I'll be tough, says Tory leader Cameron
David Cameron today warned his party that an incoming Conservative government will face tough economic conditions and will have to take unpopular decisions to get Britain’s public finances back on track.
Describing himself as “a man with a plan, not a miracle cure”, he acknowledged that a change of government would not produce an overnight transformation in Britain’s fortunes.
But he was determined to rebuild the economy for the long term by reining in state borrowing and ending the Labour Government’s “spendaholic” culture.
Mr Cameron’s comments, in his keynote speech at the conclusion of the Conservative party's conference in Birmingham, will be taken as confirmation that he does not expect to be able to offer tax cuts in the wake of the election, and may actually have to raise taxes if elected to office.
They will spark speculation that he may drop his commitment to match Labour spending pledges on the public services.
“If we win, we will inherit a huge deficit and an economy in a mess,” he said. “We will need to do difficult and unpopular things for the long-term good of the country. I know that. I’m ready for that.”
He added: “Rebuilding our battered economy. Renewing our bureaucratised NHS. Repairing our broken society. That is our plan for change.
“But in these difficult times we promise no new dawns, no overnight transformations. I’m a man with a plan, not a miracle cure.”
Mr Cameron insisted he was “optimistic” that Britain will come through to “better times ahead”, and held out the prospect of eventual tax cuts after public spending has been scaled back and wasteful government programmes scrapped.
He and his shadow chancellor George Osborne would not offer “tax cuts paid for by reckless borrowing” but would “cut taxes once it’s responsible to do so, once we’ve made government live within its means”.
A week after Gordon Brown’s jibe that it is “no time for a novice” to steer Britain through difficult times, Mr Cameron rejected the charge that his lack of experience in office makes him unsuited to be Prime Minister.
Rather than experience, a leader needs “character and judgement”, he said, drawing an explicit comparison between himself and the most revered Tory of modern times, Margaret Thatcher, who ousted the more experienced James Callaghan as PM in 1979.
“The risk is not in making a change,” said Mr Cameron. “The risk is sticking with what you’ve got and expecting a different result...
“Experience means you are implicated in the old system that’s failed. You can’t admit that change is needed, because that would mean admitting you’ve got it wrong.”
