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By Shane Croucher: Subscribe to Shane's RSS feed | October 10, 2012 10:53 AM GMT
12:31 BST So, in all...
Plenty of attacks on Labour, who he accused of starting a "class war", staunch commitment for welfare cuts because the system is "unfair", no movement on spending as he reaffirms austerity policy, focus on education with more free schools to be created, a brand new soundbite in the form of "aspiration nation", though there were suprisingly few announcements to be made in the speech - no rabbits in the hat.
Thanks for following our live blog - stay tuned for the imminent write up.
12:26 BST "Let us here in this hall, here in this government, together in this country make this pledge: let's build an aspiration nation.
"Let's get Britain on the rise. Deficit, paid down. Tough decisions, taken. Growth, fired up. Aspiration, backed all the way. We know what it takes to win, to win in the tough world of today, to win for all our people, to win for Britain.
"So let's get out there and do it."
And so Cameron finishes to rapturous applause and a standing ovation.
12:24 BST Says this country "is unbeatable."
Lists achievements such as defeating Nazis, scientific advances such as world wide web and DNA deconstruction, making Queen jump out of a helicopter for a laugh at the Olympics.
12:21 BST "I'm not here to defend privilege, I'm here to spread it."
Moves on to personal story section of speech. Mentions his dad, a stockbroker from Berkshire and talks of the struggle he had. Was born with deformities in his legs and had trouble.
"But my dad was the eternal optimist and to him the glass was always half full, usually with something rather alcoholic in it."
Says his dad told him what made him most proud was working hard since he left school to support his family.
"Not a hard luck story, but a hard work story."
12:20 BST Criticises "toxic culture of low expectations" that has seen "children left behind". Wants more ambition and aspiration and education.
12:17 BST Says we've heard of pushy parents in education, "well we are a pushy government".
"When we have proposed free schools in some areas the left wing establishment has said no."
Blames local authorities and teaching unions for "standing in the way" of free schools and academies.
12:16 BST Must do more to better educate children says Cameron, rather than "bloating" the grades each year. Praising academies and free schools.
"These are states schools but are carrying all the expectations ... of private schools. These are independent schools - yes, independent schools - in the state sector."
12:15 BST "Work isn't slavery, it's poverty that is slavery and let us the modern compassionate Conservatives lead the fight against poverty in Britain today."
12:11 BST Cameron bemoaning £80bn yearly welfare bill and that more children live in workless households in UK than many other parts of Europe.
"Welfare isn't working, and this is a tragedy."
Says wants to tackle unfairness of person going to work to pay taxes so others can live in homes for free that they would never be able to afford.
Also talks of "injustice". Says working age, work-able will be made to seek and take work else lose benefits.
Will also remove automatic housing benefit for under-25s, who will have to live with parents until can afford to move out.
Talking of investing in helping people onto Work Programme to retrain and reskill those who have been out of work and can't get back in.
"No one is a write-off, no-one is hopeless," Cameron says.
12:10 BST Talking about home ownership and how the government is helping to offer 95 percent mortgages.
Need to build more housing.
12:07 BST "Don't let anyone tell us Britain can't make it in the world. we are the most enterprising, innovating, buccaneering nation in the world."
12:03 BST Attacking Miliband for saying top income tax cut is "handing a cheque" to the rich.
"Ed, let me explain something. When people earn money, it's their money. Not the government's. It is their money, they earned it."
12:02 BST "If we did what labour want and water down our plans, the risk is that the people we borrow money from would question their risk and our resolve to pay them back."
"Labour's plan to borrow more is actually a massive gamble with our economy and our future."
"We are here because we spent too much and because we borrowed too much. How on earth can the answer be more spending and more borrowing.
"I honestly think Labour haven't learnt a single thing."
11:56 BST "Our deficit reduction is not an alternative to a growth plan, it is the foundation to our growth plan."
"The damage was worse than we thought and the recovery is taking longer than we hoped."
"Yes it's worse than we thought, yes it's taking longer, but we are making progress."
Cut a quarter of deficit, claims this keeps interest rates low, mortgage rates down, creates more jobs.
11:55 BST "It's not enough to expalin why our decisions are right, but we must also explain why they are compassionate too."
Not just cutting public sector jobs, but trying to create sustainable jobs in private sector. Work is the best way out of poverty.
11:52 BST Cameron says wants to create an "aspirtation nation" to "unleash and unlock all the promise in our people" as it is "not just an economic mission but moral".
"Line one rule one of being a Conservative is that it's not where you come from that counts it's where you're going."
Accuses Labour of "class war" while preaching "One Nation" politics.
11:50 BST "I sit in those endless meetings in Brussels where we talk forever about Greece, whereas on the other side of the world China is creating another economy the size of Greece," says Cameron, insisiting the UK must become more competitive by doing things like slashing welfare and cutting red tape for business.
11:49 BST Small mention for capping benefits rises so they don't increase faster than wages. Also praises Theresa May as home secretary because she managed to turf out hook-handed radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza.
11:47 BST Cameron confirms his commitment to foreign aid, which some should be slashed. Cites vaccinations for foreign children and that since conference started 130,000 have had jabs to protect them from disease and illness.
"If that's not worth paying for then I don't know what is."
11:45 BST "This is the party of the NHS and that is the way it is going to stay," says Cameron as he points to ringfenced NHS spending, falling waiting list times and sizes, as well as an increase in the number of doctors and nurses.
11:44 BST Cameron now talking in memory of lost soldiers and promises that by 2014 they will all be home from fighting in Afghanistan.
11:41 BST Says he will meet Alex Salmond on Monday, but praises union and says he doesn't want to see an independent Scotland.
Also mentions Boris Johnson, the "zinger on the zip-wire" and hails his work as mayor of London.
11:40 BST Cameron almost moved to tears when remembering his son Ivan, who was disabled and died aged only six. Says proudest moment of Olympics and Paralympics was putting a gold medal on disabled swimmer Ellie Simmonds as marks the moment people change the way they view disability.
11:39 BST Praising the Olympics, says proves UK can achieve great things.
"The best country in the world and, let us say it, the Queen, the finest head of state on earth."
11:37 BST Talking about UK's "hour of reckoning" and says government "will rise to the challenge".
11:35 BST "We were entering into government facing a grave challenge."
"Two years later I can't say that all is well, but I can say this: Britain is on the right track."
11:33 BST He he comes, on to All These Things That I've Done by The Killers.
11:30 BST Foreign secretary William Hague is up to introduce Cameron to the stage.
"He's a man who is sincere and who is true to his word. He is not a man who is one thing in private and another in public," says Hague.
"We are fortunate to have a prime minister ... who is respected for his strength and decisiveness all over the world."
Now there is a VT of Cameron.
11:25 BST And so Bloomberg finishes with: "You're lucky to have David Cameron." Not sure all of the Tories would agree, but Cameron will be glad for the support.
11:18 BST More warm words for Cameron from New York's Bloomberg. Said he is making the tough choices to improve the UK economy.
"He understands that if you do what you think is right, over a period of time even if people don't agree with a particular policy, they will respect you," he said, adding that people confuse popularity with leadership, which sometimes requires being unpopular.
11:15 BST The Guardian's Nicholas Watt hints that there may be rabbit in Cameron's hat on childcare today:
Big childcare announcement from @david_cameron. Sodexo Motivation Solutions to talk about PM plans 'to make childcare more affordable'
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) October 10, 2012
11:13 BST Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor, is up now. Just hailed Cameron as a "gold medal prime minister" as he praised the London 2012 Olympic Games. 11:00 BST The man himself has tweeted ahead of his speech, though it looks like it's been delayed by a few minutes:
I’m levelling with the British people in my speech at 11.30. It's sink or swim, do or decline. How we'll ensure Britain wins the Global Race — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) October 10, 2012
There may be words on the Scottish referendum, with the first minister north of the border Alex Salmond set to meet Cameron on Monday to thrash out a deal.
Talk of an EU referendum has been rife, with Cameron in the past few days having supported the idea of letting voters have a direct say on Britain's relationship with our friends on the continent - though he ruled out an in/out ballot.
Known for being more socially liberal than many of his Conservative peers, Cameron may play on his credentials in this area - such as the plans to legalise gay marriage.
10:30 BST Hard work and strong families will help Britain through its current economic downturn, prime minister David Cameron will tell the Conservative party conference in Birmingham in a speech at around 11:15am.
Cameron will reaffirm his commitment to austerity to tackle the country's vast debts and deficit in public finances, as new data suggests the economy is showing little sign of recovery from the double-dip recession.
"Unless we act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past," he will tell fellow Tories.
"Because the truth is, we're in a global race today, and that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. "Sink or swim. Do or decline."
The International Monetary Fund has slashed its forecast for the UK economy from 0.2 percent growth in 2012 to a contraction of 0.4 percent.
Figures from the powerhouse service sector, which represents around three quarters of GDP, shows slowing growth, while both the manufacturing and construction sectors are showing signs of declining output.
Cameron will also attempt to rehabilitate the Conservatives' image as "compassionate", despite the £10bn of additional welfare cuts announced by his chancellor George Osborne at the conference.
In a swipe at Labour's economic policy, Cameron will say he thinks the opposition "has not learned a thing".
"Labour's plans to borrow more is actually a massive gamble with our economy and with our future," he is to say.
"We're here because they spent too much money and borrowed too much. How can the answer be more spending and more borrowing?"
Just as Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to offer a personal approach in his party conference speech, detailing some of his own history and family life, Cameron will do the same.
He will also speak about his disabled son Ivan who passed away in 2009 aged just six and how London 2012's Paralympic Games will help change the way society views people with disability.
"When I used to push my son Ivan around in his wheelchair I always thought that some people saw the wheelchair, not the boy," Cameron will say.
"Today more people would see the boy and not the wheelchair, and that's because of what happened here this summer."
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