why you got the briefings that made the headlines

in this morning's newspapers. I think what you will find is that

the Prime Minister tries to speak more to the slogan at this

Conference - Britain can deliver. Having tried to claim the credit

for being open about the scale of the problems the country faces, he

then needs to add a gloss of optimism, if you like, that Britain

is capable of delivering and, to use a phrase that I am told he will

use again and again, aspiration nation - trying to identify himself

with the aspiration of ordinary hard-working people and to say, if

they can be liberated, the country will revive, too. To what extent

does the Prime Minister have to reconnect with his own supporters,

many of whom, as you will have discovered there, are not happy

with either him or the way the Government is going? Well, quite a

lot of that has already taken place, Andrew. Why did we move from hug a

hoodie to bash a burglar, despite the fact there have been three

legal changes already to do what the one announced yesterday was

about, despite the fact there are only a handful of cases involved?

Why? It pleases the Tory faithful and it pleases the Tory press and

generates good headlines. Why did the Prime Minister stop warning his

party about obsessing about Europe and talk rather a lot about the

fact that he had a big speech coming up and that he was

increasingly minded, not in this Parliament, but in the future, to

talk about Europe and to hold a referendum on Britain's future

relationship with the EU? Again and again, we have seen this. Welfare.

Why did he not specify the tax rises on the rich and yet specify

the cuts that he was looking for in welfare and identify himself with

the people who are angered by going off to work early in the morning

and seeing the curtains closed in the home of someone who is

unemployed and not working? Again, because he is trying to reconnect

with the party faithful. Most of that work he will stand up hoping

it's been done and will try and present himself to his party as the

guy who looks and sounds like a Prime Minister, doing the right

For many of the early years of Mr Cameron they didn't use that

language at all, so why have they gone back to it? Because they've

got a problem. I think it's absolutely right to highlight that

and notice that. It is precisely because Labour have moved on to

this turf of one nation and talked about the children who don't get to

go to university, the children who do want training and an

apprenticeship, the children who worry about get ago job and getting

their first home. It's precisely because Labour have identified that

group and because David Cameron, partly because of Andrew Mitchell,

allegedly referring to plebs, partly because of that 50p tax cut,

partly because of the demeanour of the people at the top of the

Conservative Party, has become associated once again as Tim was

saying, with being the party of the rich, it's for that reason that

David Cameron feels the need to put up front and centre his

identification with the people he will call the aspirers, the

strivers. You mentioned Andrew Mitchell, have you heard any

rumblings among senior Conservatives about his future as

Chief Whip? Absolutely, I have spoken to senior cabinet Ministers

who say if it had been anybody else they would have been sacked

straightaway. They believe it was a mistake of the Prime Minister not

to sack Andrew Mitchell. They think Mr Mitchell's position is not

sustainable in the long-term and they believe that a way will be

found to get him out of his job, but long after the press will be

able to claim they've got a scalp. There is a widespread view at this

conference that Andrew Mitchell is desperately damaged as Chief Whip,

as enforcer of discipline, but there is no expectation that will

lead to that job in Rwanda that Iain Duncan Smith was apparently

joking about at a party last night. Thank you. I hope Michael Fallon

was listening to you there. You mentioned, he has to send them away

with a spring in their step, more upbeat parts of the speech, what's

the upbeat bit? Well, I think it's trying to convince the country that

the Olympic spirit that after all Boris Johnson talked about in the

last few moments Lord Coe has been talking about on the stage of this

conference, remember he was originally an aide to William Hague,

we always remember the running and we remember the Olympics. But many

people forget that he was a Conservative MP and effectively

Chief of Staff for William Hague. He will try and tap into that sort

of can-do spirit that Boris Johnson talked about, trying to convince

people the country has proved it's capable of getting out of the mess

it's in. The other interesting thing he will do is try to extend

the narrative of this Government away purely from deficit reduction.

He will try and link other reforms, welfare reforms, reforms to the

schools, as all part of, if you like, getting Britain fit for what

he calls the global race. In effect, that whole message of the Olympics,

which is believing that the country is capable of it, taking the

measures necessary to get the country like an athlete, fit for

the competition, acknowledging the scale of the task, and then a note

of optimism at the end, that at least is the aim. Whether he will

pull it off is a different thing, but that's what I am told is the

aim. This is a speech that will be much Morecamber Ron than we have --

more Cameron than we have seen before. Steve Hilton, a guy much

more edgy than David Cameron, always urging him to go a little

bit further, always wanting him to challenge the party, he's emigrated

and that's producing a change in David Cameron's rhetoric. Thank you

for that. Let's go straight to Birmingham and

listen to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, address the Conservative

In May 2010, this party stood on the threshold of power for the

first time in more than a decade. We knew then that it was not just

the ordinary duties of office that we were assuming. We were entering

into Government at a grave moment in the modern history of Britain.

At a time when people felt uncertainty, even fear. Here was

the challenge - to make an insolvent nation solvent again. To

set our country back on the path to prosperity that all can share in,

to bring home our troops from danger while keeping our citizens

safe from terror, to mend a broken society. Two and a half years later,

of course I can't tell you that all is well, but I can say this:

Britain is on the right track. APPLAUSE As Prime Minister, it has

fallen to me to say some hard things and to help our country face

some hard truths. All of my adult life, whatever the difficulties,

the British people have at least been confident about one thing, we

have thought we can pay our way. That we can earn our living as a

major industrial country and we will always remain one. It has

fallen to us to say that we cannot assume that any longer. Unless we

act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show

determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future

what it has been in the past. Because the truth is this, we are

in a global race today. And that means an hour of reckoning for

countries like ours, sink or swim, do or decline. To take office, to

become the Government at such a moment is a duty and an honour. And

we will rise to the challenge. Today, I want to set out a serious

argument to this country about how we do that. About how we compete

and thrive in this world. How can we make sure that in this century,

like the ones before, Britain is on the rise? Nothing matters more.

Every battle we fight, every plan we make, every decision we take is

to achieve that end. Britain on the rise. Now the challenge before us

is daunting, I have confidence in our country. Why? Because Britain

can deliver. We can do big things. We saw it this summer. The Jubilee,

the Olympics, the Paralympics, the best country in the world and let

us say it, with our Queen, the finest Head of State on earth.

APPLAUSE I was recently trying to think of

my favourite moment of that extraordinary summer. Was it

telling President Hollande that no, we hadn't cheated at the cycling,

our wheels weren't rounder than anyone else, we just peddled faster

than the French?! No. For me it was seeing that young woman who swam

her heart out for years, nine training sessions a week, two hours

at a time, my best moment was putting that gold medal around the

neck of Ellie Simmonds. APPLAUSE And you know something, I am so

grateful for what those Paralympians did. When I used to

push my son Ivan around in his wheelchair, I used to think that

too many people saw the wheelchair and not the boy. I think today more

people would see the boy and not the wheelchair and that's because

of what happened in Britain this summer. APPLAUSE

And the Olympics showed us something else, something important.

Whether our athletes were Scottish, Welsh, English, or from Northern

Ireland, they draped themselves in one flag. APPLAUSE Now there was,

of course, one person who didn't like that. He is called Alex

Salmond. I am going to go and see him on Monday to sort out that

referendum on independence by the end of 2014. Because there are many

things I want this Coalition Government to do, but what could be

more important than saving our United Kingdom? So let's say it, we

are better together, we will rise together and let us fight that

referendum with everything we've got. APPLAUSE

There are so many people to thank for this summer, those that won the

bid, those that built the stadia, those that ran the Games, that

national hero, that Conservative hero you heard from, Seb Coe. What

a giant he was this summer. APPLAUSE

But, of course, there is also the man who put the smile on all our

faces, the zinger on the zip-wire, the Conservative Mayor of London,

our own Boris Johnson. APPLAUSE And those Games-Makers, those

extraordinary Games-Makers. I have spent three years trying to explain

the Big Society. They did it beautifully in just three weeks and

I want to thank them for that, as well. APPLAUSE APPLAUSE

Now, there is another group of people who stepped into the breach

this summer and we in this party, we never forget them. Our Armed

Forces have been on the ground in Afghanistan now for over ten years.

433 men and women have paid the ultimate price and made the

ultimate sacrifice. Just last weekend, there was a memorial

service for one of the fallen and the eulogy said this: All that they

had they gave, all that they might have had, all that they had ever

been, all that they might ever have become. Beautiful words. Painful

words. Words we should never forget when we send our young men and

women into harm's way to work on our behalf. And for all those who

serve, and for their families, I repeat the commitment I made when

this Government came to office. By the end of 2014, all UK combat

operations in Afghanistan will have come to an end. Nearly all our

troops will be home. Their country proud, their duty done. And let

everyone in this hall stand and show how profoundly grateful we are

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 56 seconds

for everything they've done. To meet the challenges that our

country faces, we must have confidence in ourselves. Confidence

as a party. We've been in office two and a half years now, and we've

done some big, life-changing things. Just ask Clive Stone. I met him

years ago when we were in opposition. He had cancer and he

said to me, the drug I need, it's out there but they won't give it to

me because it's too expensive. Please, if you get in, do something

about it. And we have. A new cancer drug fund that's got the latest

drugs to more than 21,000 people and counting and there is a reason.

There is sa reason we could do that. It's because we made a big decision

to protect the NHS from spending cuts. No other party made that

commitment. Not Labour. Not the Liberal Democrats. Just us, the

Conservatives. To all those people who said we'd bring the NHS down, I

would say this: You've got a point. I will tell you what's down,

waiting lists down, mixed wards down, the number of managers down,

bureaucratic targets down, hospital infections down. What's up? The

number of doctors, the number of dentists, midwives, the number of

operations carried out in our NHS. Let no one be in any doubt, this is

the party of the NHS and that is the way it's going to stay.

We made another big decision too in these difficult times. That was to

go on saving lives abroad. I know some are sceptical about our aid

budget. But picture the scene. You are in a health centre in Kinshasa.

You see the child with a needle in her arm being injected with a

yellow fever vaccine. That is the difference between living and dying.

How can anyone tell me that's a waste of money? Since we have

gathered here in Birmingham on Sunday, British aid money has

vaccinated 130,000 children around the world. 130,000 children. YOU,

the Conservative Party, helped to do that and you should be proud of

what you have done. Here's something else this party's

done in Government. Last December I was at a European Council in

Brussels. It was 3.00am, there was a treaty on the table that was not

in Britain's interests. And there were 25 people around that table

telling me to sign it. But I did something that no other British

leader has ever done before. I said no, Britain comes first, and I

APPLAUSE So my friends, we are doing big

Conservative things. For years people said, "You'll never reform

public sector pensions, the trade unions won't stand for it." We have

done it. For years people said, "Benefits are out of control,

there's nothing you can do about it." Because of our welfare cap, no

family will be getting more in benefits than the average family

earns. For years people said... APPLAUSE For years people asked,

"Why can't we get rid of those radical preachers who spout hatred

about our country, living off the taxpayers?" Theresa May has done it.

She's got Abu Hamza on that plane and out of our country to face

justice. APPLAUSE So be proud of what we've done

already. Two million of the lowest paid workers being taken out of

income tax altogether. Over 18 million households helped with a

freeze in their council tax - and we're freezing it all over again

next year, too. These are big Conservative things, delivered by

this Government, made possible by this party. We can deliver. We can

do big things. The Olympics reminded us how great it feels to

be successful. But we must not let that give us a warm glow or a false

sense of security. All over the world, countries are on the rise.

Yes, we've been hearing about India and China for years. But it's hard

to believe what is happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria,

too. Meanwhile, the old powers are on the side. What do the countries

on the rise have in common? They are lean, fit, obsessed with

enterprise, spending money on the future - on education, incredible

infrastructure and technology. And what do the countries on the slide

have in common? They're fat, sclerotic, overregulated, spending

money on unaffordable welfare systems, huge pension bills,

unreformed public services. I sit in those endless meetings in

Brussels where we talk forever about Greece. On the other side of

the world, China is growing so fast they are creating another economy

the size of Greece every three months. I'm not going to stand here

as Prime Minister and allow this country to join the slide. My job -

our job - is to make sure that in this 21st Century, as in the

centuries that came before, our country, Britain, is on the rise.

And here, here we know how that is done. It is the collective result

of individual effort and aspiration. The ideas you have, the businesses

you start, the hours you put in. Aspiration is the engine of

progress. Countries rise when they allow their people to rise. In this

world, where brains matter more, where technologies shape our lives,

where no-one is owed a living, the most powerful resource we have is

our people. Not just the scientists, the entrepreneurs, the engineers,

not just the teachers, the parents, the nurses, but all our people,

including the poorest, those who have never had a chance, never had

a job, never had hope. That's why the mission for this Government is

to build an aspiration nation. To unleash and unlock the promise in

all our people. And for us, for us Conservatives, this is not just an

economic mission - it is a moral one. It's not just about growth and

GDP. It is what has always made our hearts beat faster - aspiration,

people rising from the bottom to the top. Line one, rule one of

being a Conservative is that it's not where you come from that counts,

it is where you're going. We have been led... APPLAUSE

We've been led by the daughter of a grocer, the son of a music hall

performer, by a Jew when Jews were persecuted, by a woman when women

were side-lined. We don't look at the label on the tin, we look at

what's in it. Let me put that another way. We don't preach about

one nation but practise class war. We just get behind people who want

to get on in life. APPLAUSE That's right. The doers, the risk-

takers. The young people who dream of their first paycheck, their

first car. Those people who are ready and willing to work hard to

get those things. While the intellectuals of other parties

sneer at people who want to get on in life, we here salute you. They

call us the party of the better-off. No. We are the party of the want to

be better-off, those who strive to make a better life for themselves

and we should never ever be ashamed of saying so. APPLAUSE This party,

our party, it has a great heart. But we don't like wearing it on our

sleeve. Conservatives tend to think, "Let's just get on with the job and

help people and not bang on about it. It is not our style." There is

a problem with that. It leaves a space for others to twist our ideas

and distort who we are: The cartoon Conservatives who don't care. My

mission from the day I became leader of this party was to change

that. Yes, to show that the Conservative Party is for everyone,

north or south, black or white, straight or gay. But above all, it

was to show that Conservative methods are not just the way we

grow a strong economy, but the way we build a "big society". That

Conservative methods are not just good for the strong and the

successful, but they are the best way to help the poor, the weak and

the vulnerable. It is not enough for us to know our ideas are right.

We have to explain why they are compassionate, too. Here is what we

are up against. We say we've got to get the private sector bigger and

the public sector smaller. Our opponents call it "Tory cuts,

slashing the state." No, it is the best way to create the sustainable

jobs people need. APPLAUSE We say help people become

independent from welfare. Our opponents call it, "Cruel Tories

leaving people to fend for themselves." No, there is only one

real route out of poverty and that is work. We say of course you have

to insist on a disciplined, rigorous education for your

children. Our opponents say, "Elitist Tories, old-fashioned and

out of touch." No, a decent education is the only way to give

all our children the chance they need to start in this world.

APPLAUSE The reason we want to reform

schools, to cut welfare dependency, to reduce Government spending is

not because we are the same old Tories who want to help the rich,

it is because we are the Tories whose ideas help everyone - the

poorest the most. A strong private sector. Welfare that works. Schools

that teach. These three things are essential to helping our people to

rise. They are essential to our success in this world. Labour will

fight each and everyone of them every step of the way. These three

things are not just the battleground for Britain's future,

they are also the battle lines for the next election and it is a fight

we've got to win for our party, for our country, but above all for our

nation's future. APPLAUSE So to help our people rise, the number

one, we need an economy that creates good jobs. We need

businesses of every size, in every type of industry, in every part of

the country - investing and taking people on. There are some basic

things they need in order to do that. They need low interest rates.

They need confidence that it is worth investing because the

customers will be there, whether at home or abroad. Getting the deficit

down is essential for both those things. That is why our deficit

reduction plan is not an alternative to a growth plan, it is

the very foundation of our growth plan. It is the only way we'll get

Britain on the rise. Now I know that you are asking whether our

plan is working. And here's the truth: The damage was worse than we

thought, and it's taking longer than we hoped. The world economy -

especially in the eurozone - has been much weaker than expected in

the past two years. When some of o your big trading partners, -- some

of your big trading partners like Ireland, Spain, Italy are suffering,

they buy less from us. That hurts our growth and it makes it harder

to pay off our debts. Here is the crucial thing you need to know. Yes,

it is worse than we thought. Yes, it is taking longer. But we are

making progress. Thanks to the grit and resolve of George Osborne, we

have a cut a quarter off the deficit in the past two years - 25%.

That has helped keep our interest rates at record low levels. Keeping

mortgages low. Leaving more money in your pockets. Giving businesses

more confidence to invest. Creating more jobs. And if you don't believe

me, just look at the job creation figures. Since this Government took

office, over one million new jobs have been created in the private

sector. That is more - net - in the last two years than Labour managed

in ten years. APPLAUSE Now, the Labour politicians who got

us into this mess say they have a different way out of it. They call

it Plan B and it goes like this: We should stop worrying about deficit

reduction, borrow more money and spend it to boost the economy. It

sounds so reasonable when you put it like that. Let me tell you why

it's not. Right now, while we've got a deficit, the people we're

borrowing money from believe that we'll pay it back - because we have

set out a tough plan to cut spending and to live within our

means. That is why our interest rates are amongst the lowest in the

world, even though the deficit left to us by Labour was one of the

highest in the world. If we did what Labour want, and watered-down

our plans, the risk is that the people that we borrow money from

will start to question our ability and resolve to pay off our debts.

Some might refuse to lend us any money at all. Others would only

lend it to us at higher interest rates. That would hurt the economy

and it would hit people hard. If you have a mortgage of �100,000,

just a 1% increase in interest rates would mean an extra �1,000 to

pay each year. Labour's plan to borrow more is actually a massive

gamble with our economy and our future. It would squander all of

the sacrifices we've already made. Let me put it like this. We are

here because we spent too much and borrowed too much. How on earth can

the answer be more spending and I honestly think that Labour

haven't learned a single thing. When they were in office their

answer was always, borrow more money. Now they're out of office

it's borrow more money. Whatever the day, whatever the question,

whatever the weather, it's borrow more money. Borrow, borrow, borrow.

Labour, the party of one notion - borrowing! APPLAUSE

There are times I wonder whether they know anything about the real

economy at all. Did you hear last week what Ed Miliband said about

taxes? He described a tax cut as the Government writing people a

cheque. I hope you don't mind, I just want to explain it for him. Ed,

this is how it works. When people earn money, it's their money. Not

the Government's money, it's their money. APPLAUSE

Don't interrupt, I don't want him to lose the thread. Then the

Government takes some of it away in tax. So, if we cut taxes, we're not

giving them money, we're taking less of it away. OK? Got it?

APPLAUSE You know what, while we are on it, who suffers when the

wealthy businessman goes off to live in Geneva? Not him. It's those

who want to work, because the jobs, the investment, the growth will go

somewhere else. APPLAUSE Now we promised that those with the

broadest shoulders would bear the biggest burden, and with us the

rich will pay a greater share of tax in every year of this

parliament than in any one of the 13 years under Labour. Under Labour.

APPLAUSE We haven't forgotten what it was

like under Labour. We remember who spent our golden legacy, who sold

our gold, who busted our banks, smothered our businesses, racked up

debts, who wrecked our economy, ruined our reputation, who risked

our future. Who did this? Labour did this and our country should

never forget it. APPLAUSE Now get our country on the rise, to

get Britain on the rise, we need a whole new economy. More

enterprising, more aspirational. And it is taking shape already. We

are getting back our entrepreneurial streak. Last year

the rate of new business creation was faster than any other year in

our history. Let me repeat that. The rate at which new businesses

started, faster last year than ever before. We are making things again.

We had a trade surplus in cars for the first time in almost 40 years.

And it's not just the old industries that are growing, it's

the new ones. We are number one in the world for offshore wind. Number

one in the world for tidal power. We have the world's first green

investment bank. Britain leading, Britain on the rise. We're showing

we can do it. Look at the new investment that's coming in. In the

last two years, Google, Intel, Cisco, the big tech firms. They've

all set up new bases here. And we are selling to the world again.

When I became Prime Minister, I said to the Foreign Office, those

embassies you have got, turn them into showrooms for our cars,

department stores for our fashion, technology hubs for British

startups. Yes, you are diplomats and as William said in that

fantastic speech you are the best on the globe but you need to be our

country's salesforce. APPLAUSE And when we look at what's

happening, in just two years our exports to Brazil up 25%, to China

up 40%, to Russia up 80%. There are so many opportunities in this world.

I want to tell you briefly about just one business that is really

seizing them. It's run bay guy called Alastair Lukies. He and his

partner saw a world with almost six billion mobile phones but two

billion bank accounts. They saw this huge gap in the market and

they started a mobile banking firm, helping people in the poorest parts

of the world manage their money and start new companies, using their

mobile phones. He has been with me on trade missions all over the

world. And his business is booming. Back in 2010 when we came to office,

they employed about 100 people. Now it's more than 700. Back then they

were nowhere in Africa. Nowhere in Asia. Now they're the global player

with one million new users every month. So don't let anyone tell us

that Britain can't make it in this world. We are the most enterprising,

buccaneering, creative, dynamic nation on earth. APPLAUSE

And to those who question whether it's right for me to load up a

plane with business people, whether we are flying to Africa, Indonesia,

the Gulf or China, whether we are taking people from energy, finance,

technology, or yes, defence, I say this - there is a global battle out

there to win jobs, orders, and contracts and in that battle I

believe in leading from the front. APPLAUSE

But to get our economy on the rise, there's a lot more that we need to

do. Frankly, there's a lot more fights to be had. Because there are

too many people out there that Wye call the yes-but-no people, the

ones who say yes, our businesses need to expand, but no, we can't

reform planning. It's simple. For a business to expand, it needs places

to build. If it just takes too long, they'll will just build elsewhere.

I visited a business the other day that wanted to open a big factory

right outside Liverpool. But the council was going to take so long

to approve the decision that they're now building that factory

on the continent. They're taking hundreds of jobs with them. If we

are going to be a winner in this global race, we have got to beat

off this suffocating bureaucracy once and for all. APPLAUSE

And then there are those who say, yes, of course we need more housing,

but no to every development, and not in my back yard. House-building

isn't just a vital engine of our economy, it goes much, much wider

and bigger than that. It's OK for my generation, many of us have got

on the ladder. But do you know the average age that someone buys their

home today, without help from their parties? It is 33 years old. We are

the party of home ownership and we cannot let this go on. So yes,

we're doubling the discount for buying your council house, we are

helping first-time buyers with 95% mortgages. But there's something

else we need to do, and that's accept that we need to build a lot

more houses in Britain. There are people, young people who work hard,

year after year, but they're still living at home. They sit in their

childhood bedroom looking out the window, dreaming of a place of

their own and I want us to say you are our people, we are on your side,

we will help you achieve your dreams. APPLAUSE

If we want our people to rise so Britain can rise, we must tackle

welfare. Here are two facts for you. Fact one - we spend �80 billion a

year on welfare for working age people. Not pensions, just welfare

for working age people. That's one in eight of every pound that the

Government spends. Fact two - more of our children live in households

where nobody works than almost any other nation in Europe. Let me put

it simply, welfare isn't working, and this is a tragedy. Our reforms

are just as profound as those of Beveridge 60 years ago. He had his

great evils to slay, squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and

disease. Here are mine - first, unfairness. What are hard-working

people who travel long distances to get into work and pay their taxes

meant to think when they see families, individual families,

getting 40, 50, 60,000 of housing benefit to live in homes that these

hard-working people could never afford themselves? It is an outrage

and we are ending it by capping housing benefit. APPLAUSE

The second evil - injustice. Here is the choice that we give our

young people today. Choice one - work hard, go to college, get a job,

live at home, save up for a flat. As I have just said, that can feel

like forever. Choice two - don't get a job. Sign on. Don't even need

to produce a CV when you do sign on. Get housing benefit, get a flat,

and then don't ever get a job or you will lose a load of that

housing benefit. We must be crazy. This is what we've done. Now you

have to sign up a contract that says do you your bit, and we'll do

ours. It requires you to have a real CV and makes clear you have to

seek work and take work or you will lose your benefits. APPLAUSE

and we are going to look at ending automatic access to housing benefit

for people under 25, too. Let me put it like this, if hard-working

young people have to live at home while they work and save, why

should it be any different for those who don't? APPLAUSE

The next evil - bureaucracy. Sign on, sign here. Come back in a

fortnight. Repeat as required. What does this do for the guy who's been

out of work for years, even decades, who's playing computer games all

day, living out some fantasy because he hates his real life? For

people like like him we have to do something new and we are. The work

programme takes the money we are going to save from getting people

off the dole, and it uses it to get them into work with proper training.

We're prepared to spend up to �14,000 on one individual to get

them into work and already almost 700,000 people have got on to the

Work Programme. I want us to be clear in this party, in British

politics today it is this party that's saying no one is a write-off,

no one is hopeless, and with Iain Duncan Smith leading this

revolution let us be the party that shows there is ability and promise

in each and everyone of our citizens. APPLAUSE

And just one more thing on welfare. You know our work experience

programme, where we give young people a chance to work in a

supermarket, a shop, or in an office? Here's what one trade union

official said about it. I quote: The scheme belongs back in the 19th

century, along with Oliver Twist and the workhouse. It is nothing

short of state-sponsored slavery. What a snobish, appalling, outdated,

wrong-idea to the work. We are giving them a chance. What's is

cruel is not asking something of people, it's when we ask nothing of

them. Work isn't slavery, it's poverty that is slavery. Let us,

the modern compassionate Conservative Party who are the real

champions of fighting poverty in To help people rise, to help

Britain rise, there is a third - crucial - thing we must do. Educate

all our children. And I mean really educate them, not just pump up the

grades each year. In maths, in science, the reading, we've fallen

behind, not just behind Germany and Canada, but behind Estonia and

Australia, too. This is Britain's real School Report and it reads

"must do better". Now you have heard of pushly parents, sharp-

elbowing their way to a better education for their children. This

is a push lish Government. My approach is very, very -- pushy

Government. My approach is very, very simple. I have two children in

primary school. I want for your children what I want for mine. To

go to schools where discipline is strict, where expectations are high

and where no excuses are accepted for failure. I don't want great

schools to be the preserve of those that can pay the fees or buy the

nice house in the catchment area. I want those schools to be open to

every child in every neighbourhood. The reason I know that every child

can go to a school like this is because with this Government, more

and more new ones are opening. You have heard from some of them this

week, not just the 79 new free schools with over 100 more to come,

but you have heard from some of the 2,000 academies we have helped to

create. These are state schools given all the freedoms and carrying

all the high expectations of private schools. That is my plan.

Millions of children sent to independent schools, independent

schools in the state sector. APPLAUSE It is a genuine revolution

that's under way. The Harris Academy in Peckham has increased

the number of students getting five good GCSEs from 12%, when it was

under local authority control, to almost 90% now. The transformation

has been astonishing and you know what, the methods have been

Conservative. Smart uniforms, teachers in suits. Children taught

physics, chemistry and biology, not soft options. Children set by

ability with excellence applauded, extra resources for those in need

but no excuses for slacking. When you see as a parent schools like

that, it prompts one question: Why can't every school be that way? Why

can't all our children have those chances? It is not because parents

aren't ambitious enough. Most of these schools are massively

oversubscribed. It is because the old educational establishment, the

left-wing local authorities, the leaders of the teacher unions, the

Labour Party theorists, it is because they stand in the way. When

we saw a badly-failing school in Haringey and we wanted to turn it

into an academy, the Labour authority, the Labour MP and the

teacher unions all said no. When inspirational teachers and parents

in Hammersmith, in Norwich, in Bristol, in Wigan, when they wanted

to open free schools, the left-wing establishment said no. When we have

proposed more pay for good teachers, getting rid of bad teachers, longer

school days to help children learn, flexible school hours to help

parents work, less nonsense about health and safety, the left-wing

establishment have said one thing - no. You know what? When you ask why

is a school failing, why aren't the children succeeding, you hear the

same thing over and over again. What can you expect with children

like these? These children are disadvantaged. Of course, we want

to tackle every disadvantage, but isn't the greatest disadvantage of

all being written off by those so in hock to a culture of low

expectations, that they have forgotten what it is like to be

ambitious, to want to transcend your background, to overcome

circumstance and succeed on your own terms? It's that toxic culture

of low expectations - that lack of ambition for every child - which

has held this country back. I can tell you... APPLAUSE Let me tell

you a thing or two about Michael Gove and I. We are not waiting for

an outbreak of sanity at the headquarters of the NUT. We are not

waiting for some great embrace of aspiration in the higher reaches of

Labour before we act. Because our children can't wait. So when people

say please slow down your education reform so somehow adults can learn

to adjust to them, I say no. I want more free schools, more academies,

more rigorous exams, more expected of every child in every school. To

those who say - and some do - he wants children to have the kind of

education he had at his posh school. You know what I say? Yes, you are

absolutely right. I went to a great school. I want every child to have

that sort of education! APPLAUSE I'm not here to defend privilege,

I'm here to spread it. APPLAUSE I don't have a hard luck story. My

Dad was a stockbroker from Berkshire. LAUGHTER It's only when

your Dad's gone that you realise - not just how much you miss them -

or how much you really love them - but how much you really owe them.

My Dad influenced me much more than I ever thought. He was born with no

heels on his feet, with legs that are about a foot shorter than they

were meant to be, but he never complained even when he lost those

legs later in his life. Because disability in the 1930s was such a

sigma, he was an only child. Probably a lonely child. But my Dad

was the eternal optimist. To him the glass was always half-full.

Usually with something fairly alcoholic in it! LAUGHTER When I

was a boy, I remember once going for a long walk with him in the

village where we lived, and we walked passed the church he

supported all his life and passed the village hall where he took part

in long Parish Council meetings. He told me what he was most proud of.

It was simple - working hard from the moment he left school and

providing a good start in life for his family. Not just all of us, but

helping his Mum, too, when his father ran off. Not a hard luck

story, but a hard work story. Work hard. Family comes first. But put

back into the community, too. There is nothing complicated about me. I

believe in working hard, caring for my family and serving my country.

There is nothing complicated about what we need today. This is still

the greatest country on Earth. We showed that again this summer. 22nd

in world population. Third in the medals table. But it's tough. These

are difficult times. We're being tested. How will we come through

it? Again, it's not complicated. Hard work. Strong families. Taking

responsibility. Serving others. As I said on the steps of Number Ten

Downing Street before walking through that door, "Those who can

should, those who can't we will always help." The job of this party,

this Government, is to help bring out the best in this country.

Because at our best we are unbeatable. We know Britain can

deliver because we have seen it time and time again. This is the

country that invented the computer, defeated the Nazis, started the web,

sauf off the slave trade, unravelled DNA, fought off every

invader for a thousand years. We even persuaded the Queen to jump

out of a helicopter to make the rest of the world smile. There is

nothing we can't do. Can we make Britain the best place in the world

to start a business, grow a business and to help that business

take on the world and win? Yes. Can we the people, the people who

invented the welfare state in the first place turn it into something

that rewards efforts, helps keep families together and really help

the poorest with a new start in life? Yes. Can we take our schools

and turn our students that will take on the brightest in the world?

Yes, of course we can. Let us here in this hall, here in this

Government, together in this country make this predge, let's

build an aspiration nation. Let's get Britain on the rise. Deficit,

paid down. Tough decisions, taken. Growth, fired up. Aspiration,

backed all the way. We know what it takes to win, to win in the tough

world of today, to win for all our people, to win for Britain. So

let's get out there and do it! APPLAUSE

STUDIO: The Prime Minister has finished speaking. He had it all

written down this time. We were able to time it quite carefully. He

is calling his wife up on to the stage as he takes the applause. The

aspiration nation, that was the theme of the Prime Minister's

speech. And like all politicians, he used the Olympic analogy, the

country had done so well in the Games, he wanted to compete as a

nation in the new global race with new emerging economies and markets

springing up all over the globe. He made sure to name-check Afghanistan

and our troops there, calling for applause for the work they are

doing and for the lives that have been lost there. There was a

standing ovation for over one minute. He said they weren't the

party of the rich. Interestingly, without naming it, he said he had

gone to a posh school, he wasn't going to apologise for that. He had

a great education and he wanted everyone else to have as good an

education as he had. He of course had a side-swipe at Labour, having

gone for the one-nation theme last week. He talked of Labour saying

they may preach about one nation, but they practise class war. And he

said Labour was the party of one- notion, which was borrowing. So

just looking at the words, it was a well-constructed speech, as Mr

Miliband's was. It will have gone down well with the party faithful

there. He struck the right chords, it was something that they wanted

to hear. A slightly different David Cameron to the one that became

leader in 2005, when there was barely a green mention.

We are going to get some expert reaction. First, we want to hear

the people who matter - that's you. The e-mails?

Yes, there was a lot of praise for the delivery of the speech. "The

pressure against David Cameron to deliver a strong speech, he has

done that. Full of detail. While answering the critics."

Gary, got to hand it to the guy, a fantastic speech, expertly

delivered. When it comes to speechifying, Cameron is making

Miliband look like an amateur." "Some good digs over one-nation.

Very solid on the economy and telling the truth. This has

substance and policy and he is doing well." This from Amanda,

"Voters are interested in the economy and not in David Cameron's

family. We need jobs that pay well." This from Peter, "David

Cameron said the Conservative Party should be proud about saving

hundreds of children's' lives through international aid. No, no,

no, the money belongs to the British people, not the

Conservative Party. The British people should be proud." This from

Kath, "Does David Cameron think we are all nit wits? Labour - borrow,

borrow and borrow. What are the Conservatives doing? Borrow, borrow

and yet more borrowing." Is that enough borrowers?

Give me your instant reaction? thought it was well-crafted. What

it did was to take the hard messages and marpry them with the

tender messages -- marry them with the tender messages. We can only

get out of the economic problems we have through hard work, through

tackling welfare abuse and this is the way to relieve poverty. Work is

the answer to poverty. In that sense, it was a very balanced

What's new about saying work is the way? That's what, whether he

delivered it or not is not for me to decide but Gordon Brown thought

work was the way. What's different? As I said at the beginning, what

this this speech was about, was about reconnecting with the

Conservative Party, emphasising Conservative values, emphasising

that the Coalition is doing Conservative things and not just

doing the bidding of the Lib Dems. That's what it was really all about.

All right. Let's go straight back to Birmingham to our political

editor, Nick Robinson. Give us your impressions. David Cameron doesn't

do the great stirring conference oratory. At times I felt it was

like a head teacher delivering an address to the school or a Church

of England vicar delivering a sermon. A lot of it he was trying

to teach the audience, look, this is very hard, he was saying, to the

Conservative Party and to the country. The whole tone of it

really was, I know we are not where we hoped to be as a party, as a

country, I know we haven't sorted out the deficit and got growth in

the way that I had dreamed of doing. But we can do it. Trying to capture

once again as we have seen throughout this conference season,

that Olympic spirit. But it was very, very short, in fact absent of

new policies. What it was really doing was an appeal to the country,

saying, look, the reason we are dealing with the deficit, with

welfare, dealing with the schools, is because if we don't the country

is sunk. It will lose the competition, the great global race

as he described it, not just against the famous big developing

countries like China and India, but countries he has visited in weeks

and months, Mexico, Brazil, and others. Interesting how much of the

speech was defined by other events and other speeches, whether it's Mr

Miliband's speech last week talking about one nation or the continuing

problems with Andrew Mitchell and the sense of a posh Minister

referring to a policeman as plebs. The Prime Minister went out of his

way to try to deal with all these issues, he had to deal with what

people are saying about him and his party. In that sense it was pretty

defensive. They say this about us, but we say that. They say this

about us, but we say the other. Again and again he was having to

deal, as you say, with the suggestion that he was privileged,

the suggestion that he was elitist, the suggestion that the Tories

didn't care about the poor and again and again he had to pose

those phrases and try and answer them. I would be very surprised

indeed if we don't see on YouTube by the end of the day someone's

who's cut together him using the phrases. Rich, posh, privileged.

They'll edit them together and say there you are, it's coming out of

his own mouth. If they weren't going to, they're going to now! I

am sure you put an idea in people's minds. I get a sense that whether

it reasonates on the country, we can't tell that at the moment, it

probably - I got a feeling, you can tell us, I got a feeling it was

going down well with the Tory faithful in the hall. Yes,

interesting, I choose today not to sit - I often stand at the edge and

I had a seat on a row of a group of Conservatives. They rather quietly

kept saying "yes, that's right", there was that sense, like a sermon.

Let's get clear, this is not a Michael Heseltine or Neil Kinnock,

the sort of speakers that get the hair up on the back of your neck,

who really create that revivalist rally, if you like that President

Obama can do. He doesn't try to do it. He is not capable of doing it.

He hasn't just done it. What he did instead is that that sort of sense

in the Conservative Party of them saying that's right, I agree with

that, thank goodness he said it. It's very kpwhrrb, -- English, if

you like and David Cameron in that sense was being himself. It is

interesting, I said before the speech, that Steve Hilton, the guy

who went for the rhetoric, who told him to talk about sunshine and

hugging trees and hoodies and the rest, he's gone and with it all

that sort of rhetoric has gone, as well. Yes, we got the phrase that

he hopes will stick on, I am not convinced it will last long, I have

to say, aspiration nation. He was trying to make a gesture about

talking to people who want their homes and their jobs and saying

that he may be privileged but -- he wants to spread that privilege than

restrict it. The phrase is one, like so many political phrases, it

may not last that long. Aspiration nation sounds like a track from a

house music album. It reveals the nightclubs you go to! I am the one

putting these videos together, as well! Nick, I suggest to you this,

he can make all the speeches he wants. He can have all the

aspiration he wants. He can strike all the right chords as he sees it.

But unless growth comes back to this economy and unless there is a

sense that the pain has been worth it, unless people's living

standards start to rise again instead of falling as they do now,

he runs out of time to have any hope of winning an overall majority.

I think that's right. I think he knows that's right. I think that's

why in some ways the most striking passage of the speech for me was

not any attempt at soaring rhetoric, nothing that got applause in the

hall, there was a moment where I think what he was trying to do is

look down the lens as I am doing now and speak to people directly at

home or in their offices. When he said, look, it wasn't supposed to

take this long, it wasn't supposed to be this difficult. We had hoped

to be doing much better. Not his exact phrases, but the sentiment

what he was trying to do is reach out to the country and say, look I

do get this, you know, I am aware this wasn't exactly how it was

supposed to go. But we are on the right track. Let's keep going.

Remember, elections only have about one or two slogans and we are on

the right track, don't turn back, is one of the slogans that

governments always use. Oppositions always say, time for change. In a

way, I think you got what are likely to be the key election

phrases in this speech. That sense of, we are not there but we are

getting there, don't change. Again what he described as the battle

ground, the battlelines of the next election, you know, are you in

favour of these sorts of welfare cuts, or are you against? In favour

of those sort of school reforms, are you against? Are you in favour

of cutting the deficit by cutting spending, or are you against? He

was writing a script for the next two years of politics, not one that

jumps off the page now, but will write the advertising slogans and

speeches for a long time to come. Indeed I am sure that's right.

Thank you for that and all your help during the party conferences,

it's been great to have you. Yes, let's get a sense of how Mr

Cameron's speech went down with the party members. Adam's with some now.

Hi there. Have we got the aspiration nation, does that make

these the aspiration delegation? Let's find out. What did you reckon

of the speech? Very inspiring speech. We came to Birmingham and

everyone thought we were going to and divided party. Here we are,

backing Boris, backing Dave, backing George, we are here going

forward for the country. What did you think about that phrase

aspiration nation? I think Cameron has shown us that we are an active

party. We do what we say we are going to do. We just don't talk

about it. He has given us objectives for the future. With his

clear leadership we can do them. Who next? Marks out of ten? It's

going to be ten out of ten. That's the best best speech I have heard

our Prime Minister do ever. It was aspiration as our friends have said,

he talked about the nation. We are all in this together. It's all

walks of life. It's given everybody that inspiration and opportunity.

The Prime Minister didn't talk the country down. It was Britain on the

rise. It was a fabulous speech. did warn about that sink or swim

moment. Who wants to tell me what the mood was like in the hall.

Electric. I honestly think that it's the messiah Britain needed.

Cameron is the Messiah. That Britain needed and we have it in

David Cameron. Britain's going to go from strength to strength. I

want to say, I am a Muslim councillor and I want to tell you

that Islam teaches Conservativism, it's a home for them to join the

Conservative Party, because we can be successful together. A nice

political broadcast there. Are you going to talk to us live? Marks out

of ten for your boss's speech? solid nine. This is a Prime

Minister that's going to lead to us victory at the next election. It

was a solid performance. It was a very, very good speech indeed.

of your backbench colleagues have been calling for more measures on

growth, I didn't really hear any. In my experience there are a lot of

successful small engineering and manufacturing businesses in my

constituency. Georgiev has been to -- George Osborne has been to my

constituency. I think they're pleased with the reduction deficit

measures giving them confidence to win more business and this has to

be a private sector-led recovery. My part of the world we are doing

our bit to help with that growth that we need. Chris Kelly, the MP,

thank you. Now you are a councillor. I am. Marks out of ten for the

speech? Chris gave it nine out of ten. It would have been ten, if he

promised a referendum on the EU. I thought he was going to mention

something in his speech. He ducked the issue which disappointed me. I

would have liked him to go further on Europe. How How angry are you

about that? I am disappointed because he had been hinting a few

days ago there would be some kind of vote and that's what he's been

leading us to believe and there was nothing. I was waiting to hear that.

A bit disappointed. Interesting. Thank you. A female delegate, at

last! What did you think about the Prime Minister talking about his

son and his late father? I thought it really touched a chord. It was

really intense and emotional. It wasn't something that was

unnecessary, it really gave something to the speech. I didn't

feel like it was being added in for simply his own - his own

experiences are really important. It was good. Who saw Boris

yesterday? Who would like to compare the two? Difficult to

compare those, very different styles. Which one did you prefer?

couldn't possibly comment. Boris entertainment factor, 11. But

statesmanship, it was Mr Cameron. You have all been entertaining,

thank you for talking to us. Conference has been packed up, back

to the studio. Well, of course... The Messiah he

was saying! The Daily Politics was on air when he came back. Thank you

for that religious reference. David Cameron will be thrilled. Exactly,

I am thrilled. Before we move on, picking up on that point, which

speech did you prefer? Did you prefer Boris or did you like David

Cameron's more? For a Prime Minister, David Cameron's was

obviously the best. There's a surprise! I am not saying Boris one

day can't be leader but I would like to see him as Minister first.

Some of the other things mentioned there, on the referendum on Europe,

was it a mistake not to talk about it in the speech? He has hinted

about it all week. There is a lot of talk about it. Why not put it in

the speech? He might have put it in the speech. I imagine he is going

to return to that. He has mentioned it several times. He's been

trailing his coat on this, saying either a referendum or something at

the time of the election. Most people want a referendum, not a

reference to it just in the manifesto. They definitely want to

have a choice on the ballot paper for each person to make. On the

issue of austerity, this wasn't all about austerity, this was about

aspiration. But as one of the delegates there said, where were

the growth, or was asked, where were the growth policies? Should

there have been more specifically about this is what we are going to

do to achieve that growth that's been eleading us? -- eleading us. I

know all the time people are calling for growth passages, --

packages, the reality is you can't attach a car to a jump lead and it

goes off. Economies are not like a car in a snow storm. The most

important thing, in my opinion, is actually first getting the deficit

down. This is a real threat to us. We sometimes forget that other

countries have reduced their deficits far quicker than we are.

We are going gradual about it. When people talk... Because they haven't

cut enough? No, I think the Government's programme is properly

calibrated. But what's happening in the eurozone, for example, they're

reducing their deficits much faster than we are. We could be left

looking quite exposed. I think the Government's approach is designed

to be balanced, both to allow the growth to happen, but also to get

the deficit down. OK. Thank you. Let's go back to Birmingham and the

Culture Secretary Maria Miller, recently joined the Cabinet and

joins us from Birmingham. Welcome to the Daily Politics. The Prime

Minister's theme was that Britain's on the rise again. Isn't the harsh

truth the only thing we are sure that is on the rise is that the

deficit is on the rise again? think what we have just had from

the Prime Minister is an immensely powerful speech, setting out the

true battle ground that we need to move forward on, talking about how

we become a globally more competitive nation through things

like welfare reform, educational reform, but also making sure that

Britain is a great place to do business. What's the answer to my

question, that the deficit is on the rise again? Well, the answer to

your question is that we have cut the deficit by a quarter. That was

last year. It's rising again. you know, it's early days in this

year. We have got the plans in place to make sure we get the

deficit under control. Unfortunately, we heard from Labour

last week that they would do more to increase the deficit in the

future. That may or may not be true, I am not talking about Labour. I am

talking about you. Are you telling viewers that in this financial year

the deficit will be smaller than it We need to make sure the financial

year comes to an end. You will know that the financial figures were

reviewsed recently for last year. What you need to be looking at -

what the whole nation will be looking at - is what the Prime

Minister has been setting out as our real battlegrounds for fighting

the next two years to get Britain back on track so that it is the

competitive nation we need it to be. We are dealing with a global

economy now. It is no good looking at our near neighbours. We need to

be looking on a global level as to how we become a nation that can

succeed and not get left behind. That is powerful and will resonate

beyond Birmingham. Mr Cameron said that the Tories are for everyone,

North or South, black or white. It is hardly going to work if your

Conservative Leader in Scotland describes 90% of Scots as

"scroungers"? What David Cameron was talking about today was true of

this party. You saw the reaction in the Hall. We are all about the

party of aspiration. We are about giving people that opportunity for

the future. Coupled with that, we have to make sure we have a

farewell fair state. The work that Iain Duncan Smith has been doing

has really made sure that that would be a reality. If you are the

party of one nation, how does your own leader in Scotland describe 90%

of Scots as living off the state, net-takers from the state? One-

nation is making sure we give those people that were written off by the

last Government a real chance. That is where the Work Programme, 3,000

more people into work as a result of the effectiveness of that

particular policy, shows that when we have got the right support in

place we can really make a difference and perhaps working with

the Scottish Government we need to make sure that even more people in

Scotland have that opportunity, too. Mr Cameron said it is time to sink

or swim. What are we doing at the moment? Well, what we are doing is

clearly setting out the battleground for the future of this

country. Are we sinking or swimming as we set out this battleground?

is about swimming in a competitive global world. That is why it is so

important that we are putting in the sort of infrastructure that I

was talking about earlier today, making sure that 4G is brought

forward by six months, making sure we have super-fast broadband,

making sure that all of that infrastructure is in place so we

cannot only attract international business, but retain it as well. I

think that is a story of swimming. Maybe. But sometimes swimming

against the tide. You have been in power for two-and-a-half years. Why

haven't we got 4G now? New York has it. I can get it there. Why haven't

we got it? Well, for two-and-a-half years we have been making sure we

can work with the operators to put 4G in place. Why haven't we got it?

Never mind - stick with 4G, Minister. 4G is a key to a lot. Why

has your Government failed to deliver and finds itself behind so

many other countries when it comes to the new state-of-the-art

technology? What you will know is that we will be bringing in 4G in

the first half of last year - first half of next year. That is six

months in advance of where it was supposed to happen. These are

complex negotiations. It is not just about 4G. Making sure that we

have got connectivity up-and-down the country is all about our-of-

�500 million investment in super- fast broadband for rural areas as

well. Altogether, we are pressing forward in a way that is

impressive... We know the case. We are wondering when you are going to

get it to us. Let me come on to Leveson now. You are not in a