Cameron sets out vision of ‘modern Conservatism’
Conservative leadership hopeful David Cameron has outlined proposals to introduce tax relief on childcare as part of his vision of a “modern compassionate Conservatism”.
The shadow education secretary has broken-off from his holiday in Devon to make the speech, in which talked about various policy ideas – from childcare tax relief to regeneration of urban Britain.
Mr Cameron’s speech coincides with one by his rival for the Tory leadership, Ken Clarke, who declared his candidacy on Tuesday.
The former chancellor attacked the government’s policy on Iraq, and is Mr Cameron’s main rival to take on David Davis in the final rounds of the leadership contest.
But Mr Cameron firmly set out his bid to grab votes from those on the left of his party, with his vision for a “modern compassionate Conservatism”.
The Tories must “in tune with modern Britain”, he argued, adding that the party would “always do best” when discussing what changes had to be made to the country.
And he said the party had to be compassionate – contradicting Margaret Thatcher’s claim that there was ‘no such thing as society’.
“We understand that there’s a ‘we’ in politics as well as a ‘me’, that there is such a thing as society, it’s just not the same thing as the state,” he said.
On specific areas, he argued that childcare needed to be made easier and more affordable to provide people with more choice about their work and family commitments.
He set out plans to raise tax thresholds and introduce tax relief for childcare, because a modern Conservative alternative “should be to give people more and better choices”.
Similarly, Mr Cameron said a modern Conservative response to development pressure in the countryside could not simply consist of opposing it.
“We should recognise that the best way to reduce development pressure in the countryside is to improve the quality of life in our cities,” he said.
Urban regeneration should be spread beyond a few flagship projects “and into every corner of our great cities”.
To achieve this he called for a “new generation of visionary civic leaders” with more freedom for local communities to shape their public spaces.
He said there should be an increase in the number of elected mayors and a less central government interference.
The shadow education secretary also said the party must reconnect with younger voters by addressing quality of life concerns – from the environment to culture and leisure.
He set out a preview of those comments in an article in the Times today, stating the mission of the Tories should be to “help to make our country the most civilised place in the world to live”.
Read profiles of the Tory leadership candidates.
