Conference Special

:00:31. > :00:36.Afternoon. Welcome to this final Daily Politics special of the

:00:36. > :00:38.2011AD conference season. We are live from the Conservative Party

:00:38. > :00:44.Conference. Last year the Prime Minister told this conference the

:00:44. > :00:48.British economy was "Out of the danger zone." This year with the

:00:48. > :00:52.economy stagnant and the eurozone crisis heading towards a

:00:52. > :00:56.potentially disastrous climax, Britain is back this the danger

:00:56. > :01:00.zone. David Cameron will attempt to reassure the faithful and convince

:01:00. > :01:04.the wider public that he has the leadership and the vision to steer

:01:04. > :01:09.Britain through the grimmest economic outlook for the country

:01:09. > :01:13.since the IMF bailed us out in the mid-1970s.

:01:13. > :01:19.We will bring you all the build-up to this important speech, which we

:01:19. > :01:24.expect to begin in about half an hour. We will bring you live and

:01:24. > :01:28.uninterrupted coverage. At least we hope uninterrupted. Jo's in

:01:28. > :01:31.Manchester too. As you can see, people are queuing to get into the

:01:31. > :01:37.conference hall. I'll be outside, getting reactions to the Prime

:01:37. > :01:41.Minister's speech. We will look back over David Cameron's year,

:01:41. > :01:46.with former Tory leadership hopeful Michael Portillo.

:01:46. > :01:50.Cameron's recipe for gaining power was to move the Conservatives to

:01:50. > :01:57.the soft-centre of British politics, hugging the National Health Service

:01:57. > :01:59.and embracing climate change. In office, he's moved away from the

:01:59. > :02:03.middle-ground. That does not mean he'll lose the next general

:02:03. > :02:07.election. And they toil over the final text,

:02:07. > :02:12.but as we have discovered today, things don't always go to plan. I

:02:12. > :02:22.will talk to a former speech writer who thinks the speech should be

:02:22. > :02:25.

:02:25. > :02:31.If he gets his way we'll all be out of a way. How dare he suggest we

:02:31. > :02:36.scrap the speech writer's speech. The party faithful here are waiting

:02:36. > :02:40.to get in. It has been a low-key conference for them. They hope the

:02:41. > :02:44.Prime Minister will fire them up and send them away with a spring in

:02:44. > :02:50.their step. Difficult economic times is the backdrop to his speech,

:02:50. > :02:57.as we await the Prime Minister's speech. He may go through a final,

:02:57. > :03:04.final draft we have the warmest act. Benedict Brogan from the Telegraph

:03:04. > :03:08.and Paul Waugh from Politics Home. I come to you, Ben, because the

:03:08. > :03:11.Telegraph has flashed on it. You were briefed by Cameron's people

:03:11. > :03:15.that he told us we would have to pay off our credit cards and that

:03:15. > :03:19.was the best way to help the British economy. By this morning,

:03:19. > :03:23.that was not the brief. What happened? After our splash emerged

:03:23. > :03:26.and others led with it, you could tell there were anxious faces on

:03:26. > :03:31.the Downing Street team. They were looking worried. That is not the

:03:31. > :03:38.message they intended to get out. That is the problem with these pre-

:03:38. > :03:41.briefing speeches, you never know which lines journalists will find

:03:41. > :03:45.interesting. This is what happens at party conferences. In the end

:03:45. > :03:49.the authorised version of the speech is the one he delivers from

:03:49. > :03:57.the stage. I have not seen the rowing back in recent times as big

:03:57. > :04:01.as this. It's hard for them to get out of. All parties do, they say

:04:01. > :04:08.the media misunderstands. They printed out chunks of the speech

:04:08. > :04:14.and gave it to us. They did. The key line was, that means households,

:04:14. > :04:19.all of us are paying off... Should be paying off the credit card and

:04:19. > :04:25.store bills. They have amended it to say that households are paying

:04:25. > :04:30.off credit card and store card bills. Although there's no plan B

:04:30. > :04:35.for the economy there is a plan B to change the script to make sure

:04:35. > :04:39.he's not as out of touch as that would sound. The embarrassment for

:04:39. > :04:44.them, and the spin doctors are running all over the place, some

:04:44. > :04:48.tried to get into this studio when we were live on air. The

:04:48. > :04:52.embarrassment is at a time of grim economic news a Government should

:04:52. > :04:56.be presenting a picture of competence and conviction and a

:04:56. > :05:00.safe pair of hands? The difficulty for David Cameron is he wants to

:05:00. > :05:02.sound optimistic this afternoon while all around us and beyond

:05:02. > :05:06.Manchester the world seems to be falling apart, at least

:05:06. > :05:11.economically. That is hardly reassuring for him. The difficulty

:05:11. > :05:15.is he has an economic challenge. On one hand he's telling people they

:05:15. > :05:18.should be paying down their credit card bills. The message has been

:05:18. > :05:28.we've got too much debt. At the same time the economists are

:05:28. > :05:36.standing up say, hang on if everybody pays, we have the economy.

:05:36. > :05:39.My impression is it is a low-key affair so far. They are in

:05:39. > :05:45.reasonable spirits but seem apprehensive. What does he need to

:05:45. > :05:50.do to them today? He needs to fire them up. He is a competent Speaker,

:05:50. > :05:53.unlike Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, he has several gears when he goes

:05:53. > :05:58.through a speech. He can change the pace of it. He will fire them up

:05:58. > :06:01.with this attempt to bridge the reality of the economic downturn

:06:01. > :06:08.with the optimism of the future. It is that bridge between the realism

:06:08. > :06:12.and optimism, he's got to convey to punters at home. He famously said

:06:12. > :06:17.when Leader of the Opposition, "Let sunshine win the day." As I read

:06:17. > :06:21.through my newspapers and blogs and the Tweets this morning, it was

:06:21. > :06:25.just bad news after bad news. The recession was deeper than we

:06:25. > :06:30.thought, growth turned out to be lower than we thought in the second

:06:30. > :06:34.quarter of this year. Italy has defaulted, not defaulted, Italy has

:06:34. > :06:38.had a downgrade a second time. The Greeks are going on strike. Even

:06:38. > :06:48.Tescos of all things has made a loss for the first, or a drop in

:06:48. > :06:51.

:06:51. > :06:57.sales for the first time in 20 years. That's a difficulty.

:06:57. > :07:00.wonders how much optimism he can prevent when around him it looks

:07:00. > :07:07.pessimistic. The Treasury hold the view the more serious it gets the

:07:07. > :07:13.more it focuses the minds of the French and Germans on resolving the

:07:13. > :07:16.Greek crisis. That requires nerves of steels, which circumstances

:07:16. > :07:20.outside make difficult. Circumstances bond his control. The

:07:20. > :07:24.markets take a further tumble because the eurozone leaders are

:07:24. > :07:28.yet to show something called leadership. The Belgium bank goes

:07:28. > :07:31.belly-up. Everything becomes worse news. There's nothing a British

:07:31. > :07:34.Prime Minister, or very little a British Prime Minister can do.

:07:34. > :07:42.is the difficulty. That is his opportunity today. He can say, look

:07:42. > :07:46.I'm not veering off a debt reduction plan, we are a safe port

:07:46. > :07:49.in the storm. He's going to say, you can't feel it yet, you can't

:07:49. > :07:53.even really see it yet, but our policy is working and will be

:07:53. > :07:58.working. In other words, all this rhetoric about the ship coming out

:07:58. > :08:03.of the storm will be heavily promoted today. I am not sure

:08:03. > :08:06.whether the public will see eye-to- eye with that. Should he, would he,

:08:06. > :08:12.will he mention Ed Miliband? Interesting. I think he may be

:08:12. > :08:17.tempted to ignore him. If I was him I was would nor him. He may have a

:08:17. > :08:22.few cat jokes. Not more cat jokes. I understand there may be a cat

:08:22. > :08:26.reference in one of the songs after he walks off the stage. Can we

:08:26. > :08:30.agree he will not say this year Britain is out of the danger zone?

:08:30. > :08:34.Today it is difficult to make such a statement. Thank you.

:08:34. > :08:38.Getting our coverage of the David Cameron conference speech of 2011,

:08:38. > :08:43.to the party faithful, it is coming up now, in froblly just over 0

:08:43. > :08:48.minutes. He -- probably just over 20 minutes. He is probably running

:08:48. > :08:52.late. Party leaders generally do. Some things are left behind in

:08:52. > :08:56.Westminster. There are some treasured possessions we bring with

:08:56. > :09:02.us. Andrew packs his cuddly toys, his iPad and I have my special

:09:02. > :09:04.conference pen. But you, dear viewers, how would you survive a

:09:04. > :09:14.Wednesday Daily Politics without Guess the Year. Can you remember

:09:14. > :09:37.

:09:37. > :09:42.# The sun goes down on me # Rescue me

:09:42. > :09:46.# Don't tell me it's not worth trying for

:09:46. > :09:51.I know what it's like for a family when a business collapses, what

:09:51. > :09:56.it's like when you're unemployed and you have to search for the next

:09:56. > :10:04.job. I haven't forgotten and I never will.

:10:04. > :10:08.# Everything I do, # I do it for you #

:10:08. > :10:18.The UN deadline for an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait has passed

:10:18. > :10:30.

:10:30. > :10:34.Yes, now, to be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug, send

:10:34. > :10:38.your answer to our special quiz e- mail address, that's

:10:38. > :10:42.dpquiz@bbc.co.uk. You can see the full term and conditions for Guess

:10:42. > :10:46.the Year on our website. That's bbc.co.uk/dailypolitics. And

:10:46. > :10:55.we will pick the winner on tomorrow's Daily Politics programme.

:10:55. > :10:59.With me I've two Conservative MPs who I know are busy as we speak.

:10:59. > :11:02.Bernard Jenkins and Sajid Javid. Starting you, have the big issues

:11:02. > :11:08.been addressed? It has been -- there is something unreal about

:11:08. > :11:11.this conference. There is a serious mood. Nobody has wanted to

:11:11. > :11:16.undermine David Cameron. There is a serious atmosphere because we know

:11:16. > :11:21.there is a big crisis outside. The drinks flow at the conference and

:11:21. > :11:25.the band plays, but there is a sense that the depth is beginning

:11:25. > :11:28.to slope a bit because we are facing challenges in the eurozone

:11:28. > :11:31.crisis. Do you think they have been properly addressed by the

:11:31. > :11:35.leadership? Well, there is a sense that the leadership are trying to

:11:35. > :11:39.push the consequences of this into the future. We've an economic

:11:39. > :11:42.problem. We've a competitiveness problem now. If the eurozone are

:11:42. > :11:46.going to make very big changes to the way the European Union operates,

:11:46. > :11:50.that is the moment we need to address the regulation that is

:11:50. > :11:54.piling on from Europe and I don't think we can push this forward.

:11:54. > :11:58.This is happening now. I'm afraid this crisis is not going to fit

:11:58. > :12:02.into a coalition programme that waits until 2015, which seems to be

:12:02. > :12:08.what William Hague was saying this morning. Do you agree with how that

:12:08. > :12:14.is characterised that now is the time to act. I am not sure what

:12:14. > :12:18.Bernard suggests the Government does. Should there be something to

:12:18. > :12:24.reement -- pre-empt Greece from defaulting? Bernard is right in the

:12:24. > :12:27.sense it has been a very mature conference. It has been focused on

:12:27. > :12:33.by George Osborne and by the Prime Minister in his speech, probably in

:12:33. > :12:38.a moment, there is no alternative to plan A. We've heard that. That

:12:38. > :12:43.has been their strategy. What about what Bernard Jenkins is saying?

:12:43. > :12:49.Should something be down now in terms of action? I am not sure

:12:49. > :12:53.there is much more we can do. The euro is not a problem of our doing.

:12:53. > :12:59.We are glad the Government has changed 18 months ago or we could

:12:59. > :13:04.have been in a similar situation to Italy or Greece ourselves. What can

:13:04. > :13:08.be done? What I'm saying is that the eurozone crisis is leading to a

:13:08. > :13:12.fundamental change in the nature of the European Union. There is talk

:13:12. > :13:17.of a treaty of the 17, and they are going to do a treaty of the Euro-

:13:17. > :13:20.states, on their own, to do fiscal union, not requiring the signature

:13:20. > :13:25.of any other member-state. It could take years? The problem is these

:13:25. > :13:28.changes will be made very quickly f they are made. They profoundly

:13:28. > :13:31.change the European Union. And ministers themselves are saying

:13:31. > :13:34.this is going to change the way the European Union operates. Is that a

:13:35. > :13:39.time for a referendum? No. I'm saying what the Government will

:13:39. > :13:45.need to address is how to protect British national interests in this

:13:45. > :13:50.eurozone, in the centre of the Euro-. Have you any -- in the senl

:13:50. > :13:53.centre of the eurozone. Have you any suggestions for them? If the

:13:53. > :13:57.Liberal Democrats paralyse them on this, we say, go ahead, make our

:13:57. > :14:01.day, if you want to bring the Government down on this, this is

:14:01. > :14:04.vital for our competitiveness to be able to get control. When we talk

:14:04. > :14:07.about the Liberal Democrats, we also have to recognise that they

:14:07. > :14:11.did not win a majority. We needed to form a coalition. There was no

:14:11. > :14:14.other way around that. The Liberal Democrats have done the country a

:14:14. > :14:18.huge service in coming to that coalition and addressing the bigish

:14:18. > :14:25.issue of the day which was the debt and the deficit. Bernard would

:14:25. > :14:29.agree with me, had we not got that under control our situation would

:14:29. > :14:34.be like some of our European partners. They could be the block,

:14:34. > :14:37.if you like on any negotiation, opportunity that comes up? I don't

:14:37. > :14:42.think a block is a right word for it. We are in a koolgsz. The

:14:42. > :14:46.situation is what it -- coalition. The situation is what it is. If an

:14:46. > :14:49.opportunity arises for Britain to enter into a negotiation, of course

:14:49. > :14:54.we should take advantage of that. We should keep our pencil sharpened.

:14:54. > :14:59.Right here and now, what we need to assure the markets is we have a

:14:59. > :15:05.strategy that works. The moment George Osborne sat down after his

:15:05. > :15:10.speech, our rating was reaffirmed. We saw what happened in Italy. They

:15:10. > :15:13.got downgraded by S and P and Moody's today. What about the Human

:15:13. > :15:17.Rights Act? Nick Clegg made it clear, it is here to stay. What do

:15:17. > :15:21.you think of that? On that issue Nick Clegg is wrong. We made it

:15:21. > :15:25.clear in our manifesto that we would like to see a British Bill of

:15:25. > :15:28.Rights which balances rights and responsibilities. That is very

:15:28. > :15:33.important. What should the Government do to counter that from

:15:33. > :15:36.Nick Clegg, if that is the right thing to do in your view?

:15:36. > :15:46.The British Bill of Rights, you don't get the feeling it will

:15:46. > :15:48.

:15:48. > :15:52.There is a sense that the absolutely overbearing weight of EU

:15:52. > :15:55.law and human rights law is paralysing the government. We have

:15:55. > :15:59.put this in our select committee report, no one has challenged it.

:15:59. > :16:02.There is a real problem about making government work in this

:16:02. > :16:06.over-regulated environment, and getting the economy competitive.

:16:06. > :16:11.Are we going to be told we have to wait until 2015 before we can do

:16:11. > :16:15.anything about this? I thank that is a problem. I think the Liberal

:16:15. > :16:18.Democrats should be challenged on this -- I think that is a problem.

:16:19. > :16:25.If they want to bring down the coalition... They haven't really

:16:25. > :16:30.said that, they are very tied him. Does your concern reflect the Tory

:16:30. > :16:34.backbenchers? -- tied in. coalition agreement was written 18

:16:34. > :16:37.months ago, events have overtaken the coalition agreement. We cannot

:16:37. > :16:40.go on living in the world as it was then, we have to tackle the

:16:40. > :16:44.challenges now, or the whole government will become more

:16:44. > :16:50.unpopular. How are the backbenchers feeling? Most backbenchers would

:16:50. > :16:53.agree with what George Osborne... That is fine but are they happy? Do

:16:53. > :16:58.they feel they are getting the government they want? By and large,

:16:58. > :17:02.people accept that because of the coalition, there are naturally

:17:02. > :17:06.going to be constraints. They are not happy, really? We accept that.

:17:06. > :17:10.I would have loved to have seen an out right Conservative victory, we

:17:10. > :17:13.didn't get it so we have frustrations like the Human Rights

:17:13. > :17:18.Act. If we can find ways to deal with that within the constraints of

:17:18. > :17:23.the coalition, such as what Theresa May said yesterday, that is the way

:17:23. > :17:28.to go for it. This is a Midge Ure conversation, there is not going to

:17:28. > :17:32.be some massive rebellion instantly -- this is a mature conversation.

:17:32. > :17:36.We have seen it going on in the conference will between Ken Clarke

:17:36. > :17:39.and Theresa May. I think we have got to have these conversations

:17:39. > :17:42.because we have to address the national interest. The coalition

:17:42. > :17:48.has to address the national interest. Somebody said to me,

:17:48. > :17:50.hasn't it been a dull and boring confidence -- conference? I said,

:17:50. > :17:55.if you mean there hasn't been infighting and briefings against

:17:55. > :18:01.each other, then it has been. could have been handing out this

:18:01. > :18:06.leaflet. Are you worried? They would say that, wouldn't they.

:18:06. > :18:14.suppose so. You're not worried they are going off to UKIP. At salute

:18:14. > :18:24.will not. Pick a badge. I love deficit reduction -- absolutely not.

:18:24. > :18:25.

:18:25. > :18:31.He had first pick. I love the 50p tax rate? As a former banker, I

:18:31. > :18:35.love banking reform. Wear them with pride. Thank you very much.

:18:35. > :18:43.Thanks, de Gaulle is filling up, there are still plenty of seats in

:18:43. > :18:48.what the Americans call the bleachers -- the hall is filling up.

:18:48. > :18:53.If not a huge crowd. The bottom of the hall is full, but lots of spare

:18:53. > :18:58.seats at the back. It is a big centre in Manchester kids, but

:18:58. > :19:02.Labour filled it be conference in Liverpool last week. We will see

:19:02. > :19:06.whether the Tories do the same. If you are sitting in your hotel room

:19:06. > :19:10.in Manchester watching this, part of the delegation, you can come,

:19:10. > :19:15.plenty of time. We have been told that the Prime Minister will now

:19:15. > :19:22.not be on his feet before 4:40pm. But we will still be here the

:19:22. > :19:28.moment he does -- to 40 pm. Graham Brady is the chairman of the 1922

:19:28. > :19:33.Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, a kind of shop steward for the

:19:33. > :19:37.backbenchers. I am a trade union leader. You look and sound like one,

:19:37. > :19:42.I am not surprised. Why haven't your members been allowed to spend

:19:42. > :19:49.more time discussing Europe this week? When the crisis over the euro

:19:49. > :19:52.has been heading for climax? heard some of the members of the

:19:52. > :19:59.1922 committee discussing just that. Why hasn't the conference been

:19:59. > :20:03.doing it? I think conference programmes are over managed. Not a

:20:03. > :20:08.little over manage, they are totally managed. There is no scope

:20:08. > :20:11.for any measure of rebellion at this conference. I don't think it

:20:11. > :20:18.is a matter of rebellion but I would like to see more debate in

:20:18. > :20:22.party conferences, I would like to see us get back to balloted motions.

:20:22. > :20:25.To be dangerous, isn't it? Sometimes you have to live

:20:25. > :20:29.dangerously. You would like to go back to the days when we had

:20:29. > :20:35.debates, motions, speakers for and against, and at the end, people

:20:35. > :20:40.could vote. And although the conference, unlike Labour, doesn't

:20:40. > :20:47.bind the Tory leadership, it would give you a good indication of where

:20:47. > :20:51.the heart of the party was. I think debate is a good thing. Especially

:20:51. > :20:55.so in these very difficult times we are facing. We are in

:20:55. > :20:59.unprecedentedly bad economic circumstances. I think it is a good

:20:59. > :21:04.thing that we hear different views about how we work our way out of it.

:21:04. > :21:09.Why did you get rid of the debates? I didn't. Not you personally, the

:21:09. > :21:13.party. Both the Labour Party and Conservative Party have been moving

:21:13. > :21:16.to more managed conferences, and it is clearly because the party

:21:16. > :21:22.hierarchies are concerned about what you and your colleagues do

:21:22. > :21:26.when there is some genuine open debate. Which means it is hard for

:21:26. > :21:29.you to complain when we don't cover the events going on in the all

:21:29. > :21:34.enough, because frankly, what is going on in the ball these days is

:21:34. > :21:39.either irrelevant, boring or both. Some of it is very exciting and

:21:39. > :21:44.very interesting. As a general rule and principle, more debate in

:21:44. > :21:48.politics, treating the public as intelligent people who can watch

:21:48. > :21:51.disagreements and discussions between politicians without

:21:51. > :21:56.automatically thinking there is some great split in a party. I

:21:56. > :21:59.think we could do more of that. What is the mood among Conservative

:21:59. > :22:04.backbenchers as regards their attitude towards the government,

:22:04. > :22:08.and the influence that the Lib Dems have on this government? I think

:22:08. > :22:11.there is a degree of acceptance of something which is inevitable.

:22:11. > :22:16.There was a decision which was taken, a series of decisions taken

:22:16. > :22:19.by the electorate. We ended up with a certain parliamentary arithmetic,

:22:19. > :22:24.it wasn't possible to form a majority government on our own. We

:22:24. > :22:27.would prefer to have done so. We are nonetheless, managing to

:22:27. > :22:32.function as a government, with a degree of cohesion, especially

:22:32. > :22:36.about the key issue of reducing the deficit, and working towards the

:22:36. > :22:39.point where we will start to play down the national debt. Is there a

:22:39. > :22:44.mood on the Conservative backbenches to be more robust on

:22:44. > :22:49.Europe? I think the European picture is moving so rapidly and

:22:49. > :22:54.changing so rapidly, it is very difficult to discern where people

:22:54. > :22:58.are. This is one of the features of this conference, that people inside

:22:58. > :23:02.this conference have been looking out at events, looking at the

:23:02. > :23:06.markets, looking at what is going on in Greece, perhaps just as much

:23:06. > :23:13.as the outside has been wanting to look in at what we are doing here.

:23:13. > :23:17.Is there a mood for the government to be more robust on tax cuts?

:23:17. > :23:20.think there is a question of reality. We are in this extremely

:23:20. > :23:24.difficult position, we have to get to the position where we are

:23:24. > :23:29.spending less... I know what the position is, we have heard it

:23:29. > :23:33.endlessly. What I am asking for is the mood on the backbenches, what

:23:33. > :23:38.is their attitude? I think there is a strong view in the Conservative

:23:38. > :23:43.Party, and in the government, that if you can achieve a lower tax,

:23:43. > :23:47.less regulated economy, it is going to be more efficient economy, which

:23:47. > :23:51.will generate more wealth and jobs for the British people. That is

:23:51. > :23:55.something we want to get to. Getting from where we are now to

:23:55. > :23:58.that position is a very serious challenge. Do you want the

:23:58. > :24:02.government to move more quickly on the backbenches will continue at

:24:02. > :24:08.the current pace? I think what the government is starting to talk more

:24:08. > :24:13.about, which is extremely welcome, is tackling the regulatory burden.

:24:13. > :24:17.It is adding to regulations. We are hearing this week from David

:24:17. > :24:20.Cameron and George Osborne, a real commitment to tackling the

:24:20. > :24:24.regulatory burden, and that is something which is going to be

:24:24. > :24:28.vital in the coming years. That is the other thing we can do. We have

:24:29. > :24:32.had massive monetary stimulus and fiscal stimulus over the years, and

:24:32. > :24:36.we are where we are. We can start to really drive down the cost on

:24:36. > :24:40.business. What is the point of a trade union leader that has

:24:41. > :24:46.absolutely no disagreement with the bosses? They used to say the secret

:24:46. > :24:48.weapon of the Conservative Party was loyal to. The secret weapon of

:24:48. > :24:52.the 1922 Committee is that generally, the conversations I have

:24:52. > :24:55.with the Prime Minister are better conducted in private. What do you

:24:55. > :24:59.tell the Prime Minister in private that you're not telling us on air?

:24:59. > :25:03.That would defeat the object, wouldn't it? A very good attempt.

:25:03. > :25:08.You're not going to tell us? course I am not going to Italy

:25:08. > :25:16.about the private conversations with David Cameron. -- not going to

:25:16. > :25:21.It causes considerable uncertainty, for a number of different parts of

:25:21. > :25:26.the country. We are still out the review from Wales and Scotland. It

:25:26. > :25:34.is a pretty radical set of changes. In some places, it creates very

:25:34. > :25:41.profound differences. We can see David Cameron the coming out of the

:25:41. > :25:44.hotel, here in Manchester. It is the only hotel which is behind what

:25:44. > :25:49.we call the ring of steel in this party conferences, the security

:25:49. > :25:53.perimeter, which means once you get through that, you can walk between

:25:53. > :25:56.the hotel and conference centre. We are in this massive conference

:25:56. > :26:02.centre, the Prime Minister and his wife are heading towards it. It

:26:02. > :26:06.used to be an old Victorian railway station. The platforms and the

:26:06. > :26:13.rails have long gone and it is a very state-of- the-art conference

:26:13. > :26:18.centre. There is something of a piazza, the Prime Minister makes

:26:18. > :26:22.his way here and is about to head into the Manchester convention

:26:22. > :26:27.centre. What do you want to hear from the Prime Minister this

:26:27. > :26:32.afternoon? What we will hear from the Prime

:26:32. > :26:37.Minister... I really want to know what you want to hear from him.

:26:37. > :26:41.What I want to hear will be what we pretty much will here, a realistic

:26:41. > :26:46.assessment of the massive challenges that face the country,

:26:46. > :26:50.face the government, faced the global economy, and that is very

:26:50. > :26:54.important, I think people are starting to take that on board.

:26:54. > :26:59.Then I want to see a really sharp focus on what we can do. There are

:26:59. > :27:03.things we can't easily do, to improve the economic situation. The

:27:03. > :27:10.things we can do, not easily, not simply, is to start driving down

:27:10. > :27:16.the cost burden on business, and I think that is vital. Do you welcome

:27:16. > :27:21.chance lost on's remarks, has that maybe this -- Chancellor Osborne's

:27:21. > :27:24.remarks that the increasing has maybe gone too far. I think George

:27:24. > :27:30.Osborne was right to make sure we would not fix a carbon price higher

:27:30. > :27:35.than our competitors. That is the kind of thinking we need to move to.

:27:35. > :27:42.The principal preoccupation of the government is growth. We need to

:27:42. > :27:46.make life better and easier for British businesses. What we are

:27:46. > :27:50.hearing is that the Conservative press office, which has uncovered

:27:50. > :27:55.itself in glory in the past 24 hours, is saying the Prime Minister

:27:55. > :28:00.might not be speaking until about six minutes to three, which would

:28:00. > :28:03.be very late indeed. I have no idea why it has to be that late. It has

:28:03. > :28:07.been in the calendar for almost a year. Although there has been last-

:28:07. > :28:13.minute drafting and refinancing of some of his remarks about credit

:28:13. > :28:19.cards, it does not explain why he is half-an-hour late. Maybe he will

:28:19. > :28:22.be more on time than before, than we are briefed. You might have to

:28:22. > :28:28.fight George Osborne for a seat with his Boundary Commission change,

:28:28. > :28:34.is that right? No, it is not right. -- with this Boundary Commission

:28:34. > :28:38.changed. You must never believe what you read in the press. After

:28:38. > :28:42.the wrong steel on credit cards, you are right for they don't cross

:28:42. > :28:47.the boundary between Greater Manchester... Is your seat safe?

:28:47. > :28:55.would never call a seat safe. mean from the boundary changes.

:28:55. > :28:59.There will be a sensible seat under the proposals. What is it like

:29:00. > :29:03.running the 1922 Committee? Is it like herding cats? I thought you

:29:03. > :29:07.weren't going to mention cats. It is fair to say that Conservative

:29:07. > :29:11.Members of Parliament are independent people and they do not

:29:11. > :29:16.always have an entirely uniform view. Thank you for joining us. We

:29:16. > :29:20.are going to move on. It has been quite a 12 months for David Cameron.

:29:20. > :29:24.A global economic crisis, riots on the streets of English cities, an

:29:24. > :29:30.uprising in the Arab world which led to the first military adventure

:29:30. > :29:40.of his premiership. Here is our rookie reporter, Michael Portillo,

:29:40. > :29:50.

:29:50. > :29:54.David Cameron twos to the Conservative Party Conference with

:29:54. > :29:59.feathers in his -- goes to the Conservative Party Conference with

:29:59. > :30:04.feathers in his hat. The local election results were good and he's

:30:04. > :30:10.been vindicated on Libya. All that counts for very little. There's

:30:10. > :30:19.only one thing that really matters - the economy, stupid! Today is the

:30:19. > :30:24.day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the

:30:24. > :30:27.bills from a decade of debt. On day one of the coalition, the

:30:28. > :30:34.Government's commitment to bring down the deficit reassured the

:30:34. > :30:37.markets. Unlike America, Britain still has a triple-A credit rating.

:30:37. > :30:44.Unlike Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, our Government can still

:30:44. > :30:48.borrow cheap. The economy has stalled. The

:30:48. > :30:54.Chancellor of the Exchequer cannot simply blame the weather. We're not

:30:54. > :31:02.going to be blown off course. The weather had a huge effect.

:31:02. > :31:06.George Osborne adopted a plan B the markets would wobble. Living

:31:06. > :31:11.standards are sliding. Without economic growth, the deficit won't

:31:11. > :31:17.shrink. It's difficult to see what he'll have to offer the voters at

:31:17. > :31:25.the next election for all their pain.

:31:25. > :31:30.This summer saw the worst bout of rioting for a generation. Alastair

:31:30. > :31:34.Campbell recognised he needed to -- David Cameron recognised he needed

:31:34. > :31:41.to sound tough. There are pockets of our society which are not just

:31:41. > :31:47.broken, but frankly sick. If he sounded tough at home he was also

:31:47. > :31:51.tough with Libya. Who could have imagined just 1 months ago that a

:31:51. > :31:56.British Prime Minister would -- 12 months ago that a British Prime

:31:56. > :32:00.Minister would permit forces so soon after Iraq and Afghanistan.

:32:00. > :32:06.There is a clear and unequivocal basis for the deployment of

:32:06. > :32:11.military forces and assets. David Cameron's judgment does

:32:11. > :32:16.sometimes fail him. He was wrong- footed over the hacking scandal and

:32:16. > :32:22.his decision to hire as his communications director the former

:32:22. > :32:26.News of the World editor, Andy Coulson. With 20/20 hind site and

:32:26. > :32:30.all that has followed I would not have offered him the job and I

:32:30. > :32:33.suspect he would not have taken it. You don't make decisions in

:32:34. > :32:43.hindsight, you make them in the present. You live and you learn,

:32:43. > :32:47.and believe you me, I have learnt. A Prime Minister has had to wheel

:32:47. > :32:51.and deal to meet the competing demands of Liberal Democrats and

:32:51. > :32:55.Tories within the coalition. The Government sometimes appears to be

:32:56. > :33:00.spinning around rather than moving forward. Its response to the Arab

:33:01. > :33:05.Spring has been confused. The defence cuts are a mess. In an

:33:05. > :33:08.ominous echo of the past, Euro- sceptic Tory backbenchers threaten

:33:08. > :33:12.revolt and put strain on the coalition. The Liberal Democrats

:33:12. > :33:17.have been responsible for some of the most dramatic U-turns.

:33:17. > :33:23.propose to take the opportunity of a natural break in the passage of

:33:23. > :33:27.the bill to pause, to listen and to engage. The last 12 months have

:33:27. > :33:31.been really testing. David Cameron always looks effortlessly Prime

:33:31. > :33:38.Ministerial. If Ed Miliband continues to lead

:33:38. > :33:44.Labour, and continues to be disliked and thought incredible,

:33:44. > :33:48.then David Cameron's fitness for office may prove decisive.

:33:48. > :33:52.Cameron's recipe to gain power was to move the Conservatives to the

:33:52. > :33:56.soft-centre of British politics, hugging the NHS and embracing

:33:56. > :34:00.climate change. In office, he's moved away from the middle-ground.

:34:01. > :34:05.That doesn't mean he'll lose the next general election. Margaret

:34:05. > :34:10.Thatcher was highly unpopular. Many of her decisions were hated, but

:34:10. > :34:18.she never lost a general election. In that, as in so many other ways,

:34:18. > :34:22.she may be David Cameron's model. Michael Portillo there, looking at

:34:22. > :34:26.David Cameron's year. It is a little empty out here in the hall

:34:26. > :34:36.because everybody has gone inside, except these three delegates we

:34:36. > :34:37.

:34:37. > :34:46.have kept behind until the speech starts. With us Kirsty Roberts, and

:34:46. > :34:52.Roche and Mr Decisionson. We've had people -- and Mr DixoN. People have

:34:52. > :34:57.said it is stage-managed. I am not sure if there is the party faithful

:34:57. > :35:00.and the same response as in the past. We are now in Government and

:35:00. > :35:03.it is a different situation. Everybody is looking forward the

:35:03. > :35:08.future. I feel there are far more younger women being attracted

:35:08. > :35:10.towards the party. Despite the fact that the leadership admits they

:35:10. > :35:14.have had a problem with women voters and the poll would indicate

:35:14. > :35:17.that as well. We are doing our best to address that. It is very

:35:17. > :35:21.important to have a cross- representation in any party in

:35:21. > :35:27.order to be able to represent the community as a whole. Obviously,

:35:27. > :35:32.trying tory tract younger women into politics is -- trying to

:35:32. > :35:35.attract younger women into politics is the thing. I am a councillor and

:35:35. > :35:39.have a young family. It is important that people like us, with

:35:39. > :35:44.our own reflections and we bring those to politics, which is, I

:35:44. > :35:50.think, what some of my colleagues are experiencing. On that basis,

:35:50. > :35:55.Kirsty, you are an IT contractor. You are out there in the world of

:35:55. > :36:00.business, and the message that they are sending out, it is about the

:36:00. > :36:06.future. Is the future bleak, or is it sunny uplands? I think what

:36:06. > :36:11.we're going to see, Jo, is a message of, we need some hope.

:36:11. > :36:17.Everyone knows we are in a tough situation at the moment. I don't

:36:17. > :36:21.think anyone is dispuelting that. - - disputing that. The messages we

:36:21. > :36:31.are getting through from the Government are certainly they are

:36:31. > :36:35.

:36:35. > :36:40.taking the hard choices. They... If we had not had an emergency Budget,

:36:40. > :36:45.for instance coming in last year, we were in serious danger of going

:36:45. > :36:50.the same way as Greece, Ireland and some of these other economies. So,

:36:50. > :36:56.it's not comfortable for anyone. Frankly, the Government are looking

:36:56. > :37:00.after us. They are looking after our future now. OK, David you left

:37:00. > :37:04.the party in 1997, when Tony Blair came into Government. You didn't go

:37:04. > :37:10.to Labour, but you left the Conservative Party. You came back

:37:10. > :37:14.when David Cameron come in 2005. Has he done a good job? Has he

:37:14. > :37:21.stuck to the sort of manifesto you wanted? I think he's done a

:37:21. > :37:26.fantastic job. I seriously mean that. I've been in the party in and

:37:26. > :37:30.out for 40 years. I think the party is in better heart than I have

:37:30. > :37:35.known it. Why? It's the energy. it younger? It is younger. There

:37:35. > :37:39.are fewer here. You can see empty seats in that auditorium. That is

:37:39. > :37:44.not very encouraging, is it? people who are here are younger and

:37:44. > :37:48.more energy yet tick than ever. I am very impressed with the people I

:37:48. > :37:52.have met here. On that basis, if they are younger, are they

:37:52. > :37:55.representing, as you said, across the society? Is everybody being

:37:55. > :38:00.made to feel welcome in the Conservative Party? We heard

:38:00. > :38:04.earlier from one of the sketchwriters that some of the more

:38:04. > :38:09.traditional Tories are not here in the numbers they used to be. Has

:38:09. > :38:11.the party changed? All parties will change just as society changes.

:38:11. > :38:17.Political parties have to reflect society. Of course there are going

:38:17. > :38:22.to be, as you have rightly said, younger delegates here, possibly

:38:22. > :38:26.for the first time, people who have come to politics through a

:38:26. > :38:29.difficult previous Government and want to sea change. They are here

:38:29. > :38:33.in order to participate rather than perhaps purely vote. They want to

:38:33. > :38:37.engage with the party. They want to take part. It's through that that

:38:37. > :38:42.you will sea change and the whole of society will be represented.

:38:42. > :38:47.What about people struggling with their finances? I am sure you all

:38:47. > :38:52.have experience, yeert yourselves or other people. How dif -- either

:38:52. > :38:57.yourselves or other people? How difficult is it out there? From a

:38:57. > :39:01.personal perspective and talking to my constituents the biggest concern

:39:01. > :39:07.people have is planning for the future. Financial planning?

:39:07. > :39:13.Absolutely. Are they spending? would like to hear something in

:39:13. > :39:18.David Cameron's speech today to tell us what he's going to do.

:39:18. > :39:22.People are very worried about pensions and the general market.

:39:22. > :39:26.But I, as I said previously, I think there's a recognition,

:39:26. > :39:30.certainly from people I speak to that decisions have had to be taken

:39:30. > :39:34.and they were tough decisions. I think the Government, this

:39:34. > :39:38.Government, has the strength and the courage to take those decisions.

:39:38. > :39:44.With the Liberal Democrats, of course. Are you pleased with the

:39:44. > :39:48.coalition? Yes, very pleased. Because they are having a good

:39:48. > :39:53.influence? That is right. My concern right now is housing. I am

:39:53. > :39:57.a landlord. I see house from the inside. I think the Government,

:39:57. > :40:01.aided by the Liberal Democrats, will do something to help first-

:40:01. > :40:05.time buyers, they have to. The market is frozen at the moment.

:40:05. > :40:12.That's what I'm looking for. What about building houses? They have

:40:12. > :40:15.made a play about the planning laws. Do you agree that it is being

:40:15. > :40:19.geared more towards economic development than it is towards

:40:19. > :40:22.saving the countryside? That has been said. The fact is with a

:40:22. > :40:26.frozen housing market, it doesn't matter how many they propose to

:40:26. > :40:32.build. They won't do it because there are no sales at the moment.

:40:32. > :40:35.And that would be key for you? Absolutely. You are a doctor, what

:40:35. > :40:38.did you think about the NHS reforms? Do you think they are in

:40:38. > :40:42.better shape now because of what the Liberal Democrats say they

:40:43. > :40:47.actually did in terms of a pause, do you support them or think they

:40:47. > :40:52.should have gone quicker, faster and, you know, in a way that the

:40:52. > :40:57.Tories initially wanted? I am speaking as an individual rather

:40:57. > :41:01.than as a doctor. Clinical medicine and politics are two separate

:41:01. > :41:07.things. Because there has been a pause, I think the NHS needs to

:41:07. > :41:10.progress. If we don't amove forward.... Do you support GP

:41:10. > :41:15.commissioning? There'll be lots of things which could benefit from

:41:15. > :41:19.that. There'll be a step by step process. Possibly there will be

:41:19. > :41:23.teething troubles in certain areas. Certainly I think the Government

:41:24. > :41:28.have worked with doctors in order to try and get the very best

:41:28. > :41:32.outcomes. So many did not support it. What about some of the

:41:32. > :41:37.patients? Do you think they feel reassured by these savings which

:41:37. > :41:41.have to be made to the budget? Savings will be essential. They are

:41:41. > :41:49.not arbitrary. Unfortunately we have a very, very difficult

:41:49. > :41:53.financial situation, and the NHS is one of the most expensive calls

:41:53. > :41:57.upon finances. Basically I think people are more aware and patients

:41:57. > :42:01.are more aware that money has to come from somewhere. I think,

:42:01. > :42:05.although some people are afraid that commissioning might, this

:42:05. > :42:07.might be a completely new area of commissioning, others feel they may

:42:08. > :42:12.get a better service because they have a personal relationship with

:42:12. > :42:17.their GPs and this could be a very positive outcome.

:42:17. > :42:22.Thank you very much. We will see you after the speech, if there is

:42:22. > :42:26.time for reaction, depending on how long it goes on for. Back to you,

:42:26. > :42:33.Andrew. Thanks, Jo. We are waiting to know

:42:33. > :42:36.when the speech will start. We're told it might start around 2.50pm,

:42:36. > :42:40.which is later than the original start time we were given. I would

:42:41. > :42:46.like to make a point and say they are probably drafting it after all

:42:46. > :42:50.the changes. I don't think they are. I have a copy of the speech here. I

:42:50. > :42:56.could get things underway by reading it out myself, but that is

:42:56. > :43:02.a way to get your P45. Nick Robinson is with us. He and I will

:43:02. > :43:05.talk for Britain.... In alternative words. This week.... You have

:43:05. > :43:08.broken the embargo. They are watching videos in there. They are

:43:08. > :43:12.getting the audience warmed up in time for the speech. Slightly

:43:12. > :43:15.surprised to see a lot of empty seats at the back of this hall?

:43:15. > :43:18.am surprised. Normally there are people who come especially for this

:43:18. > :43:22.day, even if they have not been here for the whole of the

:43:22. > :43:25.conference. Normally they ensure it is full. It is not. It is a sign

:43:25. > :43:31.again of a conference, not just this, all of them actually, it

:43:31. > :43:34.feels like the idea of conferences is almost dying. They are so

:43:34. > :43:39.carefully stage-managed. They so work to ensure that controversy

:43:39. > :43:43.happens in the Fringe and in the bars and not here in front of the

:43:43. > :43:49.television cameras and microphones. It is so expensive for many people

:43:49. > :43:56.to come to city centres, as besides a seaside resort there are fewer

:43:56. > :44:02.and fewer activists and more and more people, whose profession,

:44:02. > :44:12.whether lobbyists or business people come here. The chairman of

:44:12. > :44:14.

:44:14. > :44:19.the 1922 Committee. He wanted debate and then a vote. That is why

:44:19. > :44:22.Graham Brady is chairman of the backbench committee and not in Her

:44:22. > :44:27.Majesty's Government. It is that view that will convince David

:44:27. > :44:31.Cameron he should not become a minister. No party leadership wants

:44:31. > :44:36.to wash its dirty linen in public. Of course there's a consequence to

:44:36. > :44:39.that. If it takes out the activists' involvement, the danger

:44:40. > :44:46.of course is the leadership don't hear the warnings of their own

:44:46. > :44:50.grass roots who are not merely meant to be sent out to knock on

:44:51. > :44:53.doors. They are supposed to be in touch with what the country is

:44:53. > :44:59.thinking. What will the message be from the speech today? The message

:44:59. > :45:02.he wants to have is not this mess they have got into, over whether

:45:02. > :45:07.people should pay off their credit cards or not. The message he wants

:45:07. > :45:11.is, yes, it is bleak out there. I think we'll get a starker warning

:45:12. > :45:16.about how bleak it the economically. We have heard him talking about

:45:16. > :45:20.staring down the barrel of a gun. We heard about him talking about

:45:20. > :45:24.the danger posed be I the world economy. He is likely to make a

:45:24. > :45:28.direction comparison with the banking crisis in 2008, in other

:45:28. > :45:32.words a problem not just for Britain but of a global recession.

:45:32. > :45:35.Labour will leap on that if that is what he does. They have talked

:45:35. > :45:39.about creating a "safe haven" through their policies. Now they

:45:39. > :45:43.are talking about the problem of that world recession, in which

:45:43. > :45:47.Britain might be sucked in. But the other half of his message is meant

:45:47. > :45:56.to be one, not so much of optimism, but a belief, if you like, we can,

:45:56. > :46:02.the country can, I can get you The grim economic backdrop, which

:46:02. > :46:06.has got grimmer, means that there are some things that in more normal

:46:06. > :46:12.times would have been in this speech, that are not in this speech

:46:12. > :46:15.now. All won't be prominent. Just a few weeks ago, I think if we'd had

:46:15. > :46:20.sat here and said, what do you think David Cameron would do, you

:46:20. > :46:24.would say, it has got to be about the riots. It is surely going to be

:46:24. > :46:30.about what happened on the streets of Manchester, of Britain, I should

:46:30. > :46:35.so the streets of England before the Scots correct me. It saves me a

:46:35. > :46:40.lot of e-mails! And yet, I am told there will be not much on it. There

:46:40. > :46:43.will be words about the riots, but it hasn't dominated any of the

:46:43. > :46:48.conferences in the way that all political leaders thought it would.

:46:48. > :46:54.You might have thought the conflict in Libya would be the dominant

:46:54. > :46:59.theme... Which he would regard as a success. A great triumph. It will

:46:59. > :47:04.be mentioned, but it won't dominate. The growing economic storm has

:47:04. > :47:07.taken over from everything. The sense that politicians have, that

:47:07. > :47:11.the public think they are not in touch with their concerns, that the

:47:11. > :47:15.economy is not being run in a way which works for them... Which means,

:47:15. > :47:23.interestingly, we have heard already this week, things that

:47:23. > :47:30.sound very similar to Ed Miliband boss -- et Ed Miliband's and

:47:30. > :47:34.previous stories. Their -- Tories. The hearing the concern that people

:47:34. > :47:37.don't get it, that the rules work in a way that you get something for

:47:37. > :47:42.nothing rather than something for nothing -- rather than something

:47:43. > :47:48.for something. It is going to be uncharted territory for British

:47:48. > :47:51.politics. This coalition has an agreement, which was done on the

:47:51. > :47:55.basis that the worst of the recession and the financial

:47:55. > :48:00.meltdown was over, and this is our rebuilding plan, to take us through

:48:00. > :48:05.to the election. That agreement could well turn out, in large areas,

:48:05. > :48:10.to be irrelevant, if we are just heading into another financial

:48:10. > :48:16.meltdown. It doesn't give you the prescription. In a sense, let's

:48:16. > :48:21.think of the parallel with its 2008. Alistair Darling could not say,

:48:21. > :48:25.what does it say on a manifesto about this? They literally had to

:48:25. > :48:30.make it up as they went along. You have to gather your experts in a

:48:30. > :48:35.room and say, what do we do now? The advantage, if there was one, of

:48:35. > :48:39.the crisis in 2008, many of the officials around the Prime Minister

:48:39. > :48:43.and Chancellor were the officials who were around Gordon Brown and

:48:43. > :48:49.Alistair Darling, so they have some knowledge about what to do about a

:48:49. > :48:54.banking crisis. Last night, the Ten O'Clock News lead on this crisis in

:48:54. > :48:58.a French and Belgian bank, a vast problem for that bank. But the

:48:58. > :49:03.Chancellor was about this conference, about the hotel,

:49:03. > :49:08.looking... Relaxed isn't the right word, but not panicky. It's when I

:49:08. > :49:13.suggested to him, why not, people know what to do. In other words,

:49:13. > :49:19.there is at least some sort of guide. There is some sort of

:49:19. > :49:24.blueprint. That is what happened with the Belgian bank? Absolutely.

:49:24. > :49:29.If it is a wider economic crisis, there is no script at all. The

:49:29. > :49:32.coalition would have to gather and work out what it will do, and what

:49:32. > :49:37.the Chancellor may want them to do, and whether the Liberal Democrats

:49:37. > :49:41.will sign up to it. The other thing I have noticed, they did have a

:49:41. > :49:46.plan whereby they thought that the political cycle and economic cycle

:49:46. > :49:50.would go in tandem. That they got elected in 2010, they were planning

:49:50. > :49:53.for a full five-year parliament, they would get rid of the pain in

:49:53. > :49:57.the first years, then the growth would come back, living standards

:49:57. > :50:01.would start to rise, there maybe a bit of a windfall if we sell back

:50:01. > :50:09.the banks, and we are off to the races in 2015. I think we are

:50:09. > :50:15.ripping that up now. Latest figures still show the economy growing...

:50:15. > :50:20.Growing less. If you now take the last nine months. And you add them

:50:20. > :50:25.together, you have zero growth. My point was, he will say, don't talk

:50:25. > :50:29.us into a recession, we have to be careful that we did say it has

:50:29. > :50:34.happened yet. It is deeply grim out there but we don't know the

:50:34. > :50:39.consequences for world economic growth. You are right, the politics

:50:39. > :50:44.was assumed to be, rather like Margaret Thatcher's first term,

:50:44. > :50:49.very tough, the lady is not for turning was the big speech in 1981.

:50:49. > :50:53.She contradicted the criticism of 364 economists who wrote to the

:50:53. > :50:58.papers, then she got re-elected. Some people say Labour was divided,

:50:58. > :51:02.some people say there was the Falklands factor. Another thing,

:51:02. > :51:06.people's living standards were improving. Interest rates were

:51:06. > :51:11.plummeting. She went on to win that election. The Tories who grew up in

:51:11. > :51:16.that era, they thought, it is going to be grim, but we will get out of

:51:16. > :51:19.it. In a nutshell, the fear is, we thought we had a lot of time but if

:51:19. > :51:24.it is as bad and going to get worse, because of events in Europe, we

:51:24. > :51:26.might be running out of time, even at this early stage. I think that

:51:27. > :51:31.is right, although I don't think I'm being too generous to them to

:51:31. > :51:40.say, if we are in a world economic recession, their thirst for will be,

:51:40. > :51:45.what on earth do we do -- their first thought. The whole political

:51:45. > :51:50.terms of trade change, it does not automatically fall into Labour's

:51:50. > :51:56.lap if we end up in a real crisis. Arguably, the opposite. Governments

:51:56. > :52:01.often say, and there was some truth for Gordon Brown in 2008-2009, that

:52:01. > :52:05.in a moment of crisis, the country looks for leadership, it looks to

:52:05. > :52:10.its existing leaders, and is tempted -- tempted to hold on to

:52:10. > :52:13.those for fear of something worse for that period. It doesn't

:52:13. > :52:22.necessarily help Labour at that stage. The key is whether people

:52:22. > :52:26.think the Labour Party's analysis that the government contributed to

:52:26. > :52:33.this crisis is right, and whether they think the government gains any

:52:33. > :52:37.credit or could have "a UN something worse. Were speculating

:52:37. > :52:40.about the political consequences of something in four years' time, but

:52:40. > :52:45.the Prime Minister does not know what is going out and in four days'

:52:45. > :52:50.time. The big difference between -- with 2008, Britain was at the

:52:50. > :52:54.centre of that storm. It was a banking crisis, big banks in London.

:52:54. > :53:00.Gordon Brown had an advantage, he was the chair of the G20, and he

:53:00. > :53:03.used it. He used it rather brilliantly. Even his critics would

:53:03. > :53:06.argue that would delight his policies or not, his ability to

:53:06. > :53:11.pull people together in that G20 conference in London was something

:53:11. > :53:16.he did very well. David Cameron, in that sense, and George Osborne,

:53:16. > :53:20.much more spectators. It is a crisis about the eurozone and not

:53:20. > :53:24.the British banks. They can push and argue with their colleagues,

:53:24. > :53:31.they can't actually act. The G20 that the Prime Minister will go to,

:53:31. > :53:36.the equivalent of the one in London, is in Cannes in the beginning of

:53:36. > :53:40.November and I think provided the markets don't cause some horror,

:53:40. > :53:44.that will be a key date. Chancellor has said they have to

:53:44. > :53:48.have their ducks in a row by them. Absolutely. What was striking last

:53:48. > :53:51.night, you get this very bad economic news, crashing markets in

:53:51. > :53:55.Britain and on Wall Street, then you get a European Commissioner

:53:55. > :53:59.implying that a plan is being developed. Up pops Wall Street

:53:59. > :54:06.again, it was too late for the British stock market, but Wall

:54:06. > :54:11.Street bounced up again, as if, somebody is in charge, good. That

:54:11. > :54:14.is how volatile markets are at the moment. And the economic backdrop

:54:15. > :54:18.against it put -- against which people are having to make decisions.

:54:18. > :54:22.They are showing a video about the Prime Minister going into hospitals

:54:22. > :54:25.and so on, which I suspect is the final build-up. We had a lot of

:54:25. > :54:30.young people on the stage, I guess that is to compensate for the fact

:54:30. > :54:34.there are not a lot of young people in the audience. And I think he

:54:34. > :54:40.will say his great passion is education. There are more young

:54:40. > :54:45.people at this conference than they used to be at Tory conferences --

:54:45. > :54:50.than that there used to be. It is quite a long speech, it could be up

:54:50. > :54:54.to an hour. Why do they feel the need to speak for so long? I was

:54:54. > :54:57.speaking to a speech writer last night. There are bits of the speech

:54:57. > :55:01.that are not very important for people in the hall, sometimes not

:55:01. > :55:05.important for journalists or a lot of the audience watching, but they

:55:05. > :55:09.have a value. They are sending a message, I was told, to officials

:55:09. > :55:13.in Whitehall, that the Prime Minister cares about this. Let's

:55:13. > :55:16.take an example, the big society. If that phrase were not in this

:55:16. > :55:22.speech, the message goes around that he doesn't care about it any

:55:22. > :55:25.more. So you are in a meeting as an official, and they say, we don't

:55:25. > :55:30.need to bother, it wasn't in the speech. They go through things and

:55:30. > :55:33.say, we must have a section. It works diplomatically. If there are

:55:33. > :55:37.parts of the world that a Prime Minister doesn't mention, sometimes

:55:37. > :55:41.the diplomatic immunity will say, what is going on, we thought your

:55:41. > :55:46.guide cared. There is a function, a bit like the state of the Union

:55:46. > :55:54.address. You have to show, this is what I care about, these are my

:55:54. > :55:58.priorities. To say, the boss said it matters, so it does. They are

:55:58. > :56:01.still watching a video, we are still waiting for the Prime

:56:01. > :56:07.Minister, I am puzzled as to why this should run it so late. I have

:56:07. > :56:14.no idea. We can joke about the redrafting, but they got that...

:56:14. > :56:18.was a word. It can't have taken that long. When we talk about

:56:18. > :56:23.rewriting, it did not involve any rewriting, it took a decision. Did

:56:23. > :56:26.they say, as they were, you guys have all gone mad, you are

:56:26. > :56:29.reporting that we want people to pay off their credit cards and that

:56:29. > :56:35.is not what we want. Or did they acknowledge that wasn't just a view

:56:35. > :56:39.taken by the media, but a view resonating in large parts of the

:56:39. > :56:45.country, and then saying, to show you that is not what we meant, we

:56:45. > :56:50.are changing the word. They know they are going to take a hit, he

:56:50. > :56:55.nobody likes changing words in politics, but they decided to. We

:56:55. > :57:01.can't know whether some event has happened but he feels he needs to

:57:01. > :57:11.refer to, or argue about. It is quite a good -- big change, from

:57:11. > :57:17.

:57:17. > :57:20.I think he is unlikely to mention Ed Miliband. They always say the

:57:20. > :57:24.speed should be prime-ministerial and trying to speak to the country,

:57:24. > :57:30.-- the speech should be. But I think he feels he is in politically

:57:30. > :57:35.a strong enough place to not have to Rafal -- return fire to the Lib

:57:36. > :57:39.Dem press, nor attack Labour. His problem is convincing the country

:57:39. > :57:43.he has got it. He understands the problem and he knows what to do

:57:43. > :57:50.about it. Which in a sense is why the argument over the credit card

:57:50. > :57:54.debt, a small storm in a teacup but indicative of the problem.

:57:54. > :57:57.reason it matters so much, and they didn't understand this, was it

:57:57. > :58:03.suggests that people are out of touch, they think credit cards can

:58:03. > :58:08.be paid off, when they can't. last, and the Conservative

:58:08. > :58:11.Conference... Just as well, I was about to ask you what your

:58:11. > :58:15.favourite colour was! I was going to telly about my favourite

:58:15. > :58:20.instrument! We don't need to, the Prime Minister has arrived on the

:58:20. > :58:24.stage of the Prime Minister -- the Conservative Party Conference of

:58:24. > :58:28.2011, taking the applause of this audience. It was quite a wait for

:58:29. > :58:35.him as well. At least they had some videos to watch, you only had me

:58:35. > :58:40.and Nick to listen to. Here is the This week in Manchester, this party

:58:40. > :58:45.has shown the discipline, the unity and the purpose that is the mark of

:58:45. > :58:50.a party of government. I am proud of my team, I am proud of our

:58:50. > :58:57.members, I am proud to lead this party. But most are all, I am proud

:58:57. > :59:02.of you. -- most of all. You have made this week the success I

:59:02. > :59:06.believe it has been for our party and our country. People have very

:59:06. > :59:14.clear instructions for this government. Lead us out of this

:59:15. > :59:21.economic mess, do it in a way that is fair and right, and as you do it,

:59:21. > :59:27.please build something worthwhile for us and our children. Clear

:59:27. > :59:33.instructions, clear-cut objectives, and from me, a clear understanding

:59:34. > :59:39.that in these difficult times, it is leadership we need. To get our

:59:39. > :59:44.economy moving, to get our society working. And in a year, the

:59:44. > :59:51.Olympics here, when the world will be watching us, to show everyone

:59:51. > :59:58.what Great Britain remains. But first, I want to say something to

:59:58. > :00:02.everyone in this hall. Thank you. Despite the predictions, you won

:00:02. > :00:06.elections all over our country this may, so let us hear it for those

:00:06. > :00:16.great campaigns that you fought and won.

:00:16. > :00:25.

:00:25. > :00:30.And thank you for something else, in that AV referendum, you did

:00:30. > :00:33.Britain a service, and you kicked that excuse for a voting system off

:00:33. > :00:43.the political agenda for a generation. So thank you for that

:00:43. > :00:50.too. APPLAUSE

:00:50. > :01:00.And next year, let us make sure we beat Ken, we back Boris and we keep

:01:00. > :01:00.

:01:00. > :01:06.London Conservative. APPLAUSE

:01:06. > :01:13.But you're not just winners, you are doers. This summer, as before,

:01:13. > :01:16.Conservatives went to Rwanda, to build classrooms, to help grow

:01:16. > :01:20.businesses, social action, that is the spirit of the modern

:01:20. > :01:25.Conservative Party. Here, at this conference, we've been recording

:01:25. > :01:31.audio books for the blind. Now, I looked very carefully at the books

:01:31. > :01:41.that my colleagues choose. George knew exactly what he wanted.

:01:41. > :01:49.He went straipbgt for The -- straight for The Man Who Would Be

:01:49. > :01:57.King. Boris missed out. He choose - The Joy Of Cycling. There was a

:01:57. > :02:05.book I choose. I said, Ken, this is Crime and Punishment and I want you

:02:05. > :02:13.to read it twice!" after yesterday we should have a group reading of

:02:13. > :02:16.Mog, the Cat. If you read that book, you will remember that Mog helps

:02:16. > :02:26.police catch the burglar, not keep him in the country.

:02:26. > :02:31.APPLAUSE This is a party, and ours is a

:02:31. > :02:37.country that never walks on by. Earlier this year, some people said

:02:37. > :02:43.to me, Libya, that is not our concern. Don't start what you can't

:02:43. > :02:48.finish. Some people even said to me, "Arab, they don't do democracy." If

:02:48. > :02:50.we had stood aside this spring people in Benghazi would have been

:02:50. > :02:55.massacred. Don't let anyone say that this wasn't in our national

:02:55. > :03:00.interest. We remember what Gaddafi did. He

:03:01. > :03:05.was the man who gave Semtex to the IRA. He was behind the shooting of

:03:05. > :03:10.a London police officer. He was responsible for the bombing of a

:03:10. > :03:12.skies over Lockerbie. I say, let us be proud of what we did to help the

:03:12. > :03:22.Libyan people take back their country.

:03:22. > :03:26.

:03:26. > :03:36.APPLAUSE In Afghanistan today, there are men

:03:36. > :03:39.and women fighting for Britain, as brave -- bravely as any in our

:03:39. > :03:45.country. They come from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland. They

:03:45. > :03:49.have the equipment they need and we are on target to bring them home.

:03:49. > :03:55.Theirs has been a campaign of incredible sacrifice. I know

:03:55. > :03:59.everyone in this hall will want to send a message to everyone who

:03:59. > :04:05.serves and has served, to those in uniform, in our armed services and

:04:05. > :04:09.in our police. And for those not in uniform who keep us safe from

:04:09. > :04:19.terrorism on our streets. We thank you, we salute you. We are proud of

:04:19. > :04:22.

:04:22. > :04:26.what you do for our country. APPLAUSE

:04:26. > :04:32.But leadership in the world is about moral strength as much as

:04:32. > :04:36.about military might. A few months ago, I was in Nigeria, on a trade

:04:36. > :04:42.mission. While I was there, I visited a vaccination clinic. It's

:04:42. > :04:47.an experience I will never forget. It was very hot, basic, the lights

:04:47. > :04:51.kept going on and off to. The rows of women cuddling their babies this

:04:51. > :04:55.place was a God send. One of the nurses told me that if it wasn't

:04:55. > :05:00.for British aid, many of those beautiful babies would be dead.

:05:00. > :05:04.In four years' time, this country will have helped vaccinate more of

:05:04. > :05:08.the world's poorest children than there are people in the whole of

:05:08. > :05:12.England. Of course we will make sure your money goes to people who

:05:12. > :05:15.need it most. We will do it in a way that is transparent and

:05:15. > :05:19.accountable. I really believe, that in spite of all our difficulties,

:05:19. > :05:24.this is the right thing to do. It is a mark of our country and our

:05:24. > :05:26.people that we never turn our backs on the world's poorest. I believe

:05:26. > :05:36.everyone in Britain can be proud of that fact.

:05:36. > :05:41.

:05:41. > :05:45.APPLAUSE Leadership in tackling tyranny,

:05:45. > :05:49.leadership in fighting poverty. When it came to that decision, to

:05:49. > :05:52.help the Libyan people, there was something dispiriting about the

:05:52. > :05:56.debate here in Britain. It wasn't that some people thought we

:05:56. > :06:00.shouldn't do what we did, that is their right. That is a point of

:06:00. > :06:03.view. It was that so many people actually

:06:04. > :06:07.thought Britain couldn't do something like that any more. You

:06:07. > :06:11.hear that kind of pessimism, about our economic future, our social

:06:11. > :06:16.problems, our political system, that our best days are behind us

:06:16. > :06:20.that we're on a path of certain decline. Well, I'm here to tell you

:06:20. > :06:24.that simply isn't true. Of course, if we sit around and hope for the

:06:24. > :06:27.best, the rest will leave us behind. If we fool ourselves that we can

:06:27. > :06:31.grow our economy, mend our society, give our children the future we

:06:31. > :06:36.want them to have, if we fool ourselvess that we can do these

:06:36. > :06:39.things without effort, without correcting past mistakes, without

:06:39. > :06:43.confronting vested interests and failed ideas, then no, we'll not

:06:43. > :06:46.get anywhere. If we put in the effort. If we correct the mistakes

:06:46. > :06:50.f we correct the vested interests and take on the failed ideas of the

:06:50. > :06:56.past, then I know we can turn this ship around.

:06:56. > :07:00.No-one wants false optimism. I will never pretend there are short-cuts

:07:00. > :07:04.to success. Success will come with the right

:07:04. > :07:09.ideas, the right approach, the right leadership. Leadership from

:07:09. > :07:13.Government to set out the direction we must take and the choices we

:07:13. > :07:17.must make, but leadership also from you.

:07:17. > :07:22.The things that will deliver success are not politicians or

:07:22. > :07:27.Government, it is the people of Britain and the spirit of Britain.

:07:27. > :07:32.Some people say that to succeed in this world we need to be more like

:07:32. > :07:40.India or China or Brazil. I say, we need to be more like us.

:07:40. > :07:43.The real us. Hard-working, pioneering, creative,

:07:43. > :07:47.optimistic, can-do. That is the spirit that has made this United

:07:47. > :07:51.Kingdom what it is - a small country that does great things. One

:07:51. > :07:57.of the most incredible success stories in the history of the world.

:07:57. > :08:04.It's a spirit that I believe is alive and well today.

:08:04. > :08:09.I see it in Tanya Sydney Roberts, the head teacher who started a free

:08:09. > :08:13.school from scratch and it is four times over subscribed. What is her

:08:13. > :08:18.ambition? To do it all over again. That is leadership. I see it in GPs

:08:18. > :08:23.in Bexley who have taken control of their budgets. They have their

:08:23. > :08:28.patients, some poorest in the country, free treatment in Harley

:08:28. > :08:33.Street, on the NHS. That is leadership. I see it in all we saw

:08:33. > :08:38.this summer. Dan Thomas, he watched the riots unfold on television. He

:08:38. > :08:44.didn't sit there and think, "I'll just leave it for the council to

:08:44. > :08:47.clear it up. "he got on the internet, he set out a call and

:08:47. > :08:51.started a social movement. People picked up their brooms and re-

:08:51. > :08:55.claimed the streets. The argument I want to make today is this -

:08:55. > :08:59.leadership works. I know how tough things are.

:08:59. > :09:03.I don't for one minute underestimate how worried people

:09:03. > :09:09.feel, whether about making ends meet or the state of the world

:09:09. > :09:12.economy. The truth is, right now, we need to be energised, not

:09:12. > :09:17.paralysed by gloom and fear. Half the world is booming. Let's go and

:09:17. > :09:21.sell to them. Many of our communities are thriefing. Let's

:09:21. > :09:26.make the rest like them. There is so much great about our country. We

:09:26. > :09:29.don't have to accept that success in this century automatically

:09:29. > :09:35.belongs to others. We just have to remember the origin

:09:35. > :09:45.of our achievements, the people of Britain taking a lead.

:09:45. > :09:49.

:09:49. > :09:52.That is why much... APPLAUSE That is why so much of my

:09:52. > :09:56.leadership is about unleashing your leadership.

:09:56. > :10:00.Giving everyone who wants it the chance to seize the opportunity,

:10:01. > :10:03.the support and above all, the freedom to get things done and

:10:03. > :10:08.giving everyone who wants to believe it, the confidence that

:10:08. > :10:11.working hard and taking responsibility will be rewarded,

:10:11. > :10:16.not punished. Let us reject the pessimism.

:10:16. > :10:19.Let us bring on the can-do optimism. Let us summon the energy and

:10:20. > :10:29.appetite to fight for a better future for our country, Great

:10:30. > :10:31.

:10:31. > :10:35.Britain. APPLAUSE

:10:35. > :10:41.Now, of course, that starts with our economy.

:10:41. > :10:47.As we meet here in Manchester, the threat to the world economy and to

:10:47. > :10:51.Britain is as serious as in 2008, when world recession loomed. The

:10:51. > :10:55.eurozone is in crisis. The French and the German economies

:10:55. > :11:01.have slowed to a standstill. Even mighty America is questioned

:11:01. > :11:06.about her debts. It is an anxious time.

:11:06. > :11:12.Prices and bills keep going up. Petrol, electricity, the weekly

:11:12. > :11:16.shop. On the news, it's job losses, cutbacks, closures. You think about

:11:16. > :11:20.tuition fees, house prices, the cost of a deposit. You wonder how

:11:20. > :11:26.our children are going to manage. Now, of course Government can help.

:11:26. > :11:30.This one is. We've cut petrol duty. We've kept

:11:30. > :11:34.the winter fuel allowance, cold weather payments. We have frozen

:11:34. > :11:44.council tax this year. As George said on Monday, we'll freeze it all

:11:44. > :11:45.

:11:45. > :11:51.over again next year too. APPLAUSE

:11:51. > :11:54.But we need to tell the truth about the overall economic situation.

:11:54. > :11:58.People understand that when the economy goes into recession, times

:11:58. > :12:01.get tough. But normally after a while things

:12:01. > :12:06.pick up. Strong growth returns. People get

:12:06. > :12:13.back into work. This time, it's not like that.

:12:13. > :12:18.People want to know why the good times are so long in coming. The

:12:18. > :12:24.answer is straightforward, but uncomfortable. This wasn't a normal

:12:24. > :12:29.recession, it was a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing

:12:29. > :12:33.by individuals, banks, businesses and most of all by Governments.

:12:33. > :12:37.When you're in a debt crisis, some of the normal things that

:12:37. > :12:42.Governments can do to deal with a normal recession, like borrowing to

:12:42. > :12:46.cut taxes, or increasing spending - these things won't work because

:12:46. > :12:50.they lead to more debt which would make the crisis worse. Why? Because

:12:50. > :12:55.it takes risks of higher interest rates, less confidence and the

:12:55. > :12:59.threat of even higher taxes in future. The only way out of a debt

:12:59. > :13:04.crisis is to deal with your debts. That's why households are paying

:13:04. > :13:07.down the credit card and the store card bills. It means banks getting

:13:08. > :13:12.their books in order. It means Governments, Governments all over

:13:12. > :13:17.the world, cutting spending and living within their means.

:13:17. > :13:21.This coalition Government, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats,

:13:21. > :13:25.Nick Clegg and I, we've led the way here in Britain.

:13:25. > :13:31.Our plan is right. Our plan will work.

:13:31. > :13:35.I know that you can't see it or feel it right now, but think of it

:13:35. > :13:38.like this, the new economy we're building, it is like building a

:13:38. > :13:43.house. The most important part is the part

:13:43. > :13:48.you can't see. The foundations.

:13:48. > :13:53.Slowly, but surely we are laying solid foundations for a stronger

:13:53. > :14:03.future. The vital point is this; if you

:14:03. > :14:07.

:14:07. > :14:11.don't stick with it, it won't work. There's something else... APPLAUSE

:14:11. > :14:15.There's something else that we have to stick to, because we're not in

:14:15. > :14:20.the euro, we can lay these foundations ourselves, on our own

:14:20. > :14:23.terms, in our own way. So, let me say this, as long as I'm Prime

:14:23. > :14:33.Minister, this country will never join the euro.

:14:33. > :14:41.

:14:41. > :14:46.APPLAUSE And I won't let us be sucked into

:14:46. > :14:50.endless bail outs of countries that are in the euro either. Yes, we are

:14:50. > :14:55.members of the IMF and we have responsibilities there. When it

:14:55. > :15:05.comes to any euro bail out mechanism, my approach is simple -

:15:05. > :15:09.

:15:09. > :15:13.Labour got us into it and I am Of course, our Hall deficit-

:15:13. > :15:19.reduction programme is really just one big bear out of the last

:15:19. > :15:23.government -- Hall a deficit. -- one big bale out. We have been

:15:23. > :15:26.subjected to a national apology Tour. Sorry for sucking up to

:15:26. > :15:30.Gaddafi, for not regulating the banks probably for crushing civil

:15:30. > :15:34.liberties, for failing to go green, for not building enough houses.

:15:34. > :15:37.Sorry for the infighting that made it the most dysfunctional

:15:37. > :15:41.government in the history of our country. But you know what, nothing.

:15:41. > :15:51.Not a peep on the thing they really need to say sorry for. Wasting

:15:51. > :15:59.

:15:59. > :16:04.billions and billions of your money. You know what the Shadow Chancellor,

:16:04. > :16:13.Ed Balls, said last week? That Labour didn't spend any more money

:16:13. > :16:19.than they had available. Hello? Ed, you spend �428 billion more than

:16:19. > :16:23.you had available. And there is only one conclusion you can draw

:16:24. > :16:33.from this. We must never, ever, let these people anyway India our

:16:33. > :16:43.economy ever again. For faith -- let these people anywhere near or

:16:43. > :16:47.

:16:47. > :16:53.our economy ever again. As before, it falls to asked to

:16:53. > :16:57.clear up after a Labour government. -- it falls to ask. I have insisted

:16:57. > :17:01.that we do it in a way that is fair. You can't cut the deficit the size

:17:01. > :17:07.of ours without asking everyone to make a sacrifice, but those with

:17:07. > :17:11.the most money are bearing the biggest burden. We have imposed a

:17:11. > :17:16.permanent levy on the banks, we have raised taxes on people who

:17:16. > :17:21.make their money overseas but to live here, and at the same time, we

:17:21. > :17:25.have given will help to the poorest and most vulnerable. We are taking

:17:25. > :17:30.it over a million of the lowest paid people out of tax or

:17:30. > :17:35.altogether, and after the scandal of the 75p raised for pensions, we

:17:35. > :17:39.are linking pensions to earnings so elderly people will be �10,000

:17:39. > :17:49.better off in their retirement. Yes, this is a One nation deficit-

:17:49. > :17:54.

:17:54. > :17:59.reduction plan from a one nation He and my friends, there is

:17:59. > :18:04.something else that we, the Conservatives, have done. The

:18:04. > :18:09.National Health Service is the most precious institution in our country.

:18:09. > :18:14.The most precious institution to my family, to your family. At the last

:18:14. > :18:19.election, it was Labour policy to cut the NHS. It was Liberal

:18:19. > :18:23.Democrat policy to cut the NHS. It was our policy, Conservative policy,

:18:23. > :18:27.to protect the NHS and spend more on it than this year, next year,

:18:27. > :18:37.and the year after that, because we are the party of the NHS, and as

:18:37. > :18:43.

:18:43. > :18:49.long as I am here, that is the way But real fairness, will fairness

:18:49. > :18:53.isn't just about what the state spends. It is about the link

:18:53. > :18:57.between what you put in and get out. As we debate what people get from

:18:57. > :19:01.the state, let us remember how we generate the taxes in the first

:19:01. > :19:09.place. So to the unions planning to strike over public sector pensions,

:19:09. > :19:14.I say this. You have every right to protest, but our population is

:19:14. > :19:18.ageing, our public sector pension system is unaffordable, the only

:19:18. > :19:24.way to give public sector workers a decent, sustainable pension system,

:19:24. > :19:29.which I want to, and to do right by the taxpayer, is to ask public

:19:29. > :19:34.servants to work a little longer and pay a little more. That is fair.

:19:34. > :19:44.What is not fair, what is not right, is going on strike and hitting the

:19:44. > :19:57.

:19:57. > :20:03.very people that are helping to pay Dealing with our debts, that is

:20:03. > :20:07.just line one, caused one of our plan for growth. We need jobs. We

:20:07. > :20:12.are not going to get jobs by growing government, we need to grow

:20:12. > :20:16.our businesses. So here is our growth plan. It is to do everything

:20:16. > :20:20.we can to help businesses start to grow, to thrive and succeed. Where

:20:20. > :20:24.that means backing off, cutting regulation, we will do that. Where

:20:24. > :20:28.that means intervention and investment, we will intervene, we

:20:28. > :20:33.will invest. Whatever it takes to help our businesses take on the

:20:33. > :20:37.world, we will do it. The global economy has been transformed in

:20:37. > :20:42.recent years. It used to take companies decades to become world

:20:42. > :20:47.leaders. Now some of them do it in just a few years. When you step off

:20:47. > :20:52.the plane in Delhi, or Shanghai, or Lagos, you can feel the energy, the

:20:52. > :20:58.hunger, the drive to succeed. We need that here. There is too much,

:20:58. > :21:03.frankly, can't do soggy mess around. We need to be a sharp, focused, can

:21:03. > :21:08.do country. Let me say this. As we go for growth, the last thing I

:21:08. > :21:12.want is to pump the old economy back up with a banking sector out

:21:12. > :21:17.of control, manufacturing squeezed and prosperity confined to justify

:21:17. > :21:23.parts of the country, and a few industries. Our plan is to build

:21:23. > :21:27.something new, and to build something better. We can do it.

:21:27. > :21:33.Look at what is happening in East London. Europe's financial capital

:21:33. > :21:43.is now matched by Europe's technology capital. Facebook, Intel,

:21:43. > :21:48.Google, Cisco, even Silicon Valley Bank. Our potential and investing

:21:48. > :21:53.right here. The world's most famous digger, the JCB, made in

:21:53. > :21:56.Staffordshire. Do you watch Formula 1? Ken does. Whether it is the

:21:56. > :21:59.German Michael Schumacher, the Australian Mark Webber, what the

:21:59. > :22:09.Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, they will have one thing in common. When

:22:09. > :22:16.

:22:16. > :22:22.they get into that car, it is made This is the new economy we must

:22:22. > :22:26.build, leading an advanced technology, Life Sciences,

:22:26. > :22:31.engineering, creating, exporting. It is easy to talk about these

:22:31. > :22:36.things, it is more difficult to deliver them. For a start, you will

:22:36. > :22:40.not deliver it, I just dividing industries into saints and sinners.

:22:40. > :22:44.That is not just an insult to the financial insurance companies, the

:22:44. > :22:47.accountancy firms, the professional services that make us billions of

:22:47. > :22:51.pounds and employ millions of people. It is just much too

:22:51. > :22:55.simplistic. I have always argued, we need businesses to be more

:22:55. > :23:00.socially responsible. But to get proper growth, to rebalance our

:23:00. > :23:03.economy, we have got to put some important new pieces into place. We

:23:03. > :23:07.have got to take action now to get credit flowing to the small

:23:07. > :23:11.businesses that are the engine of our economy. We have got to ring-

:23:11. > :23:15.fence the banks so that they fulfil their role of landing safely to the

:23:15. > :23:19.real economy. We are setting up technology and innovation centres,

:23:19. > :23:22.where scientists and academics can work with entrepreneurs to turn

:23:22. > :23:25.brilliant inventions into successful products. We have

:23:25. > :23:30.reformed taxation to encourage enterprise and investment in the

:23:30. > :23:34.high-growth firms. But we are also going to have to take some

:23:34. > :23:39.controversial decisions, and to challenge some vested interests.

:23:39. > :23:43.When firms need to adapt quickly, to win orders, to win the contract,

:23:43. > :23:49.we cannot go on with the rigid, outdated employment legislation of

:23:49. > :23:54.the past. I know the critics will say, what about workers' rights? We

:23:54. > :24:04.mustn't forget the important worker right or all, the right to have a

:24:04. > :24:15.

:24:15. > :24:19.When in modern business you are quick or dead, it is hopeless that

:24:20. > :24:23.our infrastructure lags so far behind Europe. That is why we need

:24:23. > :24:26.to build a high-speed rail and we need to get the fastest broadband

:24:27. > :24:32.network in Europe as well. When a balanced economy needs workers with

:24:32. > :24:35.skills, we need to put an end to the old slobbery about vocational

:24:35. > :24:39.education and training -- old snobbery. This government is

:24:39. > :24:44.providing training for an extra 250,000 apprenticeships across this

:24:44. > :24:48.Parliament, but we're not getting enough back from big business. So

:24:48. > :24:52.here is a direct appeal. If you want skilled employees, we will

:24:52. > :24:56.provide the funding, we will cut the red tape, but you have got to

:24:56. > :25:06.show the leadership and give us the apprenticeships this country so

:25:06. > :25:10.

:25:10. > :25:16.badly needs. Unlocking growth, rebalancing our

:25:16. > :25:20.economy, it also requires change in Brussels. The EU is the biggest

:25:20. > :25:25.single market in the world, it has got amazing potential, but it is

:25:25. > :25:35.not working properly. Almost every day, I see. This new regulation

:25:35. > :25:38.

:25:38. > :25:42.coming our way. A couple of weeks I came across this EU directive. Do

:25:42. > :25:47.you know what it was about? Whether people with diabetes should be

:25:47. > :25:53.allowed to drive. What an earth has this got to do with the single

:25:53. > :25:57.market. Do you suppose anyone in China is thinking, I know what will

:25:57. > :26:02.grow iconic, let's get those diabetics off the road. Europe has

:26:02. > :26:06.got to wake up and the EU growth plan that I have published, that I

:26:06. > :26:13.want to publish at every meeting, every council, every summer, that

:26:13. > :26:19.is the alarm call that Russell needs -- Brussels needs. Our

:26:19. > :26:24.businesses need the space to go -- grow, Mick literally our -

:26:24. > :26:28.literally. It is hard to blame local people for imposing local

:26:28. > :26:32.developments -- opposing local developments when we get so little

:26:32. > :26:35.of the benefits. We are changing that. If a new manufacturing plant

:26:35. > :26:40.is billed in your area, your council will keep the business

:26:40. > :26:46.rates. -- built in your area. This is a low-cost plan for a localised

:26:46. > :26:50.party. -- local list plan. People are worried about what this means

:26:50. > :26:54.for consolation. I love our countryside and would never do

:26:54. > :27:02.anything to put it at risk. But we have got to get the balance right.

:27:02. > :27:07.The proportion of land in England that is currently built up his 9%.

:27:07. > :27:11.Our - is 9%. There are businesses desperate to expand to thousands of

:27:11. > :27:19.people but are stuck in the mud of are planning system. We are going

:27:19. > :27:23.To those who oppose everything we do, my message is this. Take your

:27:23. > :27:33.arguments down to the Jobcentre, because we are going to get Britain

:27:33. > :27:39.

:27:39. > :27:44.back to work. This new economy we are building,

:27:44. > :27:47.it must be an economy for everyone. You know the real tragedy of

:27:47. > :27:52.Labour's economy? It is not just that it was unsustainable,

:27:52. > :27:57.unbalanced, overwhelmed with dead, it is that it left so many people

:27:57. > :28:02.behind. They talked a lot about opportunity, but they ripped the

:28:02. > :28:06.ladders of opportunity away. We had an education system that left

:28:06. > :28:11.hundreds of thousands on prepared for work. We had a welfare system

:28:11. > :28:20.that trapped thousands in its dependency. We had an immigration

:28:20. > :28:24.system that brought migrant workers to do the jobs we were not paying

:28:24. > :28:29.those on welfare to do. We had a government, oh boy did we have a

:28:29. > :28:32.government, that creamed the taxes off the boom to splurge back into

:28:32. > :28:37.the benefits, redoubling the failure all over again. Labour, who

:28:37. > :28:40.tell us they care so much about fairness and justice, who say they

:28:40. > :28:45.want to hit the rich and help the poor, Labour gave us the casino

:28:45. > :28:50.economy and the welfare society. Who is going to lift the poorest

:28:50. > :28:54.up? Who is going to get our young people back to work? Who is going

:28:54. > :28:58.to create a fairer society? Not you, the self-righteous Labour Party, it

:28:58. > :29:03.will be asked, the Conservatives, who built the economy that works

:29:03. > :29:13.for everyone and gives hope to everyone in our economy. -- in our

:29:13. > :29:23.

:29:23. > :29:30.country. That must start with a good

:29:30. > :29:36.education for everybody. It sounds so simple. Proper teaching, good

:29:36. > :29:40.discipline, rigorous exams, but it is hard. It is hard, because our

:29:40. > :29:44.education system has been effected by an ideology that instead of

:29:44. > :29:53.insisting on every child's success, as too often made excuses for

:29:53. > :29:58.failure. They say that poor kids Will in this community you can't

:29:58. > :30:04.expect too much, you really must understand. I do understand. Oh,

:30:04. > :30:08.yes, I understand. But believe me, I am disgusted by the idea that we

:30:09. > :30:18.should aim for any less for a child from a poor background and a rich

:30:19. > :30:28.

:30:28. > :30:33.APPLAUSE I have contempt for the notion that we should accept narrow

:30:33. > :30:39.horizons for a black child than a white one. It is the age-old irony

:30:39. > :30:49.of the liberal left. They practise oppression and they call it

:30:49. > :30:49.

:30:50. > :30:55.equality. So we... APPLAUSE So we are fighting back.

:30:55. > :30:59.Something really massive is happening in our country. There is

:30:59. > :31:03.now a irrefruitable proof that with the right schools, right freedoms

:31:03. > :31:08.and leadership, we can transform the education of the most deprived

:31:08. > :31:11.children. You heard yesterday from that inspirational student from

:31:11. > :31:18.Burlington Danes Academy in Hammersmith.

:31:18. > :31:23.An InterCity school, deprived area, almost half of the children on free

:31:24. > :31:28.school meals. But this year five- quarters got five good gstgss,

:31:28. > :31:32.including English and -- gsts, including English and maths. That

:31:32. > :31:38.is better than schools in Cambridgeshire, Sussex got last

:31:38. > :31:41.year. Some of the most affluent counties in our country. Why?

:31:41. > :31:47.Because the head teacher, her staff, the parents, they all rose up and

:31:47. > :31:57.said, "We are as good as anyone. Our children can achieve anything."

:31:57. > :32:00.

:32:00. > :32:04.Leadership works and we'll make it work in all of our schools.

:32:04. > :32:08.APPLAUSE We're backing more head teachers to turn more schools into

:32:08. > :32:12.academies. We want charities, entrepreneurs to come into our

:32:12. > :32:16.education system and set up the new free schools too. Change is really

:32:16. > :32:26.underway. For the first time in a long time, the numbers studying

:32:26. > :32:33.those core and vital subjects, history, geography are going up.

:32:33. > :32:37.Exams will be marked on grammar. Teachers will be able to search

:32:37. > :32:44.bags, for weapons, alcohol, anything. It is a long road back to

:32:44. > :32:51.rigour, but my friends, we are well on our way.

:32:51. > :32:57.APPLAUSE And here is something else we're

:32:57. > :33:03.going to do, in Britain today we do have a group of schools that are

:33:03. > :33:07.utterly intolerant of failure, where 90% of pupils get five good

:33:07. > :33:12.GCSEs, yes, private schools. You've heard me talk about social

:33:12. > :33:18.responsibility. I want to see private schools start academies and

:33:18. > :33:21.sponsor akam mis in the state system. Wellington does it Dulwich

:33:21. > :33:25.does it, others can do. The apartheid between private and state

:33:25. > :33:30.education is one of the biggest wasted opportunities in our country

:33:30. > :33:40.today. Let it be us, the Conservative Party, who helped to

:33:40. > :33:42.

:33:42. > :33:47.tear it down. APPLAUSE

:33:47. > :33:49.Rigour back in learning, standards back in schools, teachers back in

:33:49. > :33:59.control - the Conservatives are back in Government.

:33:59. > :34:01.

:34:01. > :34:04.APPLAUSE An economy that works for everyone

:34:04. > :34:09.means sorting out welfare and immigration as well. Welfare began

:34:09. > :34:13.as a lifeline. For too many it has become a way of life. Generation

:34:13. > :34:17.after generation, in the cycle of dependency and we are determined to

:34:17. > :34:22.break it. Part of our answer is controlling immigration.

:34:22. > :34:27.So, we put a cap on the numbers of none EU immigrants allowed to come

:34:27. > :34:31.and work in our country. We must not lock out talent. I want the

:34:31. > :34:36.best and brightest, entrepreneurs, students and scientists from around

:34:36. > :34:40.the world to get the red-carpet treatment and they will. The fake

:34:40. > :34:43.marriages, people arriving for a month and staying for year, the

:34:43. > :34:48.criminals who use the Human Rights Act to try and stay in the country,

:34:48. > :34:55.we are clamping down on each and every one of them.

:34:55. > :34:58.APPLAUSE We've got to get some sense back

:34:58. > :35:03.into our labour market and get British people back into work.

:35:03. > :35:08.Now, for years, you have been conned by Governments.

:35:08. > :35:13.To keep the unemployment figures down, they parked as many people as

:35:13. > :35:17.possible on to the sick - 2.5 million, to be exact. Not

:35:17. > :35:23.officially unemployed, but claiming welfare, no real questions asked.

:35:23. > :35:27.Today, we're asking those questions. It turns out that of the 1.3

:35:27. > :35:32.million people who have put in a claim for the new sickness benefit

:35:32. > :35:35.in recent years, one million are either able to work, or stop their

:35:35. > :35:38.claim before their medical assessment had been completed.

:35:38. > :35:42.Under Labour, they got something for nothing.

:35:42. > :35:47.With us, they will only get something if they give something.

:35:47. > :35:51.If they are prepared to work, we're going to help them and I mean

:35:51. > :35:55.really help them. If you've been out of work and on benefits for

:35:55. > :35:59.five years, a quick session down the Jobcentre, some help with your

:35:59. > :36:05.CV, that is not going to cut it. That will not help you. You need to

:36:05. > :36:07.get your self-esteem and confidence back. You need training and skills,

:36:07. > :36:11.intensive support. Previous Governments will never willing to

:36:11. > :36:15.make a proper commitment. Were never willing to sign the necessary

:36:15. > :36:20.cheque to get this done. Never willing to break the Treasury rules

:36:20. > :36:25.to make it happen. We have. We have invested now so we don't pay later.

:36:25. > :36:31.We are going to spend up to �14,000 on individual people, just to get

:36:31. > :36:37.them trained and back into work. I know that is a lot of money, but

:36:37. > :36:41.it is worth it. Let it be us, let it be this Government, let it be

:36:41. > :36:51.the Conservatives that finally build an economy where no-one gets

:36:51. > :36:52.

:36:52. > :36:55.left behind. APPLAUSE

:36:55. > :37:00.And for most people, for most people, that means also a home of

:37:00. > :37:08.their own. Not just any old home, but a decent

:37:08. > :37:12.one, light and spacious. Rooms for the kids to play in. The percentage

:37:12. > :37:16.of British people who own their own home is going down. Unless you get

:37:16. > :37:22.help from your parents, do you know the average age of a first-time

:37:23. > :37:28.buyer in our country today? It is Now, you hear some people say, well,

:37:28. > :37:32.why can't we be like in Europe where everyone rents? There is

:37:32. > :37:35.nothing to do, we don't have the money. I disagree. The failure of

:37:35. > :37:39.the housing market is bound newspaper the debt crisis. Because

:37:39. > :37:43.the lenders won't lend, the builders won't build and the buyers

:37:43. > :37:51.can't buy, we are going to sort this out. We're going to bring back

:37:51. > :37:57.the right buy your council house. We'll use that money to build new

:37:57. > :38:01.homes. It was Macmillan who made us the home owning democracy. Margaret

:38:01. > :38:11.Thatcher what gave us the right to buy. Let us inspire a new Tory

:38:11. > :38:13.

:38:14. > :38:17.housing revolution. APPLAUSE

:38:18. > :38:23.And while I'm on the subject of those great Conservative figures,

:38:24. > :38:30.let me say this, I'm incredibly fortunate in leading this party

:38:30. > :38:34.that I've had the full-throated, incredible support from all our

:38:34. > :38:38.previous leaders. Michael Howard, Sir John Major and of course

:38:38. > :38:43.Margaret Thatcher. And you know what, in this party we don't boo

:38:43. > :38:47.our leaders, we are proud of what they've done fosh our party and

:38:47. > :38:57.what they've -- for our party and what they've done for our country.

:38:57. > :39:15.

:39:15. > :39:21.A few months ago, we were all shocked by the scenes on our

:39:21. > :39:26.streets, in London and in other parts of the country. Perhaps

:39:26. > :39:30.almost the most shocking thing is that people weren't that surprised.

:39:30. > :39:35.There was no great call for a public inquiry to find out what has

:39:35. > :39:40.gone wrong. Instead, what I think you could hear was the angry

:39:40. > :39:45.insistent, overwhelming cry of a country shouting to its leaders. We

:39:45. > :39:49.know, we know high this happened. We know what has gone wrong.

:39:49. > :39:54.We know that if the system keeps fudging the difference between

:39:54. > :39:57.right and wrong we'll never improve behaviour. We know as long as the

:39:57. > :40:01.police go around with their hand behind their back we will never

:40:01. > :40:03.make our streets truly safe. More than anything, we know that if

:40:03. > :40:09.parents don't meet their responsibilities, their kids will

:40:09. > :40:14.get out of control. What people were saying to us is,

:40:15. > :40:19."Yes, we know what has gone wrong and we want you to put it right."

:40:19. > :40:23.One of the things that people want is speedy justice.

:40:23. > :40:26.After the riots, those responsible were put straight into court and

:40:26. > :40:31.tough sentences were quickly handed out.

:40:31. > :40:34.I've made it clear to the police, the prosecution services, the

:40:34. > :40:37.Ministry of Justice, the Attorney- General f we can do that then, let

:40:37. > :40:47.us do it all the time, year in, year out.

:40:47. > :40:50.

:40:50. > :40:54.APPLAUSE We all know that the problems go

:40:54. > :40:57.deeper. That is why my driving mission in

:40:57. > :41:02.politics is to build that bigger, stronger society.

:41:02. > :41:05.It starts with families. I want to make this the most

:41:05. > :41:08.family-friendly Government the country has ever seen.

:41:09. > :41:13.More childcare, more health visitors, more relationship support,

:41:13. > :41:16.more help with parenting. For the 120,000 families that are the most

:41:16. > :41:20.troubled, and frankly cause the most trouble, a commitment to turn

:41:20. > :41:27.their lives around by the end of this Parliament.

:41:27. > :41:33.Today, I can announce this; another new focus.

:41:33. > :41:39.There are 65,000 children in care. Do you know how many children there

:41:39. > :41:44.are in care under the age of one? 3,660.

:41:44. > :41:50.To you know how many children under the age of one are adopted in our

:41:50. > :41:54.country last year? 60. This may not seem like the biggest

:41:54. > :41:58.issue facing our country, but it is the biggest issue for these

:41:58. > :42:05.children. How can we have let this happen? We have got people flying

:42:05. > :42:07.all over the world to adopt babies, while the care system at home

:42:07. > :42:11.agonises about placing black children with white families. With

:42:11. > :42:15.the right values w the right effort, let us be the ones that end this

:42:15. > :42:25.scandal and help these, the most vulnerable children of all.

:42:25. > :42:36.

:42:36. > :42:41.But for me, leadership on families also means speaking out on marriage.

:42:41. > :42:45.Marriage is not just a piece of paper, it pulls people together

:42:45. > :42:50.through the ebb and flow of life. It says powerful things about what

:42:50. > :42:53.we value. So, yes, we will recognise marriage and the tax

:42:53. > :42:58.system. While also doing something else.

:42:58. > :43:01.I stood before a Conservative conference once and I said it

:43:01. > :43:04.shouldn't matter whether commitment was between a man and a woman or a

:43:04. > :43:10.man and a man, or a woman and a woman.

:43:10. > :43:15.You applauded me. Five years on, we are consulting on

:43:15. > :43:21.legalising gay marriage. To anyone who has reservations, I say this,

:43:21. > :43:24.yes, it's about equality, but it's also about something else -

:43:24. > :43:28.commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us, that

:43:28. > :43:33.society is stronger when we make vows to each other and we support

:43:33. > :43:35.each other. So, I don't support gay marriage in spite of being a

:43:35. > :43:45.Conservative, I support gay marriage because I am a

:43:45. > :43:54.

:43:54. > :43:59.Conservative. We value community spirit and

:43:59. > :44:02.social action too. We see it every day in our own lives, in our own

:44:02. > :44:05.communities. It is one of the great things about Britain. Do you know

:44:06. > :44:09.what? After the last five years of Labour Government the number of

:44:09. > :44:12.people volunteering went down. Last year the decline was halted. Now

:44:12. > :44:16.the proportion of people saying they belong strongly to their

:44:16. > :44:21.neighbourhood is the highest for a decade.

:44:21. > :44:26.If you're cynical, go to Wythenshawe, a few miles from here.

:44:26. > :44:30.It used to be ravaged by crime and drugs and graffiti. Local people

:44:30. > :44:34.opened a community hall, a gym. They got the kids off the street.

:44:34. > :44:36.They kicked out the drug habit and the drug dealers. Of course

:44:36. > :44:40.Government cannot legislate for this, but we can support the

:44:40. > :44:44.leadership that makes it happen. That is why we're giving

:44:44. > :44:48.neighbourhoods new powers to take over the running of playgrounds,

:44:48. > :44:54.pubs and parks. It is why we're making it easier for people to give

:44:54. > :44:57.their time and money to good causes. Why we have elected mayors. Now

:44:57. > :45:03.we're drawing up plans to open up our public services and give more

:45:03. > :45:09.power to people. But one of the biggest things holding people back

:45:09. > :45:13.from playing a part in biging a bigger society is health and safety.

:45:13. > :45:18.I was told recently about a school that wanted to buy a set of high-

:45:18. > :45:24.lighter pens. With the pens came a warning. Not

:45:24. > :45:29.so fast, make sure you comply with the control of substances hazardous

:45:29. > :45:33.of health regulations 2002. Make sure you include plenty of fresh

:45:33. > :45:39.air and hand and eye protection. You try highlighting with all of

:45:39. > :45:46.that! This wasn't how a great nation was built. Britannia didn't

:45:46. > :45:50.rule the waves with her armbands on. We're scaling it back. The CBR

:45:51. > :46:00.checks, we're cutting them back. At last, let's bring some common sense

:46:01. > :46:03.

:46:03. > :46:06.Building stronger communities, that is why we introduced National

:46:06. > :46:11.Citizen Service. You saw it for yourself at the start of this

:46:11. > :46:17.afternoon's session. One of the people who took part this year,

:46:17. > :46:21.Owen Carter, wrote to me and said, this has changed my perspective of

:46:21. > :46:25.life. You can do anything if you work hard and have a supportive

:46:26. > :46:30.team around you. You can do anything. That is the spirit I am

:46:30. > :46:34.talking about. That is why we are tripling the scale of National

:46:34. > :46:41.Citizen Service, that is how we will build our big society, and

:46:41. > :46:45.that his leadership. Next year, we are going to welcome the world for

:46:46. > :46:51.the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. This two event say

:46:52. > :46:55.a lot about Britain. Tradition and modernity, all in one. Today, we

:46:55. > :46:59.can choose to be a country that is back on its feet and striding

:46:59. > :47:03.forward. Paying down our debt and earning a living, getting people

:47:03. > :47:07.off welfare and into work, breaking new ground in education with

:47:07. > :47:11.excellence for Everyone and not a privileged few. We can be a country

:47:11. > :47:15.where people look back on their life and say, I have worked hard,

:47:15. > :47:20.raised a family, I am part of a community and all along it was

:47:20. > :47:24.worth my while. We are too far from that today, but we can get there.

:47:24. > :47:27.It is not complicated but it is not easy either, because nothing

:47:27. > :47:33.worthwhile is easily won. But we have been told we were finished

:47:34. > :47:38.before. They told us when we lost an empire, we couldn't find a role,

:47:38. > :47:41.but we took on communism, we help bring down the Berlin Wall. They

:47:41. > :47:45.called our economy the sick man of Europe but we turned this country

:47:45. > :47:49.into a beacon of enterprise. No, Britain never had the biggest

:47:49. > :47:53.population, the largest land mass, the richest resources, but we had

:47:53. > :47:59.the spirit. It is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the

:47:59. > :48:09.size of the fight in the dock. Overcoming challenge. Confounding

:48:09. > :48:11.

:48:11. > :48:16.the sceptics, reinventing ourselves. That is what we do, it is called

:48:16. > :48:19.leadership. Let this time of challenge be turned into a time of

:48:19. > :48:22.opportunity. Not sitting around watching things happen and

:48:22. > :48:27.wondering why, but standing up, making things happen and asking,

:48:28. > :48:31.why not? We have the ideas, we have the people, and now we have the

:48:31. > :48:34.government that is freeing these people, backing those ideas. Let's

:48:34. > :48:42.see an optimistic future, let's show the world some fight, let's

:48:42. > :48:51.pull together, work together and lead Britain to better days ahead.

:48:51. > :48:55.STUDIO: David Cameron finishes his address to the Conservative Party

:48:55. > :49:02.Conference of 2011. He gets the immediate, almost statutory

:49:02. > :49:07.standing ovation. Walking around the stage now, taking the applause.

:49:07. > :49:14.He said the debt crisis was different from previous crises. And

:49:14. > :49:18.that is why this situation seems soaked in a tractable. --

:49:18. > :49:22.intractable. There was no mention of Ed Miliband. There had been a

:49:22. > :49:27.debate about whether he should or not. He settled for attacking Ed

:49:27. > :49:30.Balls instead, that always goes down well at a Tory conference. He

:49:30. > :49:35.attacked Labour for creating a casino economy and their welfare

:49:35. > :49:40.society. He talked a lot about school reform, he regards that as

:49:40. > :49:46.part of the success for radical Tory reforms he is introducing, and

:49:46. > :49:51.well fat, too. He also added the need for a new Tory revolution --

:49:52. > :49:56.and welfare, too. So far, it seems to involve re- instituting the

:49:56. > :50:00.right to buy. Mr Cameron, making his way through the conference hall,

:50:00. > :50:05.taking the handshakes and applause of the party faithful. Looking at

:50:05. > :50:09.some of the early media reaction, I would not say that the media on the

:50:09. > :50:15.left or right are regarding this as his finest conference performance.

:50:15. > :50:20.Quite a lot of criticism on the various tweets and from various

:50:20. > :50:25.press commentators. Instant reactions are not always the ones

:50:25. > :50:30.that stay with people in the end. It has been a relatively subdued

:50:30. > :50:35.Conservative conference this year. Even this standing ovation is, by

:50:35. > :50:39.Tory standards, quite subdued as well. It is as if they are going

:50:39. > :50:44.through the motions. Mr Cameron looks a little tired, these are

:50:44. > :50:47.difficult times. He didn't do well on the international scene and the

:50:47. > :50:52.incredible the difficult international economic position

:50:52. > :50:56.that Britain finds itself in -- he didn't dwell on. We hope to be

:50:56. > :51:06.speaking to William Hague shortly. But me go to Johan Fredriksen, who

:51:06. > :51:07.

:51:07. > :51:12.will get some reaction of her own. Your first impression, what did you

:51:12. > :51:19.think? I was interested to find out he is putting such emphasis on

:51:19. > :51:23.improving people's ability to volunteer. I am passionate about

:51:23. > :51:28.volunteering and I feel that makes participation and integration into

:51:28. > :51:32.society, and it makes people respect themselves and society as a

:51:32. > :51:37.greater whole. Helping each other and the community is very important.

:51:37. > :51:42.He did a whole section, he started with Libya, and really dedicated

:51:42. > :51:52.the first bit of his speech to leadership. What did you think of

:51:52. > :51:54.

:51:54. > :51:58.that? Excellent. David Cameron has an absolute Formula there. It is

:51:59. > :52:04.not... We are not about looking to others all the time to take

:52:04. > :52:07.responsibility. It is about taking responsibility ourselves, and I

:52:07. > :52:15.think that is the message David Cameron was putting out. What about

:52:15. > :52:21.you, David? Terribly impressed. I think he shows an instinct that is

:52:21. > :52:28.really important for this country. Any policy that grab you? No, the

:52:28. > :52:32.policy that was missing before was housing. I am so sorry. We have

:52:32. > :52:36.almost come to the end of our programme. I'm going to have to

:52:36. > :52:42.thank you all, thank you for rushing out, David, particularly,

:52:42. > :52:47.and I will return to Andrew. Thanks, we have William Hague, he

:52:47. > :52:52.has hot-footed it from the conference, welcomed. Thank you.

:52:52. > :52:55.Last year, the Prime Minister told us the British economy was out of

:52:55. > :53:01.the danger zone. Would it be fair to say we are back in the dangers

:53:01. > :53:05.own? No. Are triple-A credit rating was maintained this week, at a time

:53:05. > :53:10.when in other countries, credit ratings of banks and countries were

:53:10. > :53:15.being reduced I think it is fair to say that the global economic danger

:53:15. > :53:22.zone has been enlarged, but I think it would be the wrong attitude to

:53:22. > :53:26.say we are back in the danger zone. If there is a disorderly default in

:53:26. > :53:30.Greece, and the eurozone proves incapable of putting into place the

:53:30. > :53:35.necessary measures to stop the contagion, we will be swept up in

:53:35. > :53:39.that. Virtually the entire western world would be affected by that

:53:39. > :53:44.very seriously. I have often used the analogy of the burning building

:53:44. > :53:48.with no exits, but we have to support them in quenching the fire.

:53:48. > :53:51.That is what George Osborne is engaged in and he was at the

:53:51. > :53:55.finance ministers' meeting in Luxembourg last week. He has been

:53:55. > :54:02.producing some of the ideas, as well as urging them before the

:54:02. > :54:06.Cannes summit and the G20 summit, to take the necessary action. Of

:54:06. > :54:10.course it involves recapitalising the banks, making sure that the

:54:10. > :54:14.eurozone countries work closely together. If a building is burning

:54:14. > :54:18.and there is no exits, how do you put the fire out? You have to use

:54:18. > :54:23.all the resources you have got in there. You can't get the hoses in,

:54:23. > :54:28.how do you get in? It may be taking the matter for a bit too far.

:54:28. > :54:34.your metaphor. There is a serious point, there is no provision for

:54:34. > :54:38.countries to leave the euro. The eurozone is a symptom of the wider

:54:38. > :54:42.problem of debt and deficits in Western nations. Because of the

:54:42. > :54:45.eurozone is not well designed, it really shows that pressure, but it

:54:45. > :54:49.applies in the United States as well. The deficits have been too

:54:49. > :54:55.great. It applies in this country. We are dealing with that. You have

:54:55. > :54:58.seen the Prime Minister, a man who really gives the necessary

:54:58. > :55:05.leadership in dealing with it. can't give leadership to the

:55:05. > :55:10.eurozone, we are not part of it. Unlike the banking crisis in 2008,

:55:10. > :55:15.where because of London's position, we were a central part of that, we

:55:15. > :55:18.are spectators, or at best, sensible critics from the sideline.

:55:18. > :55:23.We are a bit more than that. Hopefully we are sensible critics,

:55:23. > :55:27.we are a bit more than spectators. It does involve us, and we are one

:55:27. > :55:35.of the principal players in subscribing to the International

:55:35. > :55:40.Monetary Fund. No Euro bail-outs, you said. No, but if the IMF takes

:55:40. > :55:45.action, Britain is part of that. We have since Crick -- increased our

:55:45. > :55:48.subscription to the IMF accordingly. As such a big player in the

:55:48. > :55:58.financial world, what the Chancellor says to Britain is taken

:55:58. > :55:59.

:55:59. > :56:03.very seriously. It has turned out as of today that the economy is not

:56:03. > :56:07.growing. There has been no growth for nine months. Over the last year,

:56:07. > :56:11.the economy has grown. When ministers have told us the economy

:56:11. > :56:17.is growing, it turned out they were wrong. This economy, as of now, is

:56:17. > :56:22.not growing. We don't have the figures for now. We have them for

:56:22. > :56:28.the nine months to the summer. Those figures come out in the so --

:56:28. > :56:31.the future. Are you expecting them to be growing? I am sorry, over the

:56:31. > :56:34.last year, this economy has not grown, it has not grown since the

:56:34. > :56:38.end of the third quarter of last year. These figures have been

:56:38. > :56:42.revised but there has still been growth in the economy. Of course we

:56:42. > :56:45.want the economy to grow more strongly, and that is what so many

:56:46. > :56:51.of these measures are about. Look at the housing announcement that

:56:51. > :56:55.the Prime Minister referred to. 200,000 more homes, 400,000 new

:56:55. > :57:02.jobs. These are the sort of announcement necessary to help the

:57:02. > :57:07.growth, which is no, anaemic, or of expression you want to use. --

:57:07. > :57:17.which is low, Andy Nicol what ever expression you want to use. It is

:57:17. > :57:18.

:57:18. > :57:23.The government is adding half a trillion pounds to its debt. One of

:57:23. > :57:28.the things we are doing is bringing government debt under control.

:57:28. > :57:33.are increasing it. It is going up because of the inheritance that we

:57:33. > :57:38.have got. Everybody has agreed that what George Osborne has announced

:57:38. > :57:42.brings down the deficit. Debt is heading for almost 1.5 trillion.

:57:42. > :57:46.That is the total stock of debt. Why do you get to borrow more and

:57:46. > :57:53.we are told to pay off credit cards? We don't have to borrow more.

:57:53. > :58:00.You are borrowing more. We are saving �85 billion from government

:58:00. > :58:03.spending, so the stock of debt will not be going up as quickly as it

:58:03. > :58:06.would on the previous plans. We are not telling people what to do with

:58:06. > :58:11.their credit cards. The Prime Minister said in his speech, people

:58:11. > :58:14.have been playing down their credit card bills. Of course, an economy

:58:14. > :58:17.that is vulnerable to high levels of debt on the personal level,

:58:17. > :58:22.company level, bank level, government level, is very

:58:22. > :58:30.vulnerable in this situation. Subdued conference, a bit worried?

:58:30. > :58:34.No, I think this is a confident The fact that the biggest argument

:58:34. > :58:39.has been over a cat shows it has been pretty successful. The party

:58:39. > :58:43.is confident but realistic. Realistic but optimistic. A

:58:43. > :58:48.realistic but optimistic speech. Thank you for being with us. That

:58:48. > :58:52.brings to an end are live coverage of the conference season on 2011 on