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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

David Cameron: we will keep our heads as Labour loses theirs - Conservative conference live

Watch highlights from David Cameron’s conference speech

Summary

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

The Jeremy Corbyn campaign Twitter account has tweeted a quote from a spokesman saying David Cameron’s attack on Corbyn is “a sure sign that he is rattled by the re-energisation of the Labour party.”

Health barely featured in David Cameron’s speech. But that has not stopped Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, tweeting this about it.

And here is reaction to the speech from two charities.

From Rachael Orr, Oxfam’s head of UK poverty

Putting the fight against poverty front and centre is hugely welcome. To address it, you have to look at the real root causes - not the symptoms - especially social and economic inequality.

From Greenpeace UK’s executive director, John Sauven

David Cameron mentioned the words ‘security’ and ‘safe’ 14 times in his speech, yet climate change, one of the biggest threats humanity is facing, got just one timid nod. The word energy wasn’t even uttered. This silence speaks volumes about a government that has no energy plan other than chipping away at ever cheaper clean technologies.

Updated

Here is some reaction to the speech from two union leaders.

From Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary

David Cameron’s legacy will be all too visible to those on low wages or who are bracing themselves for the next swing of the Conservative cuts axe, like the 3 million low-waged families about to be stripped of more than a £1,000 a year thanks to his government. If this prime minister does leave a lasting legacy, it will be that people are ‘on their own’.

From Chris Keates, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT

There was nothing which came out of the Conservative party conference to offer any comfort for the millions of children and families who have seen their public services cut drastically since 2010. Claims by the prime minister that the Conservatives are the “party of working people” will undoubtedly ring hollow with teachers as schools deal with the impact of significant real-terms cuts to their budgets.

Updated

Shelter, the housing charity, says that most of the new starter homes promised under the plans announced by David Cameron today will be unaffordable for many working families. This is from the Press Association.

The government’s new wave of starter homes will not be affordable for many ordinary working families, according to analysis by Shelter.

The plans will see a relaxation of planning rules, with the aim of helping thousands of young people in England to buy their first home.

Under the starter homes scheme, properties must be offered for sale at a discount of 20% below market rates, with a maximum price of 450,000 in London and 250,000 outside the capital. Purchasers must be first-time buyers aged under 40 and may not sell or rent out the property within the following five years.

But Shelter said that the 450,000 limit in London equates to 11.5 times the average full-time London salary, while the 250,000 limit outside London is nine times the average full-time English salary.

The charity said that average-earning families will be priced out of these new “affordable” homes in 58% of local authorities by 2020.

Here is some more reaction to the speech from Tories in the hall.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, has welcomed David Cameron’s speech. She said:

It was encouraging to hear the prime minister’s vow to deliver major prison reform and his acknowledgment that the system is currently failing. Coming hot on the heels of an impressive speech by Michael Gove yesterday, this should mark the beginning of a more intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate discussion with the public about what the criminal justice system is for.

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has issued this response to David Cameron’s speech.

The prime minister’s apparent 11th hour conversion to social justice is welcome but it will fool no one.

If you want to understand this Tory government you have to look at what they have done and not the promises of a seasoned PR man.

This, after all, is from a government that has already scrapped the child poverty target, demonised refugees, cut benefits for asylum seekers and slashed housing benefit for large families.

It is the most extraordinary chutzpah for Mr Cameron to claim to be a poverty champion at the same time he is picking the pockets of the very poorest workers by slashing their tax credits.

The prime minister might spin a decent line about prison reform too but this is from a party that banned prisoners’ reading books.

And if he was really concerned about racial discrimination he would publicly denounce his home secretary’s shameful attack on immigrants yesterday.

The Liberal Democrats welcome the prime minister’s change of tone but it has to be backed up by actions – not just easy words.

10 things we've learnt from the Conservative party conference

So, what has emerged from the last four days? Here are 10 things we’ve learnt from the Conservative conference.

1 - Senior Tories strongly believe that they have an opportunity to capture a large swathe of new voters from Labour. This is especially true of George Osborne, who is thinking harder than anyone else about how the party wins the 2020 election and who used his speech to tell Tories they must try harder to win over “working people” who “didn’t quite feel able to put their trust in us” in 2015, although, as many commentators have said (see 1.42pm), David Cameron’s speech also represented a major tank parking exercise. This marks a striking contrast with Labour’s conference, where there was almost no discussion at all about how to appeal to people who voted Tory. And Osborne’s point was not simply a rhetorical gimmick because ...

2 - The Conservatives have no shame about pinching Labour policies. Following the summer budget raid into Labour territory represented by the national living wage, the Tories have followed that up this week with the national infrastructure commission - a flagship Labour manifesto proposal, which will even be run by a Labour peer, Lord Adonis - as well as proposals for business rates decentralisation and extending parental leave to working grandparents that are largely Labour-inspired. Perhaps TS Eliot’s adage “good writers borrow, great writers steal” has been an inspiration.

3 - The Conservatives want to colonise the “common ground” - but that does not mean the party is moving left. Ministers have been told to talk about representing the common ground, not the centre ground (prompting renewed interest in Margaret Thatcher’s Keith Joseph lecture, which explained the difference) and, for all the Labourish initiatives, the Tories are very hardline in other respects. Cameron’s speech was strong on progressive rhetoric, but light on progressive policy. As for whether the Tories are moving left or right, a better description would be to say that they are “manspreading” - doing their best to take up as much space as possible.

Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson “manspreading” with George Osborne in China Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

4 - It’s too soon to write off Boris Johnson’s leadership chances. Johnson’s prospects have been on the slide ever since Cameron won a majority, but he has staged something of a comeback this week, with a remarkably well-received speech. Osborne remains the current favourite to replace Cameron, but Johnson has seen the biggest lift in his share price. Cameron has been making a particular effort to talk up Johnson (to bind him in?).

5 - But real leadership campaigning hasn’t started. There has been a lot of media talk about leadership this week, and some candidates are engaged in long-term positioning, but it is very much at the “phoney war” stage. A real leadership battle is destabilising, personal and vindictive. This week’s manoeuvrings haven’t been like that, and it’s all too early anyway. Osborne may be “ahead”, but that’s like trying to guess the winner of the 5000 meters by who’s in front after the second lap.

6 - Ukip is no longer seen as a threat to the Tories. At last year’s conference the party was reeling from the defections of Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless, and there were fears more Tory MPs could follow them. But the fact that Reckless lost his seat at the election has killed the prospect of further MPs joining Nigel Farage. Even those MPs determined to vote to leave the EU don’t want to embrace Ukip and the only Ukip reference in Cameron’s speech was a joke about Farage’s resignation.

7 - The looming EU split has been postponed. There was much talk about the EU referendum, especially on the fringe, but it never descended into open warfare. However, with figures like Theresa May and Johnson demanding restrictions on EU migration which Cameron has almost no chance of achieving, a damaging clash at the very top of the party at some point seems inevitable.

8 - The Tories do not believe in Jeremy Corbyn’s “new politics”. As a membership organisation, the party remains moribund and a review of how it operates is underway. But, given that the party won the election without a Corbyn-style influx of new members, there seems to be little interest in achieving a genuine grassroots revival. And there is certainly no support for letting registered supporters elect the party leader.

9 - We’re going to hear more than usual about defence and national security over the coming months because the Tories believe this is their best way of attacking Corbyn. Corbyn’s economic policies have also come under fire at the conference, but there seems to be some nervousness about engaging with his anti-austerity agenda. Instead Cameron and others are gleefully attacking him on matters relating to patriotism, terrorism and defence.

10 - Ed Balls may have lost his seat, but his influence - on both parties - endures. If the national infrastructure commission succeeds, the former shadow chancellor may not get the credit but he will be entitled to claim it as part of its legacy because it was so clearly his idea. Interestingly, at the Labour conference there was also a lot of Balls’ thinking in the speech from John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor (eg signing up half-heartedly to the Tories’ fiscal charter, wanting to balance the budget while borrowing to invest, focusing on growth as a deficit reduction mechanism, getting the Office for Budget Responsibility to audit Labour’s plan). But don’t expect Osborne, or McDonnell, to acknowledge their debt to someone now out of favour with both party leaderships.

Updated

Number 10 has released more details of David Cameron’s plan for madrassas to be inspected, and closed if found to be teaching extremism. (See 12.32pm.) This is from the Press Association.

Downing Street said that the new inspection regime would apply to an estimated 5,000 religious institutions offering eight or more hours of study a week to children in England, including Christian Sunday schools and Jewish yeshivas as well as up to 2,000 madrassas.

Many of these offer teaching within places of worship, but others are conducted in homes.

At present, these institutions are not required to register with the authorities and are not subject to inspection.

They will now have to register with the Department for Education, and faith groups will be consulted on the precise details of how inspections should be conducted and whether they should be carried out by schools watchdog Ofsted or another body.

A Number 10 source said that Cameron’s initiative came in response to concerns raised about some madrassas by members of the Muslim community.

The source stressed that it was expected no problems would be found with the vast majority of madrassas, but in cases where hatred was being preached, institutions could be closed down and individuals banned from working with children.

Here is some reaction to the speech from Tories in the hall.

Cameron's speech - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat

And this is what political journalists are saying about the speech on Twitter. Generally they’re impressed. Several say it reminded them of Tony Blair.

From the BBC’s James Landale

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland

From the Spectator’s Isabel Hardman

From the Evening Standard’s Pippa Crerar

From the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope

From the Telegraph’s Tim Stanley

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

From the Independent on Sunday’s John Rentoul

From the Sunday Times’ Tim Shipman

From Channel 4 News’s Michael Crick

From the Sun’s Tom Newton Dunn

From the Financial Times’s Janan Ganesh

From the Herald’s Iain Macwhirter

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

From the Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff

Four Comment is Free writers - Gary Younge, Jonathan Freedland, David Shariatmadari and Matthew d’Ancona - have posted their verdicts on the speech.

Here’s an extract from Freedland’s article.

David Cameron did exactly what Jeremy Corbyn failed to do a week ago. He reached out beyond those who already agree with him and sought to persuade those who don’t. He made a liberal case for prison reform and railed against racism, Islamophobia, stop-and-search and the gender pay gap. This wasn’t just a pitch for the centre ground, it was a pitch for the centre-left too. Cameron is calculating that, with Labour having shifted leftwards, a vast swath of terrain has been vacated – and he intends to command all of it. He wants to speak for the right, left and centre of British politics, content to leave what he would regard as the hard left – albeit a hard left now expanded and rejuvenated – to Jeremy Corbyn and Labour.

One “Blairite” Labour MP is Liz Kendall. Mark Ferguson was her communications chief during the leadership campaign. He has posted this on Twitter.

Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, has accused Cameron of talking “in platitudes”. He has put out this statement.

It may be have been a great piece of showmanship but like Corbyn, Cameron mostly talks in platitudes.

His National Crusade on housing is laughable considering this is the prime minister who has both overseen record highs of immigration, and record lows of housebuilding.

One house has to be built every seven minutes just to keep up with immigration and Britain is falling way behind that target.

On social reform, he paints the picture of a more integrated and proud society, when it is the vast influx of people overwhelming communities’ abilities to bind together.

And of course he says nothing concrete about the EU. What are these proposed renegotiations, Mr Cameron? What are you actually bringing back for Britain?

Here are some interesting Twitter comments from journalists on the speech posted as it was being delivered.

(Although, of course, Twitter and Britain are not the same, as Cameron reminded us - see 11.44am.)

Cameron's speech - Snap verdict

Cameron’s speech - Snap verdict: It was ambitious, almost giddily so. For the last five years David Cameron has been a technically proficient but essentially second-rate prime minister, lacking any sort of vision for a legacy that could put him in the historical premier league. Today he sounded like someone who had seriously thought about what he wants to achieve and he set out an attractive “one nation” prospectus, ranging into areas like poverty, prison reform and racial discrimination that rarely feature so prominently in leader speeches at the Conservative conference. If Michael Heseltine had become Tory leader, he would have sounded like this.

Yet is any of it deliverable? It also sounded like a speech that Cameron may be anxious to forget by 2020. He called for more rehabilitation in prisons, but Chris Grayling pledged the same in the last parliament when he was justice secretary and the change he proposed never materialised. Cameron promised an “all-out assault on poverty”, saying that work was the best route out of poverty, but in-work poverty has been increasing, experts expect poverty on conventional measures to go up by the end of the decade and harsh tax credit cuts are about to come into force. He also deplored the lack of social mobility in the UK, and called for more equality. But on all these issues he had little or nothing to say about the policy levers he might pull to achieve his goals, and there is a danger that he is raising hopes he will not be able to fulfil.

Technically, it was very polished. The jokes worked well - he deserves particular credit for being able to laugh off Lord Ashcroft’s biographical hit job (see 12.12pm) - and, although he had little to say about Jeremy Corbyn, the key soundbite (see 11.57am) was vicious, but probably effective.

Updated

Cameron's peroration

And here is Cameron’s peroration.

Over the next five years we will show that the deep problems in our society – they are not inevitable.

That a childhood in care doesn’t have to mean a life of struggle.

That a stint in prison doesn’t mean you’ll get out and do the same thing all over again.

That being black, or Asian, or female, or gay doesn’t mean you’ll be treated differently.

Nothing is written.

And if we’re to be the global success story of the 21st century, we need to write millions of individual success stories.

A Greater Britain – made of greater expectations…

…where renters become homeowners…

…employees become employers…

…a small island becomes an even bigger economy…

…and where extremism is defeated once and for all.

A Greater Britain…

…no more, its people dragged down or held back…

…no more, some children with their noses pressed to the window as they watch the world moving ahead without them.

No – a country raising its sights, its people reaching new heights…

…a Great British take-off – that leaves no-one behind.

That’s our dream – to help you realise your dreams.

A Greater Britain – made of greater hope, greater chances, greater security.

So let’s get out there – all of us – and let’s make it happen.

And here’s the applause - all two minutes of it:

Updated

Cameron says Britain is the 'proudest multi-racial democracy on earth'

Cameron celebrates Britain’s diversity.

And as we do that, we shouldn’t just be saying what’s wrong with these practices; we should be saying what’s right with Britain.

Freedom. Democracy. Equality. These are precious.

People fought for them – many died for them…

…in the trenches, a century ago; on the beaches, 30 years later...

…in the Suffragettes; in Gay Pride.

Half the world is crying out for these freedoms – they see what we’ve achieved with them.

Free speech – and the best literature in the world.

Freedom of religion – and many faiths living side by side, peacefully.

Free thinking – and the endless advances in medicine and technology that has brought.

A free economy – and a standard of living our grandparents could only have dreamed of.

I want my children – I want all our children – to know they’re part of something big – the proudest multi-racial democracy on earth.

Cameron says there has been too much passive tolerance of extremist practices.

For too long, we’ve been so frightened of causing offence that we haven’t looked hard enough at what is going on in our communities.

This is passive tolerance. And I’ll tell you where it leads:

To children, British children, going to Pakistan in the summer holidays, before they’ve even started their GCSEs, and forced to marry a man they’ve never met…

…children, British children, having their genitals mutilated, not just in a clinic in Lagos but the backstreets in Britain.

This passive tolerance has turned us into a less integrated country; it’s put our children in danger. It is unforgiveable.

So let me say it right here: no more passive tolerance in Britain.

We’ve passed the laws – now I want them enforced.

People who organise forced marriages – I want them prosecuted.

Parents who take their children for FGM – I want them arrested.

Cameron says madrassas in the UK to be inspected, and closed if teaching intolerance

Cameron says madrassas to be inspected.

People don’t become terrorists from a standing start.

It begins with preachers telling them that Christians and Muslims can’t live together.

It moves to people in their community saying the security services were responsible for 7/7.

It progresses to a website telling them how to wage jihad, fight in Syria, and defeat the West.

And before you know it, a young British boy, barely 17, is strapping bombs to his body and blowing himself up in Iraq.

We have to stop it at the start – stop this seed of hatred even being planted in people’s minds, let alone allowing it to grow.

Three: we need to tackle segregation.

There are parts of Britain today where you can get by without ever speaking English or meeting anyone from another culture.

Zoom in and you’ll see some institutions that actually help incubate these divisions.

Did you know, in our country, there are some children who spend several hours each day at a Madrassa?

Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether it’s at Madrassas, Sunday Schools or Jewish Yeshivas.

But in some Madrassas we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people.

These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened…

…not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate.

So I can announce this today:

If an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected.

And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down.

Updated

When I read what some young people born and brought up in this country are doing, it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Girls not much older than my eldest daughter, swapping loving family homes and straight-A futures for a life of servitude under ISIL, in a land of violence and oppression.

Boys who could do anything they wanted in Britain – who have benefitted from all this country stands for – instead ending up in the desert wielding a knife.

This ideology, this diseased view of the world, has become an epidemic – infecting minds from the mosques of Mogadishu to the bedrooms of Birmingham.

And here’s what we need to do.

One: tear up the narrative that says Muslims are persecuted and the West deserves what it gets.

Never mind that it’s Britain and America behind the biggest effort to help the victims of Syria.

Cameron says he wants to 'really confront' extremism

Cameron says, as well as addressing poverty and equality, his social reform programme wants to tackle extremism.

We need to confront – and I mean really confront – extremism.

Cameron says racial discrimination that persists in UK is 'disgraceful'

Cameron also says there must be more equality in Britain too. The racial discrimination that persists is “disgraceful”.

Do you know that in our country today: even if they have exactly the same qualifications, people with white-sounding names are nearly twice as likely to get call backs for jobs than people with ethnic-sounding names?

This is a true story.

One young black girl had to change her name to Elizabeth before she got any calls to interviews.

That, in 21st century Britain, is disgraceful.

We can talk all we want about opportunity, but it’s meaningless unless people are really judged equally.

Think about it like this.

Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a British Muslim if he walks down the street and is abused for his faith.

Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a black person constantly stopped and searched by the police because of the colour of their skin.

Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a gay person rejected for a job because of the person they love.

It doesn’t mean much to a disabled person prevented from doing what they’re good at because of who they are.

I’m a dad of two daughters – opportunity won’t mean anything to them if they grow up in a country where they get paid less because of their gender rather than how good they are at their work.

The point is this: you can’t have true opportunity without real equality.

Cameron says education reform will help tackle social mobility.

That is why I’m so passionate about academies and free schools:

Head teachers are growing in confidence as they throw off the shackles of local council control…

…raising the aspirations of children, parents, communities.

This movement is sweeping across our country.

So my next ambition is this.

500 new Free Schools.

Updated

Cameron says lack of social mobility in Britain is unacceptable

Cameron calls for more social mobility.

There’s another big social problem we need to fix.

In politicians’ speak: a “lack of social mobility”.

In normal language: people unable to rise from the bottom to the top, or even from the middle to the top, because of their background.

Listen to this: Britain has the lowest social mobility in the developed world.

Here, the salary you earn is more linked to what your father got paid than in any other major country.

I’m sorry, for us Conservatives, the party of aspiration, we cannot accept that.

Cameron promises major prison reform to improve rehabilitation

Cameron says he wants to reform the prison service, because jail also entrenches poverty.

There’s another service run by the state that all too often fails and entrenches poverty.

Prison.

Now I believe if you’ve committed a crime, punishment must follow.

And when it’s serious enough, that punishment must mean prison.

Let’s not forget, since we came to office, crime is down by a quarter.

But the system is still not working.

Half of criminals offend within a year of being released.

Nearly half go into prison with no qualifications; many come out with none either.

And all the problems that may have led them to that life – drug addiction, mental health problems, childhood abuse – remain unchanged.

We have got to get away from the sterile lock-em-up or let-em-out debate, and get smart about this.

When prisoners are in jail, we have their full attention for months at a time – so let’s treat their problems, educate them, put them to work.

When we restrict someone’s freedom outside prison, we can make sure they’re working and paying taxes, rather than spending £30,000 a year keeping them in a cell – so where it makes sense, let’s use electronic tags to help keep us safe and help people go clean.

And when our prisons are relics from the time of Dickens – it’s time to sell them off and build new ones that actually work.

This is going to be a big area of social reform in the next five years.

Cameron says social services departments that do not perform should be taken over.

Children in care are today almost guaranteed to live in poverty.

84 per cent leave school without five good GCSEs.

70 per cent of prostitutes were once in care.

And tragically, care leavers are four times more likely to commit suicide than anyone else.

These children are in our care; we, the state, are their parents – and what are we setting them up for...

…the dole, the streets, an early grave?

I tell you: this shames our country and we will put it right.

Just as we said to failing schools, “do a better job with our children or we will send new leaders in”, so we will say to poorly performing social services, “improve or be taken over”.

Cameron says 'the best route out of poverty is work'

Cameron says the best route out of poverty is work.

We know in this party that the best route out of poverty is work.

That’s why we reformed welfare, introduced the cap and helped create 2.5 million jobs.

But it’s not enough simply to have a job: work has got to pay.

Nearly two-thirds of children in poverty have parents who are in jobs. For them, work hasn’t worked.

That’s why we’ve cut taxes for the lowest paid and we’ll keep on doing that.

And from next year, we’ll take a giant leap forward.

Yes, a new National Living Wage.

Over £9 an hour by the end of the decade.

An £80-a-week pay rise for the lowest paid.

Cameron promises “an all-out assault on poverty”

Cameron promises “an all-out assault on poverty”.

Central to that is an all-out assault on poverty.

Conservatives understand that if we’re serious about solving the problem, we need to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Homes where no-one works; children growing up in chaos; addiction, mental health problems, abuse, family breakdown.

Today, a teenager sitting their GCSEs is more likely to own a smartphone than have a dad living with them.

Think of your own child, think of the day they were born; how fragile they were…

…and then think that, every day, three babies are born in Britain addicted to heroin.

We’ll never deal with poverty unless we get to grips with these issues.

Cameron says Tories will tackle 'big social problems'

Cameron says he wants to tackle big social problems.

We are not a one-trick party.

For us, economic success – that’s not the finished article.

It’s the foundation on which we can build a better society.

Our patriotism has never been simply some grand notion of ruling the waves, or riding high in the money markets…

…but a deep compulsion which says: “you make a country greater by making life better for its people.”

And today, that means entering those no-go zones, where politicians often don’t dare to venture.

It means taking on our big social problems…

...entrenched poverty, blocked opportunity, the extremism that blights our communities ......

That is what fires me up. Not pounds and pence, plans and policies, but people.

And to those who say: our social problems are too big and there’s no way you can sort them out.

I say: You said our party wouldn’t change – we have.

You said our long-term economic plan wouldn’t work – it is.

You said we wouldn’t win the election – we did.

So we are going to tackle those big social problems – just you watch us.

Cameron goes back to housing and reads out the passage with the affordable housing announcement announced overnight. See 11.23am.

Updated

Cameron says the government’s challenge is to built more homes.

And he praises Boris Johnson.

I want to single someone out. He’s served this country. He’s served this party. And there’s a huge amount more to come.

So let’s hear it for the man who for two terms has been Mayor of the greatest capital city on earth: Boris Johnson.

He says Johnson gave a brilliant speech yesterday, and talked about rugby, and being a proper. “I was a hooker,” says Cameron. And that is not a chapter from Lord Ashcroft’s biography, he jokes.

Cameron says Labour policies 'hurt the poor'.

Cameron says Labour policies “hurt the poor”.

You know what makes me most angry about Labour?

It’s not just that their arguments are wrong; it’s the self-righteous way they make them.

The deficit-deniers, who go around saying we’re hurting the poor.

Hang on a second.

Who gets hurt when governments lose control of spending and interest rates go through the roof?

Who gets hurt when you waste money on debt interest and have to cut the NHS?

Who gets hurt when taxes go up and businesses start firing rather than hiring?

No – not the rich…

…it’s poor people, working people.

Yes, the very people Labour claim to be for.

Well let’s just remember: Labour ideas don’t help the poor, they hurt the poor.

That’s right, Labour: you’re not for working people, but hurting people.

If you want a lecture about poverty, ask Labour.

If you want something done about it, come to us, the Conservatives.

Updated

Cameron mocks Richard Murphy, Corbyn's economic adviser

Cameron is back on Labour, and he mocks Richard Murphy, the tax campaigner offering advice to Jeremy Corbyn. He refers to this interview in the Guardian.

We live in a country where the main opposition party – let’s not forget, the alternative government – believes in nationalising industries without compensation, jacking up taxes to 60 per cent of people’s income, and printing money.

There’s an academic called Richard Murphy. He’s the Labour Party’s new economics guru, and the man behind their plan to print more money.

He gave an interview a few weeks ago. He was very frank. He admitted that Labour’s plan would cause a “sterling crisis”, but to be fair…

…he did add, and I quote, that it “would pass very quickly”.

Well, that’s alright then.

His book is actually called “The Joy of Tax”. I’ve read it.I took it home to show Samantha. It’s got 64 positions. And none of them work.

Cameron makes getting out of 'ever closer union' an EU priority

Cameron says getting out of “ever closer union” is a priority for his EU renegotiation.

I’m only interested in two things: Britain’s prosperity and Britain’s influence.

That’s why I’m going to fight hard in this renegotiation – so we can get a better deal and the best of both worlds.

Let me give you one example.

When we joined the European Union we were told that it was about going into a common market, rather than the goal that some had for “ever closer union”.

Let me put this very clearly: Britain is not interested in “ever closer union” – and I will put that right.

Cameron says he has no "romantic attachment' to the EU

Cameron says he has no “romantic attachment” to the EU.

We all know what’s wrong with the EU – it’s got too big, too bossy, too interfering.

But we also know what’s right about it – it’s the biggest single market in the world.

Now, some people say: “take what we’ve got and put up with it”.

Others say: “just walk away from the whole thing”.

I say: no. This is Britain. We don’t duck fights. We get stuck in. We fix problems.

That’s how we kept our border checkpoints when others decided to take theirs down.

It’s how we kept the pound when others went head first into the Euro.

Because we do things our way.

We get rebates. We get out of bailouts.

But do you know what? It’s not just what we get out of, it’s what we get Europe into.

Who do you think got Europe to open trade talks with America, which would be the biggest trade deal in our history?

Who do you think got Europe to agree to sanctions on Iran, which brought that country to the negotiating table?

Us. Britain. We did.

Believe me, I have no romantic attachment to the European Union and its institutions.

Cameron turns to Islamic State, and says “we will never be safe here in Britain until we eradicate that death cult.”

The government will spent 2% of GDP on defence, he says.

In the coming years, we’ll be launching the biggest aircraft carriers in our history…

…a new class of Hunter Killer submarines…

…new Joint Strike Fighter jets; improved Apache helicopters; a new fleet of drones…

…and because our independent nuclear deterrent is our ultimate insurance policy – this Government will order four new trident submarines.

Cameron says other countries should increase aid spending

Cameron turns to Syria. He says, like most people, he cannot forget the image of Aylan Kurdi, the refugee found drowned on a beach.

But Britain cannot take in all the Syrian refugees, he says.

The best thing Britain can do is help neighbouring countries, the Syrian people and the refugees in the camps …

…and when we do take refugees, to take them from the region, rather than acting in a way that encourages more to make that dangerous journey.

As we do this, let’s remember: we haven’t only just started caring about Syrians.

We’ve been helping them over the past four years, giving more in aid to that part of the world than any other country except America.

Cameron says other countries should spend more money on aid.

This party made a promise and kept a promise – to spend 0.7 per cent of our national income on aid.

Other countries also made that promise. But they didn’t keep it.

I say to them: if Britain can keep her promises, so should you.

Cameron accuses Corbyn of having 'security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology'

And he hits out at Jeremy Corbyn.

And on the subject of protecting our country from terrorism, let me just say this:

Thousands of words have been written about the new Labour leader.

But you only really need to know one thing: he thinks the death of Osama bin Laden was a “tragedy”.

No.

A tragedy is nearly 3,000 people murdered one morning in New York.

A tragedy is the mums and dads who never came home from work that day.

A tragedy is people jumping from the towers after the planes hit.

My friends – we cannot let that man inflict his security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating ideology on the country we love.

Updated

Cameron defends RAF drone strike in Syria that killed two British jihadis

Cameron says it is his job to keep Britain safe.

My first duty as Prime Minister is to keep people safe.

Some of the loneliest moments in this job are when you are reading intelligence reports about plots being planned against the British people.

This summer I was told that Reyaad Khan and Junaid Hussain were in Syria planning terrorist attacks on UK soil.

Of course, I asked all the proper questions.

How do we stop them? Is there another way? Do we have that capability? Is it legal?

I knew that whatever action I took would provoke a big debate.

But my job as Prime Minister is quite simple, really: ultimately, it’s not to debate; it’s to decide.

And the choice I faced was this:

Act – and we could stop them carrying out their plans.

Stall – and we could see innocent people murdered on our streets.

So I took decisive action to keep Britain safe – and that’s what I will always do.

Cameron describes Tory values.

In all the challenges we face, we will be guided by our Conservative values.

Our belief in strong defence and sound money.

Our belief in an enterprise economy…

…that if you set free the ambition that burns so deeply within the British people, they will strike out on their own, take on new workers, take on the world.

Our belief in equality of opportunity, as opposed to equality of outcome…

…not everyone ending up with the same exam results, the same salary, the same house – but everyone having the same shot at them.

Now some people may argue these things are obvious.

I have to tell you, they’re not.

It becomes clearer by the day that the Labour Party has completely abandoned any notion of these ideas.

Cameron says Tories should be party of social reform

Cameron says the Tories should be the party of social reform.

To make Britain greater, we need to tackle some deep social problems…

…problems we only just made a start on, as we focused on the economic emergency that faced us.

The scourge of poverty.

The brick wall of blocked opportunity.

The shadow of extremism – hanging over every single one of us.

A Greater Britain doesn’t just need a stronger economy – it needs a stronger society.

And delivering this social reform is entirely fitting with the great history of the Conservative Party…

…who have always been the optimists, the agents of hope and the leaders of change.

That’s why I joined it.

That’s why I wanted to lead it.

And now, in my final term as Prime Minister, I say: let’s live up to the greatest traditions of Conservative social reform.

Cameron says Britain is on the brink of something special.

I really believe we’re on the brink of something special in our country.

This year, we’ve seen more people in work than at any time in our history…

…more of our children starting university than ever before…

…more British entrepreneurs setting up shop than anywhere else in Europe.

Wages are rising. Hope is returning. We’re moving into the light.

But we’re not there yet.

And Cameron says he is in a hurry to make a difference.

We’re only half way through.

For me, that has a very literal meaning.

I can say something today that perhaps no Prime Minister has ever really been able to say before.

I’m starting the second half of my time in this job.

As you know, I am not going to fight another election as your leader. So I don’t have the luxury of unlimited time.

Let me tell you: I am in just as much of a hurry as five years ago.

Cameron describes his patriotism.

I love Britain. I love our history and what we’ve given to the world.

I love our get-up-and-go; that whenever we’re down, we’re never out.

I love our character; our decency; our sense of humour.

I love every part of our country. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland – we are one nation and I will defend our Union with everything I have got.

Every day, in every way, Great Britain lives up to its name.

And I know this: we can make it greater still.

Cameron describes a recent cabinet meeting to make a point about diversity.

A few months ago, we were discussing childcare.

It was introduced by the Black British son of a single parent, Sam Gyimah.

He was backed up by the daughter of Gujarati immigrants who arrived in our country from East Africa with nothing except the clothes they stood up in, Priti Patel…

…and the first speaker was Sajid Javid, whose father came here from Pakistan to drive the buses.

And he describes what the Tories have done.

This is what we’ve done together.

And now with couples married because of us…

…working people backed because of us…

…the NHS safe because of us…

…and children in the poorest parts of the world saved because of us…

…everyone in this hall can be incredibly proud of our journey – the journey of the modern, compassionate, One Nation Conservative Party.

Cameron says 10 years ago he told the conference that, if it wanted to change the country, it had to change as a party.

That has happened, he says. The party campaigned on issues like the NHS, social justice, gay rights and climate change.

And it changed its candidates too, he says.

Look who was elected in May.

Nusrat Ghani, whose parents, just a generation ago, were living in a small village in Kashmir.

Seema Kennedy, who was five when she and her family were forced to flee revolutionary Iran.

Five years ago, Johnny Mercer was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. Caught in an ambush, he was left cradling a dear comrade as he lay fatally wounded.

Just days before the election, Scott Mann was doing his postal round in Cornwall – delivering not just his own campaign leaflets, but his rivals’ too.

You wouldn’t catch a Lib Dem doing that.

The joke goes down well.

Cameron explains what he means.

The British people are decent, sensible, reasonable…

…and they just want a government that supports the vulnerable, backs those who do the right thing and helps them get on in life.

Good jobs; a decent home; better childcare; controlled immigration; lower taxes so there’s more money at the end of the month…

…an NHS that’s there for them, 7 days a week; great schools; dignity in retirement…

…that is what people want and that is what we will deliver.

The party of working people, the party for working people – today, tomorrow, always.

Cameron says 'Britain and Twitter are not the same thing'

Cameron says there is a serious point.

But there’s a serious point.

Why did all the pollsters and the pundits get it so wrong?

Because, fundamentally, they didn’t understand the people who make up our country.

The vast majority of people aren’t obsessives, arguing at the extremes of the debate.

Let me put it as simply as I can: Britain and Twitter are not the same thing.

Cameron says it only takes two words to cheer him up: exit poll.

He rattles through some seats that the Tories won.

Cornwall is 100% Conservative, he says.

And I will never forget that morning. Getting back to London. Seeing many of you. Then sitting down in the flat at No10 with Sam and the kids getting ready for school.

There we were, surrounded by half-packed boxes and bin bags. Well, you have to be ready for anything.

I was writing my speech and preparing to go and see Her Majesty. And I thought… I’ll just lie down and let it all sink in.

As I shut my eyes, Ed Balls had gone. And when I woke up and I switched on the radio, Nigel Farage had gone too.

There was a moment when I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Updated

Cameron says he is proud to be here as prime minister of a Conservative government.

The British public put their faith in the Tories, he says.

And to the British people:

When you put your cross in the Conservative box, you were putting your faith in us.

To finish the job we started. To back working people. To deliver security for you and your family.

And I’ll tell you now: we will not let you down.

David Cameron's speech

David Cameron is coming on stage now. He is beaming with satisfaction. He may have forgotten the “no complacency” message from earlier this week.

David Cameron taking his applause.
David Cameron taking his applause.

Updated

The video is now showing highlights from election night, including Mark Reckless losing, Nigel Farage losing and Ed Balls losing.

In the hall members are now being shown a video ahead of David Cameron’s speech.

It highlights the “national living wage”, the triple lock for pensions, and schools.

Ruth Davidson is sitting next to Boris Johnson.

My colleague Nicholas Watt says people like Johnson are probably very glad Davidson is not an MP - and hence not eligible to stand for the leadership.

A whole gang of them have just arrived, including George Osborne, Philip Hammond, Sajid Javid, Michael Fallon and Amber Rudd.

In the hall cabinet ministers are now taking their seats ahead of Cameron’s speech.

Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, has just come in. He received a round of applause.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, was the last speaker in the morning session ahead of Cameron’s speeech. She used her address to explain her belief in “blue-collar Toryism”.

In a fast-changing world with challenges of terrorism, globalism, nationalism - of technological change and demographic shift - we have to find new answers. But we also have to remind ourselves of those values that are unchanging.

Values of family, community and country.

Of knowing people make better decisions about their lives than the state.

That hard work deserves fair pay

That aspiration and opportunity aren’t dirty words.

It is natural and desirable to want to build a better life for you and your children and you should be applauded not upbraided for it.

A belief in marriage – gay or straight – and of families in every shape and size as the primary building block of our society.

A commitment to giving those at the bottom a hand up and of clearing away barriers to advancement at every level.

A recognition that children don’t all learn the same and shouldn’t all be taught the same – that school choice and parental freedom lead to better life chances.

A belief in the invention and creativity of people - and where governments get in the way of that, they should remove themselves from the field.

It is proper, old-fashioned, blue-collar, Toryism.

It’s how I was raised and why I’ve kept the faith for exactly half my life – from casting that ballot in ‘97 to achieving a Conservative majority government 18 years later.

David Cameron has just been filmed arriving at the conference hall. It looks as if his wife Samantha has got the “army candy” slot today because she was accompanying him.

Samantha and David Cameron arriving at the conference hall.
Samantha and David Cameron arriving at the conference hall. Photograph: Sky TV

Updated

Cameron on housing

And here is another extract from the Cameron speech released in advance. It is what he is going to say about housing. Our story about the changes to planning rules to encourage developers to build more affordable homes for first-time buyers is here.

When a generation of hardworking men and women in their 20s and 30s are waking up each morning in their childhood bedrooms – that should be a wakeup call for us.

We need a national crusade to get homes built.

That means banks lending, government releasing land, and yes – planning being reformed.

Increasing home ownership means something else.

For years, politicians have been talking about building what they call “affordable homes” – but the phrase was deceptive.

It basically meant homes that were only available to rent. What people want are homes they can actually own.

After all, the officials who prepare the plans for the new homes, the developers who build them, the politicians who talk about them…

…most of these people own the homes they live in.

Don’t they realise other people want what they’ve got – a home of their own?

So today, I can announce a dramatic shift in housing policy in our country.

Those old rules which said to developers: you can build on this site, but only if you build affordable homes for rent…

…we’re replacing them with new rules…

…you can build here, and those affordable homes can be available to buy.

Yes, from Generation Rent to Generation Buy…

…our party, the Conservative party…

…the party of home ownership in Britain today.

David Cameron's speech

We’ve got about 15 minutes to go until David Cameron’s speech.

He has never before given a speech to the conference as prime minister in a Conservative-only government. In that respect, he is at the height of his powers. From here it can only get more difficult.

According to an extract released in advance, Cameron will say in his speech this could be “the turnaround decade”.

I believe that we can make this era – these 2010s – a defining decade for our country…

...the turnaround decade…

…one which people will look back on and say: “that’s the time when the tide turned…

…when people no longer felt the current going against them, but working with them.”

Because we know this: nothing is written.

We’ve proved it in schools across our country…

…that the poorest children don’t have to get the worst results – they can get the best.

Over the next five years we will show that the deep problems in our society – they are not inevitable.

This is what Boris Johnson told LBC and how he wanted the government to review the tax credit cuts.

I will be totally honest with you, I think we need to work on it, and we need to express to people much more clearly how increases in their income, benefits from childcare, cuts in taxation work.

I’m asking my guys in City Hall to look at all the impacts in London and to see what we can do about making some proposals to government about it.

I think we need to explain to people more clearly that the tax credit system needs reform.

I think we are at the fairly early stages of this. Concerns have been very, very powerfully raised about this and I think we need to be explaining and doing everything to mitigate and palliate the impact. Lets have a look and see what we can do.

Here’s John Healey, Labour’s housing spokeman, on Cameron’s housing announcement.

Over the last five years with David Cameron in charge the Conservatives have completely failed on housing. They claim to be the party of home ownership but on their watch it has fallen every year for the past five years and is now at its lowest level for a generation - for those under 35, it’s down by over a fifth.

Their record of failure has also seen rapidly rising rents, more homelessness, higher housing benefits bill, and fewer homes built than at any time since the 1920s.

After five years of failure on housing, the millions of people struggling to cope with their housing costs deserve a real plan for more affordable homes to rent and buy. And the country needs a new wide debate about how our deepening housing crisis can be tackled.

Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary, will be speaking to the conference this morning. As Henry McDonald writes, she will tell Tories that the talks in Belfast aimed at saving devolution and power sharing have been going badly because the main parties in the Stormont parliament have failed to make progress on welfare reform.

The main focus of the talks has been the allegations that the IRA still exists and was responsible for murdering ex-member Kevin McGuigan in August. Unionists claim this is a breach of faith by republicans who had promised the IRA had dissolved as an offensive military force.

Sinn Fein counter by alleging that the unionists threat to pull down power sharing is part of inter Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Unionist electoral rivalry.

However disagreements over welfare reforms and cuts to the huge public sector pay bill is also de-stabilising the devolved government at Stormont. Unionists and the centrist Alliance Party are in favour of reforming welfare. Sinn Fein and the SDLP oppose the cuts programme.

Prior to her speech to conference Villiers issued this stark warning:

“It is crucial that the welfare and finance provisions of the Stormont House Agreement are implemented because if they are not, more and more money will continue to pour into an unreformed high cost welfare system in Northern Ireland, leaving less and less for crucial front line public services.

“That could threaten the whole future of the devolved institutions.”

Theresa Villiers
Theresa Villiers Photograph: DAVID HARTLEY/REX Shutterstock/DAVID HARTLEY/REX Shutterstock

Johnson refuses to rule out campaigning for the out side in the EU referendum

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has been doing his LBC phone-in this morning. It is still going on, but three news lines have emerged already.

  • Johnson has called for the government to review its plans to cut tax credits to lessen the impact on low-earners. One idea could be to ensure that the tax credits are not cut until the increased tax allowance comes into force, he said. He said he had asked City Hall officials to draw up some proposals.
  • Johnson refused to rule out campaigning for the out side in the EU referendum.

He also said that a no vote would not necessarily be the end of the story, renewing speculation that he might back a “two referendums” approach (voting no in the first, in the hope of getting better concessions from Europe).

  • He said primary school pupils should have to do compulsory exercise to tackle obesity.
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson Photograph: DAVID HARTLEY/REX Shutterstock/DAVID HARTLEY/REX Shutterstock

My colleague John Harris has been working on an Anywhere but Westminster video from the Conservative conference. It has just been launched, and here it is.

It’s the final day of the Conservative conference in Manchester, and David Cameron closes it with his keynote speech. Tory members have already been queuing to get a seat.

Here are some overnight developments.

  • Cameron will change planning rules to encourage developers to build more affordable homes for first-time buyers, the Conservatives have revealed. Cameron will announce this in his speech, but details have been released overnight. Here is the start of Patrick Wintour’s Guardian story.

David Cameron will promise to sweep away planning rules that require property developers to build affordable homes for rent in a bid to increase the building of homes for first-time buyers.

In a bid to shift from generation rent to generation buy, Cameron will say in his speech at the Conservative party conference on Wednesday that he hopes his new starter homes proposal can unblock housebuilding in the UK by abolishing demands that developers provide a certain amount of affordable housing to rent in new developments.

The change is critical to the government reaching its challenging target ofbuilding 200,000 starter homes over this parliament and has been long demanded by private sector developers.

Iain Duncan Smith told a fringe meeting that the Tories could lose the 2020 election if the party became consumed by leadership speculation.

But he conceded that it was unlikely to be the last party conference at which there was a running beauty parade.

He said: “I would certainly say to them ‘honestly you have to get it under control’. My suggestion is that there is plenty of time for all that.

“If the public sees that we are so venal that we assume that we have a right to be in power in five years time they will do their level best to kick us out.”

The referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union could be pushed back to 2017 after negotiations over reforms ran into trouble.

One cabinet minister said that the vote was “more likely than not” to be in 2017 as the prime minister struggled to secure a meaningful package of reforms. One ally of David Cameron said that George Osborne was pushing for an early vote while the prime minister was more concerned that he achieved authentic reforms that could be easily sold to the public.

Lynton Crosby has advised that Downing Street ought to take its time over negotiations, with any attempt to rush through a deal risking failure in the referendum.

Here is the agenda today.

10am: Session on the United Kingdom, with speeches from Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, David Mundell, the Scottish secretary, Stephen Crabb, the Welsh secretary, and Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary.

11.30am: David Cameron’s speech.

Before Cameron starts his speech, I will also write a post on 10 things we’ve learnt from the Conservative conference.

If you want to follow me or get in touch on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

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