Brighton Printing – Does anyone know where I can print off my boarding pass in Manchester Airport? I did online check ? – Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers
Does anyone know where I can print off my boarding pass in Manchester Airport? I did online check ?
No access to printer, flying out tomorrow?
Hey Readers! I’ve been comin across some crazy stuff the past few days from a few different blogs around the web which I just had to share with you. Check em out below…
High schools — Gema Monreal, Brighton; Marie Rita, Eagle Valley; Maria Castillo, Fort Lupton; Lance Hochanadel, Fort Morgan; Laura de Groote and Janna … Read More…
A memory card with more than 700 pictures has been found outside the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Allan Porthouse found the stick containing this image at … Read More…
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Texas-based 900-pound gorilla of breast cancer fund-raising, has turned cause marketing into a money-printing machine. … Read More… That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.
David Cameron: Speech on the future of Britain – Yahoo! News UK
I want to get straight to the point.
We all know how bad things are, massive debt, social breakdown, political disenchantment. But what I want to talk about today is how good things could be.
Dont get me wrong, I have no illusions. If win this election, it is going to be tough. There will have to be cutbacks in public spending, and that will be painful. We will need to confront Britains culture of irresponsibility and that will be hard to take for many people. And we will have to tear down Labours big government bureaucracy, ripping up its time-wasting, money-draining, responsibility-sapping nonsense.
None of this will be easy. We will be tested. I will be tested. Im ready for that and so I believe, are the British people. So yes, there is a steep climb ahead.
But I tell you this. The view from the summit will be worth it.
AFGHANISTAN
If we win the election the first and gravest responsibility I will face is for our troops in Afghanistan and their families at home.
I know that.
I know about the mothers and the wives, the husbands and the children, counting the minutes between news bulletins, fearing the announcement of the next casualty. I know what they want and deserve – from their government. A ruthless, relentless focus on fighting, winning and coming home.
That must start at the top. Instead of a revolving door at the Ministry of Defence with a second rate substitute in charge, we need a politician from the front rank, and in Liam Fox we have one.
We need a clear chain of command that flows right from the top. My national security council, with the key ministers and defence chiefs, will sit from day one of a new government, as a war cabinet.
We need a strategy that is credible, and do-able. We are not in Afghanistan to deliver the perfect society. We are there to stop the re-establishment of terrorist training camps.
Frankly, time is short. We cannot spend another eight years taking ground only to give it back again.
So our method should be clear……send more soldiers to train more Afghans to deliver the security we need. Then we can bring our troops home.
And I know the most urgent requirement of all. That those brave men and women we send into danger have every piece of equipment they need to do the job we ask of them. I will make sure that happens.
And I have something else to say. When the country is at war, when Whitehall is at war, we need people who understand war in Whitehall.
Thats why Im proud to announce today that someone who has fought for our country and served for forty years in our armed forces will not only advise our defence team but will join our benches in the House of Lords and if we win the election could serve in a future Conservative Government:
General Sir Richard Dannatt. As we welcome him to serve with us, let us all salute those who serve our country.
FAMILY, COMMUNITY, COUNTRY
We could have come to Manchester this week and played it safe. But thats not what this party is about and its certainly not what Im about.
When I stood on that stage in Blackpool four years ago it wasnt just to head up this party, sit around and wait for the tide to turn. It was to lead this party and change it, so together we could turn the tide.
Look what weve done together. More women candidates, campaigning on the environment, the party of the NHS. And this year, here in Manchester, our most successful, dynamic conference for twenty years.
Id like to thank everyone involved, the police who kept us safe and your chum and mine, Eric Pickles.
But also this year, in these difficult times, weve won the argument on the economy and debt as George Osborne showed in that magnificent speech on Tuesday.
That was the success we achieved this year.
But for me and Samantha this year will only ever mean one thing. When such a big part of your life suddenly ends nothing else – nothing outside – matters. Its like the world has stopped turning and the clocks have stopped ticking. And as they slowly start again, weeks later, you ask yourself all over again: do I really want to do this? You think about what you really believe and what sustains you.
I know what sustains me the most. She is sitting right there and Im incredibly proud to call her my wife.
My beliefs. I am not a complicated person. I love this country and the things it stands for.
That the state is your servant, never your master. Common sense and decency. The British sense of community.
I have some simple beliefs.That there is such a thing as society, its just not the same thing as the state. That there is a we in politics, and not just a me.
Above all, the importance of family. That fierce sense of loyalty you feel for each other. The unconditional love you give and receive, especially when things go wrong or when you get it wrong. That powerful sense you have when you hold your children and theres nothing, absolutely nothing – you wouldnt do to protect them.
This is my DNA: family, community, country. These are the things I care about. They are what made me. They are what Im in public service to protect, promote and defend. And I believe they are what we need in Britain today more than ever.
I know how lucky Ive been to have the chances I had. And I know there are children growing up in Britain today who will never know the love of a father. Who are born in homes that hold them back. Who go to schools that keep them back.
Children who will never start a business, never raise a family, never see the world. Children who will live the life theyre given, not the life they want. That is what I want to change.
I want every child to have the chances I had. That is why Im standing here.
BIG GOVERNMENT
But we wont help anyone unless we face up to some big problems. The highest budget deficit since the war. The deepest recession since the war. Social breakdown; political disillusionment. Big problems for the next government to address.
And here is the big argument in British politics today, put plainly and simply. Labour say that to solve the countrys problems, we need more government.
Dont they see? It is more government that got us into this mess.
Why is our economy broken? Not just because Labour wrongly thought theyd abolished boom and bust. But because government got too big, spent too much and doubled the national debt.
Why is our society broken? Because government got too big, did too much and undermined responsibility.
Why are our politics broken? Because government got too big, promised too much and pretended it had all the answers.
Of course it was done with the best intentions. And lets be clear: not everything Labour did was wrong.
Devolution; the minimum wage; civil partnerships, these are good things that we will we keep.
But this idea that for every problem theres a government solution for every issue an initiative, for every situation a czar….
It ends with them making you register with the government to help out your childs football team. With police officers punished for babysitting each others children. With laws so bureaucratic and complicated even their own attorney general cant obey them.
Do you know the worst thing about their big government? Its not the cost, though thats bad enough. It is the steady erosion of responsibility. Our task is to lead Britain in a completely different direction.
So no, we are not going to solve our problems with bigger government. We are going to solve our problems with a stronger society. Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger country. All by rebuilding responsibility.
THE DEBT CRISIS
The clearest sign of big government irresponsibility is the enormous size of our debt.
If we win the election, we will have to confront Labours Debt Crisis, deal with it, and take the country with us. I want everyone to understand the gravity of our situation.
Our national debt has doubled in the last five years and our annual deficit next year will be over £170bn.
Thats twice as big as when we nearly went bankrupt in the 1970s. It is a massive risk to our economy. If we spend more than we earn, we have to get the money from somewhere.
Right now, the government is simply printing it. Sometime soon that will have to stop, because in the end, printing money leads to inflation. Then the government will have to borrow it.
But well only be given the money if lenders are confident we can pay it back. If theyre not, well have to pay higher interest rates and that could stop our economic recovery in its tracks.
So we have three choices.
Option one: we can just default on the debt. Not pay it. Other countries have done that in the past. But I dont think anyone in this country wants to go down that road.
Option two: we could encourage inflation, which would wipe out the value of the debt, making it easier to pay off. But thats not just an economic disaster its a social disaster too. It doesnt just wipe out debts, it wipes out peoples hard-earned savings.
So we have the third option – for me the only option. We must pay down this deficit. The longer we leave it, the worse it will be for all of us.
I know there are some who say we should just wait.
Dont talk about the deficit. Dont even plan for what needs to be done. Just wait. Dont they understand its the waiting thats the problem.
The longer we wait for a credible plan, the bigger the bill for our children to pay. The longer we wait, the greater the risk to the recovery. The longer we wait, the higher the chance we return to recession.
Heres the most obvious reason we cant wait. The more we wait, the more we waste on the interest were paying on this debt.
Next year, Gordon Brown will spend more money on the interest on our debt than on schools. More than on law and order, more than on child poverty.
So I say to the Labour Party and the trades unions just tell me what is compassionate, what is progressive about spending more on debt interest than on helping the poorest children in our country?
The progressive thing to do, the responsible thing to do is to get a grip on the debt but in a way that brings the country together instead of driving it apart. That means showing leadership at the top which is why we will cut ministers pay and freeze it for a parliament.
It means showing that were all in this together which is why well freeze public sector pay for all but the one million lowest paid public sector workers……for one year to help protect jobs.
And it means showing that the rich will pay their share which is why for now the 50p tax rate will have to stay and Child Trust Funds for those on middle and higher incomes will have to go.
Yes we have made some tough choices. But in British politics today that is the only responsible thing to do.
PENSIONERS
Dealing with this debt crisis is not just about cuts in the short term. We must also live within our means over the long term. Everyone knows we have an ageing population.
Our pension system was designed in a time when many people didnt live till 70 . It is out of date and it has to change. Thats why this week we made the difficult decision to bring forward the raising of the pension age.
I know that working longer will be tough for many people. But it will also allow us to help pensioners more.
I got an email from a lady who wrote to me in desperation. She doesnt want me to reveal her name because shes so frightened of what might happen to her.
She and her husband left school at fifteen and started work straight away. They bought their own home, where theyve lived for forty years. But theyve been let down terribly. She lost out on the 10p tax and took a drop in her pension. She and her husband arent entitled to pension credit because they saved for their old age.
Heres what she says:
during the cold spell this winter, we sat watching TV with blankets wrapped around us.
The drug dealer and the druggies who live nearby had their windows wide open and the heating full on.
We dont bother watching police dramas on the TV, we just look out of our window.
Our savings are making no money.
If one of us dies we cannot afford to stay in our home.
This lady doesnt want pity. Pensioners dont want pity. They just want to know that if theyve lived responsibly, theyll be looked after in their old age.
Parties have been talking about raising the pension in line with earnings for years. But it never happens.
Well lets be the party that finally makes it happen. Because of the difficult choice weve made on the pension age well be able not just to deal with our debt but to raise the basic state pension in line with earnings. Not just for one year, but for every year.
GROWTH
Cutting back on big government is not just about spending less. Getting our debt down means getting our economic growth up.
Lets be clear where growth will come from. Not big government, with its Regional Development Agencies and National Investment Corporations but entrepreneurs. New businesses, new industries, new technologies.
I get enterprise. I worked in business for seven years. And let me tell you what I learned during that time.
Complicated taxes, excessive regulations they make life impossible for entrepreneurs.
So I will always put the same questions to Ken Clarke and his business team.
What are you doing to make it easier to start a business? Easier to take people on? What are you doing to make regulation less complicated? To make locating a business here more attractive?
Ken Clarke and David Willetts this week helped launch our plan to Get Britain Working.
It is a plan to boost science, skills, self-employment a plan to improve training, technology, tax incentives for entrepreneurs.
This is what it means.
It means the man whos lost his job and his confidence saying yes, I can set up on my own, I can take responsibility, theres nothing to stop me.
It means the people he takes on, who thought they were written off, thinking yes Ive got another chance and I can provide for my family again.
Self-belief is infectious and I want it to spread again throughout our country especially through the poorest places where Labour let hope fade away.
In Britain today, there are entrepreneurs everywhere they just dont know it yet. Success stories everywhere they just havent been written yet. We must be the people who release that potential.
FINANCIAL REFORM
And just a quick word to the man who says he abolished boom and bust and then saved the world.
It was you Gordon Brown who designed the system of financial regulation that helped cause the financial crisis. You want to keep it the same. We say it needs to change.
Thats why we will give back to the Bank of England its power to regulate the City powers that should never have been taken away.
BROKEN SOCIETY
But once were generating economic growth – what are we going to do with it? What kind of society do we hope to build?
Look at Britain in 2009. It is, in so many ways, a great place to live. Great culture and arts, great diversity, great sport.
And think of the great sport coming up next year England in the World Cup, then the Olympics, then rugby and cricket too. And yes, lets get the Football World Cup here in 2018 as well.
But in Britain today there is a dark side as well. After twelve years of big government, we still have those stubborn social problems.
Poverty, crime, addiction. Failing schools. Sink estates. Broken homes.
The truth is, its not just that big government has failed to solve these problems. Big government has all too often helped cause them by undermining the personal and social responsibility that should be the lifeblood of a strong society.
Just think of the signals we send out. To the family struggling to raise children, pay a mortgage, hold down a job.
Stay together and well give you less; split up and we give you more.
To the young mum working part time, trying to earn something extra for her family from every extra pound you earn well take back 96 pence.
Yes, 96 pence.
Let me say that again, slowly.
In Gordon Browns Britain if youre a single mother with two kids earning £150 a week the withdrawal of benefits and the additional taxes mean that for every extra pound you earn, you keep just 4 pence.
What kind of incentive is that? Thirty years ago this party won an election fighting against 98 per cent tax rates on the richest. Today I want us to show even more anger about 96 per cent tax rates on the poorest.
And in that fight, theres one person this party can rely on. Hes the man who has dedicated himself to the cause of social justiceand shown great courage in standing up for those least able to stand up for themselves. Iain Duncan Smith
And I am proud to announce today that if we win the election he will be responsible in government for bringing together all our work to help mend the broken society.
LABOUR AND POVERTY
Labour still have the arrogance to think that they are the ones who will fight poverty and deprivation.
On Monday, when we announced our plan to Get Britain Working you know what Labour called it? Callous.
Excuse me? Who made the poorest poorer? Who left youth unemployment higher? Who made inequality greater?
No, not the wicked Tories you, Labour: youre the ones that did this to our society.
So dont you dare lecture us about poverty. You have failed and it falls to us, the modern Conservative party to fight for the poorest who you have let down.
FAMILY
Well start with what is most important to me and what I believe is most important for the country – families.
I believe that a stable, loving home is the most precious thing a child can have. Society begins at home. Responsibility starts at home. Thats why we cannot be neutral on this.
Now I dont live in some fantasy land where every family is happily married with 2.4 kids. Nor am I going to stand here and pretend that family life is always easy.
But by recognising marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system and abolishing the couple penalty in the benefits system, well help make it that little bit easier.
But its not just about money. Its also about emotional support, particularly in those fraught early years before children go to school. Labour understood this and we should acknowledge that.
Thats why Sure Start will stay, and well improve it. We will keep flexible working, and extend it. And we will not just keep but transform something that was there long before Sure Start began health visitors.
But making the country more family-friendly is not just about what government does. Responsibility goes much wider. Its about what we all do. Its about the way we live.
Why arent we building homes with enough room for a family to sit round a table and actually eat a meal together?
Its about our culture. Why do so many magazines and websites and music videos make children insecure about the way they look or the experiences they havent even had?
And its about our society. We give our children more and more rights, and we trust our teachers less and less. Weve got to stop treating children like adults and adults like children.
It is about everyone taking responsibility. The more that we as a society do, the less we will need government to do.
WELFARE
But you cant expect families to behave responsibly when the welfare system works in the opposite direction.
In welfare, big government has failed people in a big way. There are two million children in Britain growing up in homes where no-one works. Two million.
That is the highest in Europe. It is one in six children in our country.
We have to break this cycle of welfare dependency.
I got an email from a guy called Viv Williams. He lost his job last year and was desperate to get back into work. But he had a mortgage to pay so he went to register for Job Seekers Allowance.
Hed twisted his ankle and walked in with a limp, so you know what they said? They told him he couldnt register for Job Seekers Allowance because he wasnt fit to work so hed have to go on incapacity benefit.
He told them there was nothing wrong with him, that he wanted to work. But no he wasnt allowed to.
This is a man who wanted to take responsibility for himself and his family and the system said no, youve got to depend on the state.
As he says: I told them, youre having a laugh. But its not funny. The welfare system today sends out completely crazy signals.
We have got to turn it around and with Theresa May and David Freud in charge we will. Were going to make it clear: If you really cannot work, well look after you. But if you can work, you should work and not live off the hard work of others.
NHS
So we have to reform welfare and strengthen families. But when I think of my family, in the end theres only one thing that matters and that is that the people I love are healthy and well.
My family owes so much to the National Health Service. No, it is not perfect. But I tell you, when youre carrying a child in your arms to Accident and Emergency in the middle of the night and dont have to reach for your wallet its a lot better than the alternative.
So we will never change the idea at the heart of our NHS, that healthcare in this country is free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not ability to pay.
But that doesnt mean the NHS shouldnt change. It has to change because for many people, the service isnt good enough. Mostly, thats not the fault of those who work in the NHS.
The fault lies with big government. With their endless targets and reorganisations, Labour have tried to run the NHS like a machine.
But its not a machine full of cogs. It is a living, breathing institution made up of people doctors, nurses, patients.
This lever-pulling from above it has got to stop. With Andrew Lansleys reform plans, were going to give the NHS back to people. Well say to the doctors: those targets you hate, theyre gone.
But in return, well do more for patients. Choice about where you get treated. Information about how good different doctors are, how good different hospitals are.
Information about the things that really matter, cancer survival times……the rate of hospital infections……your chances of surviving if you have a stroke.
We will give doctors back their professional responsibility.
But in exchange they will be subject to patient accountability. Thats why we can look the British people in the eye and say this party is the party of the NHS now, today, tomorrow, always.
CRIME
The instinct to protect the people we love is so strong. Nearly two years ago it was that instinct that love that drove Fiona Pilkington to do something desperate.
When I first read her story in the paper I found it difficult to finish the article its one of the saddest things Ive ever read.
Fiona was so driven to despair by the vile thugs that bullied her and her lovely disabled daughter Francecca and by the police that didnt answer her cries for help that she could only see one way out. She put her daughter in her car, drove to a lay-by, and set it on fire.
If no one would protect them then by ending their lives, she was keeping them safe.
No one could hurt them anymore. Just think about what we allowed to happen here in our country. This goes deep and its been going on for years.
It is about a breakdown of all the things that are meant to keep us safe……a complete breakdown of responsibility.
A breakdown of morality in the minds of those thugs a total absence of feeling or conscience. A breakdown in community where a neighbour is left to reach a pitch of utter misery. And a breakdown of our criminal justice system.
Every part of it, the police, the prosecution services, the prisons……is failing under the weight of big government targets and bureaucracy. The police arent on the streets because theyre busy complying with ten different inspection regimes. The police say the CPS isnt charging peoplebecause they have to hit targets to reduce the number of unsuccessful trials.
And the prisons arent rehabilitating offendersbecause theyre focused on meeting thirty-three different performance indicators.
This all needs to change. Im not going to stand here and promise you a country where nothing bad ever happens. I do not underestimate how difficult it will be to deal with this problem of crime and disorder.
We cannot rebuild social responsibility from on high. But the least we can do the least we can do is pledge to all the people who are scared, who live their lives in fear and who cant protect themselves, that a Conservative Government, with Chris Grayling, with Dominic Grieve, will reform the police, reform the courts, reform prisons. We will be there to protect you.
TERRORISM
We understand too the grave responsibility we will have to protect our people from terrorism. This party knows only too well the pain and grief that terrorism brings.
Twenty-five years ago, almost to the day on the Thursday night of our party conference in Brighton, the IRA exploded a bomb that injured and killed good friends and colleagues.
Today let us honour their memory and send our thoughts and best wishes to all those, including Margaret Tebbit, who still bear the scars of that terrible night.
SCHOOLS
To build a responsible society we need to teach our children properly. I come at education as a parent, not a politician.
When I watch my daughter skip across the playground to start her first term in year one, I want to know that every penny of the education budget is following her and the other children into that school and that classroom.
So when I see Ed Balls blow hundreds of millions on so-called curriculum development on consultancies, on quangos like the QCDA and BECTA like every other parent with a child at a state school I want to say:
This is my child, it's my money, give it to my headteacher instead of wasting it in Whitehall.
But its not just about money. Its about values. We know that discipline is vital but we overrule head teachers when they exclude a disruptive pupil.
We know that every child has different abilities and different needs but too often we put them all in the same class so the brightest arent stretched and those who are struggling fall behind.
We know that competitive sport is important but weve had minister after minister promising it and nothing ever happens.
Discipline. Setting by ability. Regular sport.
These are all things you find in a private school. Not because the Government tells them to do it, but because its what parents want. Why cant parents in state schools always get what they want?
With us, they will, because our reforms will create more good schools and more school places. Yes, our plans will increase competition and no, that is not a dirty word. It means that when a good new school opens down the road, the other ones around it will want to improve. Big government has totally failed in state education and with Michael Gove we will get the radical change we need.
COUNTRY
Family, community, country. In recent years weve been hearing things about our country we havent heard for a long time. People saying they dont know what it is to be British, what this country stands for.
People in Scotland who want to leave the United Kingdom and people in England who say let them go.
I am passionate about our Union and I will never do anything to put it at risk. And because of the new political force we have created with the Ulster Unionists, Im proud that at the next election we will be the only party fielding candidates in every part of the United Kingdom.
Britishness is not mechanical, its organic. Its an emotional connection to a way of life, an attitude, a set of institutions.
Make these stronger and our national identity becomes stronger. To be British is to be open-minded.
We dont care who you are or where youre from, if youve got something to offer then this is a place you can call home.
But if we want our country to carry on with this proud, open tradition, weve got to understand the pressures of mass immigration and thats why we need to put limits on it.
To be British is to be generous. Whenever theres a disaster on the other side of the world, British people dig deep into their pockets and give their money. Comic Relief didnt raise less money this year because of the recession it raised more.
That says big things about our country, and government should reflect that. Thats why Im proud that weve ring-fenced the budget for international development.
To be British is to be sceptical of authority and the powers-that-be.
Thats why ID cards, 42 days and Labours surveillance state are so utterly unacceptable and why we will sweep the whole rotten edifice away.
And to be British is to have an instinctive love of the countryside and the natural world. The dangers of climate change are stark and very real. If we dont act now, and act quickly, we could face disaster.
Yes, we need to change the way we live. But is that such a bad thing? The insatiable consumption and materialism of the past decade, has it made us happier or more fulfilled?
Yes, we have to put our faith in technologies. But that is not a giant leap. Just around the corner are new green technologies, unimaginable a decade ago, that can change the way we live, travel, work.
And yes, we need global co-operation. But that shouldnt be difficult. It just takes leadership, and thats what we need at the Copenhagen summit this December.
POLITICS
But if you care about our country, youve got to care about the health of our institutions. And today one of them, more than any other, is in a serious state of decline.
Our parliament used to be a beacon to the world. But the expenses scandal made it a laughing stock.
We apologised to the public, paid back the money that shouldnt have been claimed……and published all our expenses online to help stop this happening again.
Weve led the way in other areas too……MPs pay and pensions, cutting the cost of politics. But let me make something clear – this is not over.
We are just starting the job of building the new politics we need. Because the anger over expenses reflected something deeper. The sense that people have been left powerless by big government.
So it is time to shake things up. We need to redistribute power and responsibility. Its your community and you should have control over it……so we need decentralisation. Its your money and you should know what is being done with it……so we need transparency. Its your life thats affected by political decisions and the people who make those decisions should answer to you, so we need accountability.
EU
But if there is one political institution that needs decentralisation, transparency, and accountability, it is the EU.
For the past few decades, something strange has been happening on the left of British politics. People who think of themselves as progressives have fallen in love with an institution that no one elects, no one can remove, and that hasnt signed off its accounts for over a decade.
Indeed even to question these things is, apparently, completely beyond the pale. Well, here is a progressive reform plan for Europe.
Lets work together on the things where the EU can really help, like combating climate change, fighting global poverty and spreading free and fair trade.
But lets return to democratic and accountable politics the powers the EU shouldnt have.
And if we win the election, we will have as the strongest voice for our countrys interests, the man who is leading our campaign for a referendum, the man who will be our new British Foreign Secretary: William Hague.
WHAT WE CAN PROMISE
Family, community, country.
Recognising that what holds society together is responsibility……and that the good society is a responsible society. Thats what Im about thats what any government I lead will be about.
The problems we face are big and urgent. Rebuilding our broken economy……because unless we do, our children will be saddled with debt for decades to come.
Mending our broken society……because unless we do, we will never solve those stubborn social problems that cause the size of government to rise.
Fixing our broken politics……because unless we do, we will never reform public services……never see the strong, powerful citizenswho will build the responsible society that we all want to see.
This week youve heard about our plans, our policies, the changes we want to make and the team to put them in place.
But I know that whatever plans you make in Opposition, its the unpredictable events that come to dominate a government.
And its your character, your temperament and your judgment, not your policies and your manifesto that really make the difference.
You can never prove youre ready for everything that will come your way as Prime Minister. But you can point to the judgments youve made. And you can learn from the mistakes that others have made.
Ive seen what happens when you win and you waste your mandate obsessing about the 24 hour news cycle and fighting each day as if its a new general election, ducking the difficult things that would have really made a difference.
That was Blair. And Ive seen what happens when you turn every decision into a political calculation. That was that is Brown.
So I wont promise things I cannot deliver. But I can look you in the eye and tell you that in a Conservative Britain:
If you put in the effort to bring in a wage, you will be better off. If you save money your whole life, youll be rewarded. If you start your own business, well be right behind you. If you want to raise a family, well support you. If youre frightened, well protect you.If you risk your safety to stop a crime, well stand by you. If you risk your life to fight for your country, we will honour you.
Ask me what a Conservative government stands for and the answer is this, we will reward those who take responsibility, and care for those who cant.
So if we cut big government back. If we move society forward.
And if we rebuild responsibility, then we can put Britain back on her feet.I know that today there arent many reasons to be cheerful.
But there are reasons to believe. Yes it will be a steep climb. But the view from the summit will be worth it. Let me tell you what I can see.
I see a country where more children grow up with security and love because family life comes first. I see a country where you choose the most important things in life – the school your child goes to and the healthcare you get. I see a country where communities govern themselves – organising local services, independent of Whitehall, a great handing back of power to people.
I see a country with entrepreneurs everywhere, bringing their ideas to life – and life to our great towns and cities. I see a country where its not just about the quantity of money, but the quality of life – where we lead the world in saving our planet. I see a country where youre not so afraid to walk home alone, where youre safe in the knowledge that right and wrong is restored to law and order.
I see a country where the poorest children go to the best schools not the worst, where birth is never a barrier.
No, we will not make it if we pull in different directions, follow our own interests, take care of only ourselves.
But if we pull together, come together, work together – we will get through this together.
And when we look back we will say not that the government made it happen…
Brighton Printing – Does anyone know where I can print off my boarding pass in Manchester Airport? I did online check ? – Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers
Does anyone know where I can print off my boarding pass in Manchester Airport? I did online check ?
No access to printer, flying out tomorrow?
Hey Readers! I’ve been comin across some crazy stuff the past few days from a few different blogs around the web which I just had to share with you. Check em out below…
Applause letters for Oct. 24
High schools — Gema Monreal, Brighton; Marie Rita, Eagle Valley; Maria Castillo, Fort Lupton; Lance Hochanadel, Fort Morgan; Laura de Groote and Janna … Read More…
Wanted: owner of 700 missing photographs
A memory card with more than 700 pictures has been found outside the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Allan Porthouse found the stick containing this image at … Read More…
Sick of pink
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Texas-based 900-pound gorilla of breast cancer fund-raising, has turned cause marketing into a money-printing machine. … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.
David Cameron: Speech on the future of Britain – Yahoo! News UK
I want to get straight to the point.
We all know how bad things are, massive debt, social breakdown, political disenchantment. But what I want to talk about today is how good things could be.
Dont get me wrong, I have no illusions. If win this election, it is going to be tough. There will have to be cutbacks in public spending, and that will be painful. We will need to confront Britains culture of irresponsibility and that will be hard to take for many people. And we will have to tear down Labours big government bureaucracy, ripping up its time-wasting, money-draining, responsibility-sapping nonsense.
None of this will be easy. We will be tested. I will be tested. Im ready for that and so I believe, are the British people. So yes, there is a steep climb ahead.
But I tell you this. The view from the summit will be worth it.
AFGHANISTAN
If we win the election the first and gravest responsibility I will face is for our troops in Afghanistan and their families at home.
I know that.
I know about the mothers and the wives, the husbands and the children, counting the minutes between news bulletins, fearing the announcement of the next casualty. I know what they want and deserve – from their government. A ruthless, relentless focus on fighting, winning and coming home.
That must start at the top. Instead of a revolving door at the Ministry of Defence with a second rate substitute in charge, we need a politician from the front rank, and in Liam Fox we have one.
We need a clear chain of command that flows right from the top. My national security council, with the key ministers and defence chiefs, will sit from day one of a new government, as a war cabinet.
We need a strategy that is credible, and do-able. We are not in Afghanistan to deliver the perfect society. We are there to stop the re-establishment of terrorist training camps.
Frankly, time is short. We cannot spend another eight years taking ground only to give it back again.
So our method should be clear……send more soldiers to train more Afghans to deliver the security we need. Then we can bring our troops home.
And I know the most urgent requirement of all. That those brave men and women we send into danger have every piece of equipment they need to do the job we ask of them. I will make sure that happens.
And I have something else to say. When the country is at war, when Whitehall is at war, we need people who understand war in Whitehall.
Thats why Im proud to announce today that someone who has fought for our country and served for forty years in our armed forces will not only advise our defence team but will join our benches in the House of Lords and if we win the election could serve in a future Conservative Government:
General Sir Richard Dannatt. As we welcome him to serve with us, let us all salute those who serve our country.
FAMILY, COMMUNITY, COUNTRY
We could have come to Manchester this week and played it safe. But thats not what this party is about and its certainly not what Im about.
When I stood on that stage in Blackpool four years ago it wasnt just to head up this party, sit around and wait for the tide to turn. It was to lead this party and change it, so together we could turn the tide.
Look what weve done together. More women candidates, campaigning on the environment, the party of the NHS. And this year, here in Manchester, our most successful, dynamic conference for twenty years.
Id like to thank everyone involved, the police who kept us safe and your chum and mine, Eric Pickles.
But also this year, in these difficult times, weve won the argument on the economy and debt as George Osborne showed in that magnificent speech on Tuesday.
That was the success we achieved this year.
But for me and Samantha this year will only ever mean one thing. When such a big part of your life suddenly ends nothing else – nothing outside – matters. Its like the world has stopped turning and the clocks have stopped ticking. And as they slowly start again, weeks later, you ask yourself all over again: do I really want to do this? You think about what you really believe and what sustains you.
I know what sustains me the most. She is sitting right there and Im incredibly proud to call her my wife.
My beliefs. I am not a complicated person. I love this country and the things it stands for.
That the state is your servant, never your master. Common sense and decency. The British sense of community.
I have some simple beliefs.That there is such a thing as society, its just not the same thing as the state. That there is a we in politics, and not just a me.
Above all, the importance of family. That fierce sense of loyalty you feel for each other. The unconditional love you give and receive, especially when things go wrong or when you get it wrong. That powerful sense you have when you hold your children and theres nothing, absolutely nothing – you wouldnt do to protect them.
This is my DNA: family, community, country. These are the things I care about. They are what made me. They are what Im in public service to protect, promote and defend. And I believe they are what we need in Britain today more than ever.
I know how lucky Ive been to have the chances I had. And I know there are children growing up in Britain today who will never know the love of a father. Who are born in homes that hold them back. Who go to schools that keep them back.
Children who will never start a business, never raise a family, never see the world. Children who will live the life theyre given, not the life they want. That is what I want to change.
I want every child to have the chances I had. That is why Im standing here.
BIG GOVERNMENT
But we wont help anyone unless we face up to some big problems. The highest budget deficit since the war. The deepest recession since the war. Social breakdown; political disillusionment. Big problems for the next government to address.
And here is the big argument in British politics today, put plainly and simply. Labour say that to solve the countrys problems, we need more government.
Dont they see? It is more government that got us into this mess.
Why is our economy broken? Not just because Labour wrongly thought theyd abolished boom and bust. But because government got too big, spent too much and doubled the national debt.
Why is our society broken? Because government got too big, did too much and undermined responsibility.
Why are our politics broken? Because government got too big, promised too much and pretended it had all the answers.
Of course it was done with the best intentions. And lets be clear: not everything Labour did was wrong.
Devolution; the minimum wage; civil partnerships, these are good things that we will we keep.
But this idea that for every problem theres a government solution for every issue an initiative, for every situation a czar….
It ends with them making you register with the government to help out your childs football team. With police officers punished for babysitting each others children. With laws so bureaucratic and complicated even their own attorney general cant obey them.
Do you know the worst thing about their big government? Its not the cost, though thats bad enough. It is the steady erosion of responsibility. Our task is to lead Britain in a completely different direction.
So no, we are not going to solve our problems with bigger government. We are going to solve our problems with a stronger society. Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger country. All by rebuilding responsibility.
THE DEBT CRISIS
The clearest sign of big government irresponsibility is the enormous size of our debt.
If we win the election, we will have to confront Labours Debt Crisis, deal with it, and take the country with us. I want everyone to understand the gravity of our situation.
Our national debt has doubled in the last five years and our annual deficit next year will be over £170bn.
Thats twice as big as when we nearly went bankrupt in the 1970s. It is a massive risk to our economy. If we spend more than we earn, we have to get the money from somewhere.
Right now, the government is simply printing it. Sometime soon that will have to stop, because in the end, printing money leads to inflation. Then the government will have to borrow it.
But well only be given the money if lenders are confident we can pay it back. If theyre not, well have to pay higher interest rates and that could stop our economic recovery in its tracks.
So we have three choices.
Option one: we can just default on the debt. Not pay it. Other countries have done that in the past. But I dont think anyone in this country wants to go down that road.
Option two: we could encourage inflation, which would wipe out the value of the debt, making it easier to pay off. But thats not just an economic disaster its a social disaster too. It doesnt just wipe out debts, it wipes out peoples hard-earned savings.
So we have the third option – for me the only option. We must pay down this deficit. The longer we leave it, the worse it will be for all of us.
I know there are some who say we should just wait.
Dont talk about the deficit. Dont even plan for what needs to be done. Just wait. Dont they understand its the waiting thats the problem.
The longer we wait for a credible plan, the bigger the bill for our children to pay. The longer we wait, the greater the risk to the recovery. The longer we wait, the higher the chance we return to recession.
Heres the most obvious reason we cant wait. The more we wait, the more we waste on the interest were paying on this debt.
Next year, Gordon Brown will spend more money on the interest on our debt than on schools. More than on law and order, more than on child poverty.
So I say to the Labour Party and the trades unions just tell me what is compassionate, what is progressive about spending more on debt interest than on helping the poorest children in our country?
The progressive thing to do, the responsible thing to do is to get a grip on the debt but in a way that brings the country together instead of driving it apart. That means showing leadership at the top which is why we will cut ministers pay and freeze it for a parliament.
It means showing that were all in this together which is why well freeze public sector pay for all but the one million lowest paid public sector workers……for one year to help protect jobs.
And it means showing that the rich will pay their share which is why for now the 50p tax rate will have to stay and Child Trust Funds for those on middle and higher incomes will have to go.
Yes we have made some tough choices. But in British politics today that is the only responsible thing to do.
PENSIONERS
Dealing with this debt crisis is not just about cuts in the short term. We must also live within our means over the long term. Everyone knows we have an ageing population.
Our pension system was designed in a time when many people didnt live till 70 . It is out of date and it has to change. Thats why this week we made the difficult decision to bring forward the raising of the pension age.
I know that working longer will be tough for many people. But it will also allow us to help pensioners more.
I got an email from a lady who wrote to me in desperation. She doesnt want me to reveal her name because shes so frightened of what might happen to her.
She and her husband left school at fifteen and started work straight away. They bought their own home, where theyve lived for forty years. But theyve been let down terribly. She lost out on the 10p tax and took a drop in her pension. She and her husband arent entitled to pension credit because they saved for their old age.
Heres what she says:
during the cold spell this winter, we sat watching TV with blankets wrapped around us.
The drug dealer and the druggies who live nearby had their windows wide open and the heating full on.
We dont bother watching police dramas on the TV, we just look out of our window.
Our savings are making no money.
If one of us dies we cannot afford to stay in our home.
This lady doesnt want pity. Pensioners dont want pity. They just want to know that if theyve lived responsibly, theyll be looked after in their old age.
Parties have been talking about raising the pension in line with earnings for years. But it never happens.
Well lets be the party that finally makes it happen. Because of the difficult choice weve made on the pension age well be able not just to deal with our debt but to raise the basic state pension in line with earnings. Not just for one year, but for every year.
GROWTH
Cutting back on big government is not just about spending less. Getting our debt down means getting our economic growth up.
Lets be clear where growth will come from. Not big government, with its Regional Development Agencies and National Investment Corporations but entrepreneurs. New businesses, new industries, new technologies.
I get enterprise. I worked in business for seven years. And let me tell you what I learned during that time.
Complicated taxes, excessive regulations they make life impossible for entrepreneurs.
So I will always put the same questions to Ken Clarke and his business team.
What are you doing to make it easier to start a business? Easier to take people on? What are you doing to make regulation less complicated? To make locating a business here more attractive?
Ken Clarke and David Willetts this week helped launch our plan to Get Britain Working.
It is a plan to boost science, skills, self-employment a plan to improve training, technology, tax incentives for entrepreneurs.
This is what it means.
It means the man whos lost his job and his confidence saying yes, I can set up on my own, I can take responsibility, theres nothing to stop me.
It means the people he takes on, who thought they were written off, thinking yes Ive got another chance and I can provide for my family again.
Self-belief is infectious and I want it to spread again throughout our country especially through the poorest places where Labour let hope fade away.
In Britain today, there are entrepreneurs everywhere they just dont know it yet. Success stories everywhere they just havent been written yet. We must be the people who release that potential.
FINANCIAL REFORM
And just a quick word to the man who says he abolished boom and bust and then saved the world.
It was you Gordon Brown who designed the system of financial regulation that helped cause the financial crisis. You want to keep it the same. We say it needs to change.
Thats why we will give back to the Bank of England its power to regulate the City powers that should never have been taken away.
BROKEN SOCIETY
But once were generating economic growth – what are we going to do with it? What kind of society do we hope to build?
Look at Britain in 2009. It is, in so many ways, a great place to live. Great culture and arts, great diversity, great sport.
And think of the great sport coming up next year England in the World Cup, then the Olympics, then rugby and cricket too. And yes, lets get the Football World Cup here in 2018 as well.
But in Britain today there is a dark side as well. After twelve years of big government, we still have those stubborn social problems.
Poverty, crime, addiction. Failing schools. Sink estates. Broken homes.
The truth is, its not just that big government has failed to solve these problems. Big government has all too often helped cause them by undermining the personal and social responsibility that should be the lifeblood of a strong society.
Just think of the signals we send out. To the family struggling to raise children, pay a mortgage, hold down a job.
Stay together and well give you less; split up and we give you more.
To the young mum working part time, trying to earn something extra for her family from every extra pound you earn well take back 96 pence.
Yes, 96 pence.
Let me say that again, slowly.
In Gordon Browns Britain if youre a single mother with two kids earning £150 a week the withdrawal of benefits and the additional taxes mean that for every extra pound you earn, you keep just 4 pence.
What kind of incentive is that? Thirty years ago this party won an election fighting against 98 per cent tax rates on the richest. Today I want us to show even more anger about 96 per cent tax rates on the poorest.
And in that fight, theres one person this party can rely on. Hes the man who has dedicated himself to the cause of social justiceand shown great courage in standing up for those least able to stand up for themselves. Iain Duncan Smith
And I am proud to announce today that if we win the election he will be responsible in government for bringing together all our work to help mend the broken society.
LABOUR AND POVERTY
Labour still have the arrogance to think that they are the ones who will fight poverty and deprivation.
On Monday, when we announced our plan to Get Britain Working you know what Labour called it? Callous.
Excuse me? Who made the poorest poorer? Who left youth unemployment higher? Who made inequality greater?
No, not the wicked Tories you, Labour: youre the ones that did this to our society.
So dont you dare lecture us about poverty. You have failed and it falls to us, the modern Conservative party to fight for the poorest who you have let down.
FAMILY
Well start with what is most important to me and what I believe is most important for the country – families.
I believe that a stable, loving home is the most precious thing a child can have. Society begins at home. Responsibility starts at home. Thats why we cannot be neutral on this.
Now I dont live in some fantasy land where every family is happily married with 2.4 kids. Nor am I going to stand here and pretend that family life is always easy.
But by recognising marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system and abolishing the couple penalty in the benefits system, well help make it that little bit easier.
But its not just about money. Its also about emotional support, particularly in those fraught early years before children go to school. Labour understood this and we should acknowledge that.
Thats why Sure Start will stay, and well improve it. We will keep flexible working, and extend it. And we will not just keep but transform something that was there long before Sure Start began health visitors.
But making the country more family-friendly is not just about what government does. Responsibility goes much wider. Its about what we all do. Its about the way we live.
Why arent we building homes with enough room for a family to sit round a table and actually eat a meal together?
Its about our culture. Why do so many magazines and websites and music videos make children insecure about the way they look or the experiences they havent even had?
And its about our society. We give our children more and more rights, and we trust our teachers less and less. Weve got to stop treating children like adults and adults like children.
It is about everyone taking responsibility. The more that we as a society do, the less we will need government to do.
WELFARE
But you cant expect families to behave responsibly when the welfare system works in the opposite direction.
In welfare, big government has failed people in a big way. There are two million children in Britain growing up in homes where no-one works. Two million.
That is the highest in Europe. It is one in six children in our country.
We have to break this cycle of welfare dependency.
I got an email from a guy called Viv Williams. He lost his job last year and was desperate to get back into work. But he had a mortgage to pay so he went to register for Job Seekers Allowance.
Hed twisted his ankle and walked in with a limp, so you know what they said? They told him he couldnt register for Job Seekers Allowance because he wasnt fit to work so hed have to go on incapacity benefit.
He told them there was nothing wrong with him, that he wanted to work. But no he wasnt allowed to.
This is a man who wanted to take responsibility for himself and his family and the system said no, youve got to depend on the state.
As he says: I told them, youre having a laugh. But its not funny. The welfare system today sends out completely crazy signals.
We have got to turn it around and with Theresa May and David Freud in charge we will. Were going to make it clear: If you really cannot work, well look after you. But if you can work, you should work and not live off the hard work of others.
NHS
So we have to reform welfare and strengthen families. But when I think of my family, in the end theres only one thing that matters and that is that the people I love are healthy and well.
My family owes so much to the National Health Service. No, it is not perfect. But I tell you, when youre carrying a child in your arms to Accident and Emergency in the middle of the night and dont have to reach for your wallet its a lot better than the alternative.
So we will never change the idea at the heart of our NHS, that healthcare in this country is free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not ability to pay.
But that doesnt mean the NHS shouldnt change. It has to change because for many people, the service isnt good enough. Mostly, thats not the fault of those who work in the NHS.
The fault lies with big government. With their endless targets and reorganisations, Labour have tried to run the NHS like a machine.
But its not a machine full of cogs. It is a living, breathing institution made up of people doctors, nurses, patients.
This lever-pulling from above it has got to stop. With Andrew Lansleys reform plans, were going to give the NHS back to people. Well say to the doctors: those targets you hate, theyre gone.
But in return, well do more for patients. Choice about where you get treated. Information about how good different doctors are, how good different hospitals are.
Information about the things that really matter, cancer survival times……the rate of hospital infections……your chances of surviving if you have a stroke.
We will give doctors back their professional responsibility.
But in exchange they will be subject to patient accountability. Thats why we can look the British people in the eye and say this party is the party of the NHS now, today, tomorrow, always.
CRIME
The instinct to protect the people we love is so strong. Nearly two years ago it was that instinct that love that drove Fiona Pilkington to do something desperate.
When I first read her story in the paper I found it difficult to finish the article its one of the saddest things Ive ever read.
Fiona was so driven to despair by the vile thugs that bullied her and her lovely disabled daughter Francecca and by the police that didnt answer her cries for help that she could only see one way out. She put her daughter in her car, drove to a lay-by, and set it on fire.
If no one would protect them then by ending their lives, she was keeping them safe.
No one could hurt them anymore. Just think about what we allowed to happen here in our country. This goes deep and its been going on for years.
It is about a breakdown of all the things that are meant to keep us safe……a complete breakdown of responsibility.
A breakdown of morality in the minds of those thugs a total absence of feeling or conscience. A breakdown in community where a neighbour is left to reach a pitch of utter misery. And a breakdown of our criminal justice system.
Every part of it, the police, the prosecution services, the prisons……is failing under the weight of big government targets and bureaucracy. The police arent on the streets because theyre busy complying with ten different inspection regimes. The police say the CPS isnt charging peoplebecause they have to hit targets to reduce the number of unsuccessful trials.
And the prisons arent rehabilitating offendersbecause theyre focused on meeting thirty-three different performance indicators.
This all needs to change. Im not going to stand here and promise you a country where nothing bad ever happens. I do not underestimate how difficult it will be to deal with this problem of crime and disorder.
We cannot rebuild social responsibility from on high. But the least we can do the least we can do is pledge to all the people who are scared, who live their lives in fear and who cant protect themselves, that a Conservative Government, with Chris Grayling, with Dominic Grieve, will reform the police, reform the courts, reform prisons. We will be there to protect you.
TERRORISM
We understand too the grave responsibility we will have to protect our people from terrorism. This party knows only too well the pain and grief that terrorism brings.
Twenty-five years ago, almost to the day on the Thursday night of our party conference in Brighton, the IRA exploded a bomb that injured and killed good friends and colleagues.
Today let us honour their memory and send our thoughts and best wishes to all those, including Margaret Tebbit, who still bear the scars of that terrible night.
SCHOOLS
To build a responsible society we need to teach our children properly. I come at education as a parent, not a politician.
When I watch my daughter skip across the playground to start her first term in year one, I want to know that every penny of the education budget is following her and the other children into that school and that classroom.
So when I see Ed Balls blow hundreds of millions on so-called curriculum development on consultancies, on quangos like the QCDA and BECTA like every other parent with a child at a state school I want to say:
This is my child, it's my money, give it to my headteacher instead of wasting it in Whitehall.
But its not just about money. Its about values. We know that discipline is vital but we overrule head teachers when they exclude a disruptive pupil.
We know that every child has different abilities and different needs but too often we put them all in the same class so the brightest arent stretched and those who are struggling fall behind.
We know that competitive sport is important but weve had minister after minister promising it and nothing ever happens.
Discipline. Setting by ability. Regular sport.
These are all things you find in a private school. Not because the Government tells them to do it, but because its what parents want. Why cant parents in state schools always get what they want?
With us, they will, because our reforms will create more good schools and more school places. Yes, our plans will increase competition and no, that is not a dirty word. It means that when a good new school opens down the road, the other ones around it will want to improve. Big government has totally failed in state education and with Michael Gove we will get the radical change we need.
COUNTRY
Family, community, country. In recent years weve been hearing things about our country we havent heard for a long time. People saying they dont know what it is to be British, what this country stands for.
People in Scotland who want to leave the United Kingdom and people in England who say let them go.
I am passionate about our Union and I will never do anything to put it at risk. And because of the new political force we have created with the Ulster Unionists, Im proud that at the next election we will be the only party fielding candidates in every part of the United Kingdom.
Britishness is not mechanical, its organic. Its an emotional connection to a way of life, an attitude, a set of institutions.
Make these stronger and our national identity becomes stronger. To be British is to be open-minded.
We dont care who you are or where youre from, if youve got something to offer then this is a place you can call home.
But if we want our country to carry on with this proud, open tradition, weve got to understand the pressures of mass immigration and thats why we need to put limits on it.
To be British is to be generous. Whenever theres a disaster on the other side of the world, British people dig deep into their pockets and give their money. Comic Relief didnt raise less money this year because of the recession it raised more.
That says big things about our country, and government should reflect that. Thats why Im proud that weve ring-fenced the budget for international development.
To be British is to be sceptical of authority and the powers-that-be.
Thats why ID cards, 42 days and Labours surveillance state are so utterly unacceptable and why we will sweep the whole rotten edifice away.
And to be British is to have an instinctive love of the countryside and the natural world. The dangers of climate change are stark and very real. If we dont act now, and act quickly, we could face disaster.
Yes, we need to change the way we live. But is that such a bad thing? The insatiable consumption and materialism of the past decade, has it made us happier or more fulfilled?
Yes, we have to put our faith in technologies. But that is not a giant leap. Just around the corner are new green technologies, unimaginable a decade ago, that can change the way we live, travel, work.
And yes, we need global co-operation. But that shouldnt be difficult. It just takes leadership, and thats what we need at the Copenhagen summit this December.
POLITICS
But if you care about our country, youve got to care about the health of our institutions. And today one of them, more than any other, is in a serious state of decline.
Our parliament used to be a beacon to the world. But the expenses scandal made it a laughing stock.
We apologised to the public, paid back the money that shouldnt have been claimed……and published all our expenses online to help stop this happening again.
Weve led the way in other areas too……MPs pay and pensions, cutting the cost of politics. But let me make something clear – this is not over.
We are just starting the job of building the new politics we need. Because the anger over expenses reflected something deeper. The sense that people have been left powerless by big government.
So it is time to shake things up. We need to redistribute power and responsibility. Its your community and you should have control over it……so we need decentralisation. Its your money and you should know what is being done with it……so we need transparency. Its your life thats affected by political decisions and the people who make those decisions should answer to you, so we need accountability.
EU
But if there is one political institution that needs decentralisation, transparency, and accountability, it is the EU.
For the past few decades, something strange has been happening on the left of British politics. People who think of themselves as progressives have fallen in love with an institution that no one elects, no one can remove, and that hasnt signed off its accounts for over a decade.
Indeed even to question these things is, apparently, completely beyond the pale. Well, here is a progressive reform plan for Europe.
Lets work together on the things where the EU can really help, like combating climate change, fighting global poverty and spreading free and fair trade.
But lets return to democratic and accountable politics the powers the EU shouldnt have.
And if we win the election, we will have as the strongest voice for our countrys interests, the man who is leading our campaign for a referendum, the man who will be our new British Foreign Secretary: William Hague.
WHAT WE CAN PROMISE
Family, community, country.
Recognising that what holds society together is responsibility……and that the good society is a responsible society. Thats what Im about thats what any government I lead will be about.
The problems we face are big and urgent. Rebuilding our broken economy……because unless we do, our children will be saddled with debt for decades to come.
Mending our broken society……because unless we do, we will never solve those stubborn social problems that cause the size of government to rise.
Fixing our broken politics……because unless we do, we will never reform public services……never see the strong, powerful citizenswho will build the responsible society that we all want to see.
This week youve heard about our plans, our policies, the changes we want to make and the team to put them in place.
But I know that whatever plans you make in Opposition, its the unpredictable events that come to dominate a government.
And its your character, your temperament and your judgment, not your policies and your manifesto that really make the difference.
You can never prove youre ready for everything that will come your way as Prime Minister. But you can point to the judgments youve made. And you can learn from the mistakes that others have made.
Ive seen what happens when you win and you waste your mandate obsessing about the 24 hour news cycle and fighting each day as if its a new general election, ducking the difficult things that would have really made a difference.
That was Blair. And Ive seen what happens when you turn every decision into a political calculation. That was that is Brown.
So I wont promise things I cannot deliver. But I can look you in the eye and tell you that in a Conservative Britain:
If you put in the effort to bring in a wage, you will be better off. If you save money your whole life, youll be rewarded. If you start your own business, well be right behind you. If you want to raise a family, well support you. If youre frightened, well protect you.If you risk your safety to stop a crime, well stand by you. If you risk your life to fight for your country, we will honour you.
Ask me what a Conservative government stands for and the answer is this, we will reward those who take responsibility, and care for those who cant.
So if we cut big government back. If we move society forward.
And if we rebuild responsibility, then we can put Britain back on her feet.I know that today there arent many reasons to be cheerful.
But there are reasons to believe. Yes it will be a steep climb. But the view from the summit will be worth it. Let me tell you what I can see.
I see a country where more children grow up with security and love because family life comes first. I see a country where you choose the most important things in life – the school your child goes to and the healthcare you get. I see a country where communities govern themselves – organising local services, independent of Whitehall, a great handing back of power to people.
I see a country with entrepreneurs everywhere, bringing their ideas to life – and life to our great towns and cities. I see a country where its not just about the quantity of money, but the quality of life – where we lead the world in saving our planet. I see a country where youre not so afraid to walk home alone, where youre safe in the knowledge that right and wrong is restored to law and order.
I see a country where the poorest children go to the best schools not the worst, where birth is never a barrier.
No, we will not make it if we pull in different directions, follow our own interests, take care of only ourselves.
But if we pull together, come together, work together – we will get through this together.
And when we look back we will say not that the government made it happen…
…not that the minister made it happen…
…but the businesswoman made it happen…
…the police officer made it happen…
…the father made it happen…
…the teacher made it happen.
You made it happen.
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