09/10/2012 Today at Conference

Good evening and welcome back to Birmingham for more highlights from

the Conservative Party Conference. After being mobbed on arrival last

night, Boris Johnson took centre stage in the Symphony Hall today,

careful to support the Prime Minister, but characteristically

happy to please the crowds. Elsewhere, some of the Cabinet's

heaviest hitters addressed conference. New Conference darling,

Chris Grayling, outlined bash a burglar and two strikes and you're

out policies. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, and Education

Secretary, Michael Gove, took the stage and the new Health Secretary,

Jeremy Hunt. Political journalists like me don't normally get caught

up in media scrums, but that's exactly what happened last night

when Boris Johnson arrived in Birmingham. A pack of TV cameras

and photographers descended on the mayor of London and have been

following him ever since. He, of course, has enjoyed every moment,

but overall he has been on good behaviour, vowing to help David

Cameron win a second term and talking up his record in London.

you can win in the middle of a recession and wipe out a 17 point

Labour lead then I know that David Cameron will win in 2015 when the

economy... APPLAUSE

He has got to be here somewhere. Where is Dave? There. There you are,

Dave. I know that Dave will win in 2015 when the economy has turn

around and we are already seeing signs of progress. When people are

benefiting from jobs and growth and the firm leadership you have shown.

The tough decision you have taken, not least coming along to hear this

speech today. Happy birthday by the way. Happy birthday by the way and

I was pleased... APPLAUSE

I was pleased to see that you have called me a blond haired mop in the

pages of the - well a pop is what I am. If I am a mop, Dave you are a

broom. A a broom that is cleaning up the mess left by the Labour

Government and a fantastic job and I con I congratulate you and your

colleagues gooUrnings George Osborne, the dustpan and Michael

Gove the jay cloth. To clear things up after the Labour binge has got

out of control. If we continue to invest in

transport, in London and thereby, to drive jobs around the country.

If we continue to build what I call the platform for growth, better

education, safer streets, more housing, better transport

infrastructure then the private sector will produce amazing and

world beating results on that platform and you have got to see

what is happening in London at the moment. It is stunning. Go and see,

you will see young Londoners in oddly shaped spectacles devicing

apps which I barely understand, but which allow teenagers in Ohio to

watch movies on their Xbox, but we are devicing the apps that enable

them to do so and the money comes to London. The same point can be

made about Soho. You go to Soho and you find young people coming up

with programmes - steady! LAUGHTER

That's no longer true of Soho as I'm sure, as I am sure the many

Westminster Councilors here will testify. Instead of the antiquated

impression of Soho you will find dynamic young people working in the

film industry, yes! LAUGHTER

You will find dynamic young people working in the Hollywood film

industry. Or should I say, or should I say the so-called

Hollywood film industry? Because what they are doing is they are

using powerful computer graphics to make those so-called Hollywood

movies and they are being made in London and the revenue is coming to

London and to this country and let me tell you when they eat cake on

the Champs Elysees, they eat cake very often that is made in London.

LAUGHTER It is true. When they watch

gangland-style on their television ins Korea as they do. The Prime

Minister and I danced gang-land- style the other day. They watch it

on on TVs with the use of aerials made in London in Wandsworth. It is

true. The Dutch ride bicycles made in London. The Brazilians use

mosquito repelant made in London. Every chocolate hobnob in the world

is in aid in London! -- is made in London! It is true!

APPLAUSE We export everything from ballet

shoe to say badger hair shaving brushes. Now the badgers are killed,

I have no idea. As I look ahead, I am filled with confidence about our

capital and the future of people glowing up in London. -- growing up

in London. We are going to sort out our aviation capacity problem in

London, but we will not build a third runway. We will create new

river crossings, we did one already. In the twinkle of an eye we built

the first river crossing in 50 years. We will continue to expand

cycle hire and to plant thousands of trees and all the things that

butify London. We have -- beautyify London. We have the right time zone.

The right language. We have got 300 of the right languages. It would be

good if you speak English. We have got the right language and what

else have have we got? We have got the right Government in Westminster.

We have got the right Government in Westminster.

APPLAUSE And we will fight, we will fight

and I will fight to keep it there. To keep it there and just as we

fought, we all all fought together this year to keep London from

lurching back into the grip of taxpayer funded swilling tax

minimisers and car hating bendy bus fetishes I will fight, I will fight,

I will fight, I will join you in the fight to keep this country from

lurching back into the grip of the two Eds, Balls and Miliband.

Unreformed and unprependant about what they did to the economy and

for the deficit they racked up and we need to go forward now from the

age of excess under Labour through the age of austerity towards a new

age of enterprise when we do what we did during the Olympics. When we

discovered so much about what we can do and we build a world beating

plait fortunately for -- platform for Britain and for businesses to

compete and to win and we need to do it now and we need to start here

under the Conservatives. Thank you very much indeed.

APPLAUSE Boris Johnson speaking earlier. So

do party members see Boris not just as their joker in chief, but also

as their great white hope for the future as a possible successor to

David Cameron? Adam Fleming took his mood box round conference to

find out. Well, there is no indication David Cameron is going

anywhere, but if the Tories did need a new leader, who would they

turn to, Boris or anyone but Boris? Probably Boris.

Why is that? He has got a great personality and people like him.

Our first Boris fan! It is going to have to be Boris. He

has a lot of ideas and is very popular.

Go for it. Fair enough. He did do that thing

about Hillsborough, the article about Hillsborough so it would have

to be anyone, but. Boris' past is coming back to haunt

him. He is not a Statesman, he is a

fabulous person for the party, but I can't see him being a Statesman.

Well, he has got everything. He has got honesty, he keeps the crowds,

he makes us all happy. Yes, Boris. Thank you very much.

He thinks we're on about Boris Yeltsin!

We are promoting the vodka party which is on Tuesday evening.

English, not good. That old ambassador's trick. I must

practise. Practise my Russian. Practise my Russian more.

He is not actually Russian. He is Turkish.

Yes, he is Turkish. You have similar hair to him. Are you part

of the family? I could be. It is not anyone, but Boris. I am a

fan of the Hague Mark II. Future leader, someone else.

I would vote for Grant, but if it were between Grant or anyone, but

Boris, then I would back Boris. Boris or anyone, but. Oh, she

doesn't like Boris. Well, I just just popped into the

exhibition hall because I hear somebody has stolen our idea. Look

at this! Oh well, back to the less exciting

balls. Who do you have as a future leader,

Boris or anyone but? All I can say is that Boris is a

wonderful man to work for and I enjoy what I do for him enormously.

Boris, you have a fair few detractors, but quite a few people

are happy to have you as a future leader of the party if something

should happen to David Cameron. You are cheeky and appealing to

people's basic nature by doing this. It is entertaining, but I bet you

haven't had one MP put anything in there.

Actually, that's the best review I have had.

You should be flattered. But it wasn't all just Borismania

at the Conference today. If the morning was fun and games, the

afternoon was crime and punishment with the Justice Secretary, Chris

Grayling, and first, the Home Secretary, Theresa May. Like you, I

spent a lot of Saturdays knocking on doors and one of the issues that

comes up most often is immigration. Maybe that's why Ed Miliband gave a

speech recently and told us that it is not racist to worry about

immigration. Well, thank you, Ed. We knew that.

LAUGHTER But it is not what the Labour Party

used to say. And we won't take you seriously until you say sorry and

admit immigration is too high and support us in bringing it under

control. APPLAUSE

And by the way, Labour knew exactly what they were doing. According to

Jon Cruddas, Labour were using migration to introduce a covert

21st century incomes policy. That's right. Labour, the party of the of

the working man and woman, admit that they deliberately used

immigration to keep down British wages. So we will reduce and

control immigration. Our most transformtive change will take

place next month. On Thursday, 15th November, everybody living in

England and Wales, outside London, will have the right to vote for a

police and crime commissioner. These are important jobs and big

elections. The commissioners will lead the fight against crime in

their communities and they will have significant powers. They will

be responsible for setting police budgets and deciding how much the

public pays for policing through council tax. They will be able to

hire and if necessary, fire the Chief Constable. They will set the

policing plan for their area and they will hold the chief constable

to hold for delivering that plan and cutting crime. But the

commissioners will be important figures, because their mandate from

the public will allow them to get things done and giving the public a

real voice. If the police and the local council aren't working

together to deal with problems like noisy neighbours, the commissioner

will be able to bring them together. If the police need more support

from local Health Services to deal with offending by drug addicts, the

commissioner will be able to make sure they get it. And I can

announce today, an important new duty on police and crime

commissioners, to make sure that victims have a greater say in the

punishment of people responsible for anti-social behaviour. We will

change the law. So when a criminal receives an out of court community

punishment, the victim will be given the power to choose the form

it takes. They will be given a list of options. They might want

something restorative or punitive, they might want it to be carried

out nearby or as far as way as possible, but the punishment will

be chosen by the victim. For too long, victims of crime had no no

voice, but this Government is giving victims back their voice.

APPLAUSE The most important thing about

police and crime commissioners is that they will need to stand up for

the public and cut crime and if they don't, they will be voted out

of their job. While Labour candidates use these elections to

play politics, and the Lib Dems try to make up their minds whether they

should take part, our candidates are talking about how to help their

communities by getting tough on crime. And the other important

question is - which candidates have the track records that prove they

will be able to get the job done? Conservative candidates include a

former Air Chief Marshal, several mag grates, businessmen and women

and former police officers. Looking at Labour's candidates, they seem

to think that the public are desperate for one last reunion tour

of the politicians they rejected at the last election.

APPLAUSE Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is

Prescott and the has beens coming soon to a venue near you!

Ladies and gentlemen, that public confidence issue is so important.

We cannot deliver the reforms that are so desperately needed unless

the public believe in us. And so to law abiding citizens, I want to say

we are on your side. That is why I am announcing today a change to the

law about protecting yourself and your family from intruders to your

home. None of us would really know how we would react if someone broke

into our house. None of us really know how frightening it would be if

we were confronted by a burglar in the middle of the night. Or how

terrified we would feel if we thought our family was in danger.

You might well hit out in the heat of the moment without thinking of

anything, but protecting your loved ones and right now, you are still

not sure that the law is on your side. What I think householders

acting instinctively and honestly in self-defence are victims, not

criminals and they should be treated that way.

APPLAUSE We are about to start another

important change too. It is called two strikes and you are out. So if

you commit two serious violent or sexual offences, you will get an

automatic life sentence. APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE Everyone

Everyone deserves

Everyone deserves a

Everyone deserves a second

Everyone deserves a second chance, but those who commit the most

serious offences, crimes that would attract a sentence of ten or more

years cannot be allowed to just go on and on causing harm, distress

and injury. Those people are a real threat to our society and we must

and we will treat them as such. Thirdly, I am announcing today that

we are making big changes to community sentences. So that they

deliver proper punishment in the community. Right now, large numbers

of those sentences deliver no punishment at all. We will change

that. We will legislate to make sure there is a punitive element as

part of every community order. Chris Grayling speaking earlier.

Another Cabinet Minister, new to his post, addressed Conference

earlier. It Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Andrew Lansley's

reforms, they are brave, they are right and they will make our NHS

stronger. Andrew is here. APPLAUSE

The centralised structures that have run the NHS since 1948 make it

famously the fifth largest organisation in the world. Smaller

than the Red Army, but bigger than the Indian railways. Conference, we

will never meet the challenges we face with over one million people

trying to meet 1,000 targets to satisfy one Secretary of State

sitting behind his desk in Whitehall. We know what happens

when you do that, don't we? We had the perfect case study unLabour.

48-hour GP appointment targets that made it harder, not easier to see

your GP. Billions wasted on NHS IT contracts. This year for the first

time, there are more pensioners than children. So looking to the

future, our biggest priority must be to transform what we offer to

meet the challenge of an ageing population. Fail to address this

and our healthcare system will not be sustainable for them or any of

us. If Andrew is the Health Secretary who helped give us the

structures for a modern NHS, I want to be the Health Secretary who

helped transform the culture of the system to make it the best in the

world at looking after older people. Straight after his speech, the

Health Secretary spoke to Andrew Neil. You are �12 billion figure is

a fewer propaganda figure because it doesn't take into account

inflation. This year health spending will be lucky to rise by

1% in real terms from �101.3 billion to �101.6 billion, next

year, how much will health spending rise in real terms? Well, what we

have done... No, how much? No. No. No. Let me just answer your

question if I may because you suggested it was propaganda. We

have protected the NHS budget. Labour said that it would be

irresponsible to increase the spending in the NHS. We are

increasing it, but effectively, not by a huge amount, we are protecting

the NHS budget and that's when the rest of Government spending overall,

we are cutting spending by by 19% across all Government departments.

That's a huge commitment that this Government is making to the NHS

because we know how much health matters to every family in the

country. Mr Hunt, under your own

Government's projections, health spending next year in real terms

will rise by �60 million. �60 million on a budget of �103 billion.

How much is that percentage wise? You are increasing the budget by

0.05%. It is peanuts. In the context, where there are public

spending cuts in every other Government department, it is

incredibly significant that in real terms this Government has made a

big, big choice to protect the NHS budget because we know how much it

matters and you know... But you said you would increase it every

year? And we are increasing it by... By 0.5%. Well, I think... You never

told us that. The point we are making is when we are having to

make cutbacks when countries across the world are having to make big

cuts in public spending, the one area that we have taken a choice to

protect is the NHS and that's because we think it matters to the

British people. It is a big choice. It means that other Government

departments had to have deeper cuts and it is a choice that Labour

wouldn't make. Indeed, in Wales, where Labour run the show, they

didn't make that choice and the NHS budget has been cut. If we are

going to get the outcomes that I was going to talk about this

morning, we are going to improve our survival rates from cancer for

example, from liver disease, from respiratory zosz then we --

diseases then we need to show that commitment.

Jeremy Hunt speaking to Andrew Neil. Whilst the Health Secretary is new,

the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has been in office since the

election and his reforms have made him something of an unlikely

conference darling, with his new Gareth Malone style glasses. There

is a problem at the heart of English education, a problem that

has plagued this country tor decades -- for decades and that

problem is inequality. We have one of the most Strategic Rail

Authorityified and segregated education system. In England, if

you are born poor, you are likely to go to a poor school and to stay

poor. Every year there are 600,000 children who arrive at school. Of

that 600,000, 80,000, the very poorest, are eligible for free

school meals. Of those 80,000 in the last year, of the Labour

Government, scarcely over 1,000 made it to our mainstream major

universities. Think about it. One child in 80 from an inner city

school in poverty making it to a major big City University. Think of

that waste of talent. Think of those young lives which are never

given the chance to reach their full potential. It is a scandal. It

is a reproach to all of our consciences that there are so many

young people who should never be given the chance, who are never

given the chance to go to university. And I'm pledged to end

it. How do these schools do it? Well, it is simple - they have

teachers who believe in children and put children first at all times.

That's why you will have teachers who will go the extra mile. They

will stay after the school day ends in order to provide homework or

after school clubs which stretch the mind and also in some cases,

stretch the body. They will also ensure that for those children who

need it, they will be there on a Saturday for catch-up classes. They

ensure that there is an atmosphere of strict discipline so that no

disruptive child can prevent others from learning. I have taken the

opportunity from time to time when I have been speaking to teaching

union conferences to single out these schools and to celebrate them

and say, "Why can't more schools are like them?" Afterwards I have

been taken aside by some of the union secretaries who said,

"Michael, one piece of advice, please don't single out these

successful schools. It makes the others feel uncomfortable."

LAUGHTER Now, I wonder what the trade union

General Secretarys were doing during the Olympics? Were they

hiding under the bed clothes because every time someone amazing

had their talents celebrate they were too worried that the other

people people might feel uncomfortable. How can we succeed

as a country when every time we find success and we celebrate it,

there are those who say no? Someone might feel uncomfortable. What I

feel uncomfortable about is the soft bigotry of low expectations

that lead so many to believe that so many schools schools can't be as

good as the best schools and I am determined to fight that bigotry

wherever I encounter. The general secretaries of some trade unions

are making it difficult for me. Those general secretaries are oring

their members not to cover classes where another teacher might be ill

or away for a relative's funeral. They are arguing that teachers

should give only the most basic reports once a year to every parent

about their child's progress. They are saying that teachers shouldn't

do photo copying. They are saying that teachers shouldn't put up

displays or supervise exams. They are saying that teachers shouldn't

devote themselves to children. I have a simple message to those

union general secretaries - don't let your eye eology -- ideology

hold back our children. I am grateful to those ministers who

also served alongside me for the first two years in Government. To

Tim Lawton who fought bravely for children in need and to Nick Gibb.

APPLAUSE That's all for tonight. In the

Hyatt Bar, the talk is all of Boris today and Dave tomorrow. The blond

haired mop has returned to London so he won't be here to see his

great friend Dave the Broom speak on the last day of conference.

Taking the stage will be the new Culture Secretary, Maria Miller and

the main event, the Prime Minister's big speech. After Ed

Miliband's impressive performance last week much is expected of Mr

Cameron tomorrow. George Osborne struck a sombre tone, setting out

the hard road ahead. The Prime Minister has to plain why he thinks