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October 12, 2010
UK Prime Minister David Cameron: 'We are the radicals now'
Highlights of his speech, and then below if you wish I have posted the links to his entire speech.
Part 1 of 4: David Cameron's Conservative conference speech.
Part 2 of 4: David Cameron's Conservative conference speech.
Part 3 of 4: David Cameron's Conservative conference speech......THIS ONE is REALLY good!!!
Part 4 of 4: David Cameron's Conservative conference speech.
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David Cameron: 'We are the radicals now'
His conservative manifesto
On Wednesday, David Cameron, who became UK prime minister in May, addressed the annual conference of his Conservative Party. His speech explained why voters had rejected the liberal, Labour Party, and his vision of a “big society” driven by people, not government. Though the problems he addressed were British, his points about debt and spending resonate in America’s own midterm elections. An excerpt:
Let’s start by being honest with ourselves. The mess this country is in — it’s not all because of Labour. Of course, they must take some of the blame. Alright — they need to take a lot of the blame.
Let me just get this off my chest. They left us with massive debts, the highest deficit, overstretched armed forces, demoralized public services, endless ridiculous rules and regulations and bureaucracy and nonsense. Yes, they deserve some blame, and we’ll never let them forget it.
But the point I want to make is this. The state of our nation is not just determined by the government and those who run it. It is determined by millions of individual actions — by what each of us do and what we choose not to do.
Too many people thought: “I’ve paid my taxes, the state will look after everything.”
But citizenship isn’t a transaction in which you put your taxes in and get your services out. It’s a relationship — you’re part of something bigger than you, and it matters what you think and feel and do.
So to get out of the mess we’re in, changing the government is not enough. We need to change the way we think about ourselves, and our role in society. The old way of doing things: the high-spending, all-controlling, heavy-handed state, those ideas were defeated. Statism lost . . . society won.
From state power to people power. From unchecked individualism to national unity and purpose. From big government to the big society. It’s not government abdicating its role, it is government changing its role.
Back in May, we inherited public finances that can only be described as catastrophic. This year, we will borrow more money than we spend on the National Health Service. Just think about that.
Every doctor’s salary. Every operation. Every heating bill in every hospital. Every appointment. Every MRI scan. Every drug. Every new stethoscope, scalpel, hospital gown. Everything in our hospitals and surgeries — paid for with borrowed money, much of it from abroad. And then think about the interest.
This year, we’re going to spend £43bn on debt interest payments alone. £43bn — not to pay off the debt — just to stand still.
Do you know what we could do with that sort of money? We could take 11 million people out of paying income tax. We could take every business in the country out of corporation tax.
That’s why we have acted decisively — to stop pouring so much of your hard-earned money down the drain.
The spending cuts we do have to make, we’ll make in a way that is fair. And I think it’s time for a new conversation about what fairness really means.
Yes, fairness means giving money to help the poorest in society. People who are sick, who are vulnerable, the elderly — I want you to know we will always look after you. That’s the sign of a civilized society, and it’s what I believe.
But you can’t measure fairness just by how much money we spend on welfare, as though the poor are products with a price tag, the more we spend on them the more we value them. For too long, we have measured success in tackling poverty by the size of the check we give people. We say: let’s measure our success by the chance we give. Let’s support real routes out of poverty — a strong family, a good education, a job.
The other part of the equation is who gives that help, through their taxes. Taking more money from the man who goes out to work long hours each day so the family next door can go on living a life on benefits without working — is that fair?
Fairness means giving people what they deserve — and what people deserve depends on how they behave.
Let me tell you what I believe. It will be the doers and grafters, the inventors and the entrepreneurs, who get this economy going.
Yes, it will be the wealth creators — and no, those aren’t dirty words. When you think of a wealth creator, don’t think of the tycoon in a glass tower. Think of the man who gets up and leaves the house before dawn to go out and clean windows. Think of the woman who sits up late into the night trying to make the figures add up to make sure she can pay her staff.
I’ll always remember what the owner of a small business told me once. He said: “When I was starting out, the government didn’t lift a finger to help me. Then as soon as I start making money they’re all over me trying to take it away.”
That is completely the wrong way round. We need to get behind our wealth creators. That’s what we’re doing.
We are the radicals now, breaking apart the old system with a massive transfer for power, from the state to citizens, politicians to people, government to society. That is the power shift this country needs today.
And let me tell you why we desperately need this change. It’s because the old way, of just pouring money into public services from on high, didn’t make the difference it promised to.
But as with any radical changes, there’s going to be opposition. I want to give you an idea of the mentality we’re fighting.
Ed Balls, the man who used to be in charge of education in our country, said one of the dangers of our schools policy was that it would create “winners.”
Winners? We can’t have that. The danger that your child might go to school and turn out to be a winner. Anti-aspiration. Anti-success. Anti-parents who just want the best for their children.
Society is not a spectator sport. This is your country. It’s time to believe it. It’s time to step up and own it. So mine is not just a vision of a more powerful country. It is a vision of a more powerful people.
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Wild Thing's comment.......
Obama has never once said he loves America. He hates our country, what a huge difference in these two people. I hope this man David Cameron is able to get the things done he speaks about. Maybe it will motivate our conservatives that are thinking of running for office here in our country.
Some highlights........
He gave a renewed vow to eradicate the deficit by imposing spending cuts and signalled wholesale welfare reform. He said the era of claimants “sitting on their sofas waiting for their benefits” was over.
He issued a “call to arms” to unite behind painful action to cure the economy and radical reforms to modernise the nation.
“When we say, We are all in this together' that is not a cry for help but a call to arms,” he declared in his first speech as Prime Minister to the Conservative party conference.
Mr Cameron called for a “new conversation about what fairness really means”. It meant giving money to the poor and sick, said the Prime Minister, but it should also mean reforming the welfare state to reduce “dependency” and make work pay.
“Taking more money from the man who goes out to work long hours each day so the family next door can go on living a life on benefits without working — is that fair? Fairness means giving people what they deserve, and what people deserve depends on how they behave. If you really can't work, we'll look after you. But if you can work but refuse to work, we will not let you live off the hard work of others.”
Posted by Wild Thing at October 12, 2010 04:47 AM
Comments
Good deal. Sounds like Great Britain has another Margaret Thatcher. Yes, Britain is in a hell of a mess in all catagories. I hope he tackles the muslim problem head on. If England does not stop the muslim demands and muslim immigration, then she is lost regardless of who is at the helm or what other problems are fixed.
Posted by: TomR, armed in Texas at October 12, 2010 11:24 AM
Tom, I agree so much. He does remind me of Thatcher a lot. And on one of the videos he speaks about her with a lot of respect. I agree too that Britain is a hell of a mess and the Muslim problem is huge.
Posted by: Wild Thing at October 12, 2010 07:02 PM
