Davis takes the compassion agenda
David Davis has appealed to the “wristband generation” as he set out his vision of a Conservative party dominated by the principle of social justice.
The Tory leadership hopeful challenged Labour’s assertion that it is the party that cares, by setting out his belief that looking out for the worst-off in society has always been at the heart of Conservatism.
And Mr Davis insisted that he is the man who will “fight tirelessly” for this principle, saying that Britain “won’t want another good times candidate” by the next election but a leader who can “take tough decisions”.
“This generation wants a government that hates injustice as much as it does. It doesn’t just want a government that helps them. It wants a government that also helps their neighbour. I deliver that government for them,” he said.
His speech comes less than 24 hours before his rival, David Cameron, sets out his vision for a ‘compassionate Conservatism’, as ballots go out to the party’s 300,000 members to vote on who will succeed Michael Howard.
Much has been made of Mr Davis’ determination to focus on specific policy in the race – compared to Mr Cameron’s insistence that this is impractical four years before a general election – and he continued this theme this afternoon.
“People won’t be convinced if we talk occasionally about social justice – or unveil a few compassionate policies on the eve of polling day,” he said.
“That casual, last-minute approach to politics is one of the reasons why voters haven’t believed us on tax at the last two elections. Our dearest beliefs need to be on display often and early.”
He added: “We won’t win people over by fine words – we will need good, solid, practical policies that show we really are serious about this agenda.”
Mr Davis would bring the voluntary sector into the provision of welfare, to provide a holistic approach to people’s problems, rather than dealing with different issues in different government agencies.
And he called for “swift and efficient justice” to ensure people understand the consequences of their behaviour, and said he would work to keep families together, including giving grandparents rights to look after children who were up for adoption.
Mr Davis recently set out his policy to cut taxes and roll back the state, and today he argued that this was not incompatible with compassion, saying: “A commitment to social justice is not a bolt-on extra to my conservatism. It is at the heart of my conservatism.”
