Tory leader underlines social responsibility message
David Cameron wants "sunshine to win the day"
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Sunday, 01, Oct 2006 07:48
David Cameron has used his first party conference speech as leader of the Conservatives to emphasise the importance of social responsibility.
In an address unsurprisingly devoid of promises on tax cuts that had dominated the build-up to the Bournemouth event and any real policy commitments, Mr Cameron said he wanted to make the party he loved ready for government "brick by brick".
He explained that legislation was only the start to improving society in Britain, accusing the Labour government of failing to deliver on a number of "headline-grabbing" initiatives.
Coming under direct attack from Mr Cameron was the stalled ID cards scheme, which he described as a "vast white elephant, their plastic poll tax, 20 Millennium Domes rolled into one giant catastrophe in the making".
As well as pledging to abolish ID cards if he came to power in three years time, the 39-year-old insisted that the responsibility facing the Conservatives themselves was to "set out a clear, united and credible alternative" to the apparent infighting within the Labour camp.
"Getting ready for the responsibility of government is like building a house together. Think of it in three stages. First you prepare the ground, then you lay the foundations, and then, finally, brick by brick, you build your house," he told delegates, before claiming that Tory success in the past was built upon the foundation of the "centre ground".
"The centre ground is where you find the concerns, the hopes and the dreams of most people and families in this country," he added.
"A Britain where we stop thinking you can pass laws to make people good and start realising that we are all in this together. Social responsibility - that is the essence of liberal Conservatism," Mr Cameron enthused.
After reiterating an earlier statement that he planned to decentralise more public services, he dubbed raising the nation's children "as the greatest challenge of all".
"Let optimism beat pessimism, let sunshine win the day and let everyone know that the Conservative party is ready: Ready to serve, ready to fight, ready to win," the leader concluded.