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David Cameron: Making Progressive Conservatism a Reality

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David Cameron: Making Progressive Conservatism a Reality 22nd January 09 Ref: 0103/09 David Cameron: Making progressive conservatism a reality In a speech today at the Progressive Conservatism Launch hosted by Dem os, David Cam eron will outline how a Conservative governm ent would m ake progressive conservatism a reality in what looks like being one of the deepest and longest recessions in living m em ory. David Cam eron will say: (Check against delivery) “It)s great to be back here with you today. What we’re discussing at this event is a political philosophy – progressive conservatism . But strange as this m ay sound, I want to leave the philosophy to others. Not because I think it’s unim portant. On the contrary, I think that politics without a guiding philosophy is both em pty and ineffective. And I know that progressive conservatism – the idea that today, conservative m eans are the best way to achieve progressive aim s will be the underlying philosophy of any governm ent I lead. But political leadership is not just about having a guiding philosophy. It’s about putting that philosophy into practice. That m eans two things. First, m aking sure that your policies, plans, and com m itm ents collectively advance the goals that flow from your underlying philosophy. And second, m aking sure that your underlying philosophy is applied not only to the things you plan to do but to the unplanned and unpredictable events that consum e so m uch of your tim e in governm ent. So today I want to talk about progressive conservatism not m ainly in the philosophical sense, but in this practical sense. How will a Conservative governm ent m ake progressive conservatism a reality? And in particular, how will we do that in what looks like being one of the deepest and longest recessions in living m em ory? PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATISM But first, let m e explain what progressive conservatism m eans to m e. For m e, progressive conservatism is two things. It’s a vision – and it’s an argum ent. It is about ends – but it is also about m eans. That’s why I think it’s such a powerful idea, and why I’m so delighted that Dem os is investing tim e and intellectual effort in its exploration. PROGRESSIVE ENDS The ‘progressive’ half of progressive conservatism represents the ends we are fighting for – our vision of the good society and the good life. This vision is not exclusive to the Conservative Party, or any other party. I’ve always thought it’s silly to deny the truth – that in politics m ost of us are actually fighting for the sam e things. So what are those things? For m e, they can be sum m ed up in four central aim s – the four aim s of progressive conservatism . First, a society that is fair, where we help people out of poverty and help them stay out of it – for life. Second, a society where opportunity is equal, where everyone can, in Michael Gove’s brilliant phrase, “write their own life-story.” Third, a society that is greener, where we pass on a planet that is environm entally sustainable, clean and beautiful to future generations. And fourth, a safer society, where people are protected from threat and fear. That, for m e, is the essence of our vision for the future – the ends we are fighting for. Yes they are ends that we share with people in the Labour Party, the Liberal Dem ocrat Party and right across the m ainstream political spectrum . But no, we do not agree about how best to achieve those ends – and that is where progressive conservatism gets really interesting. Because I believe that after a decade of a Labour governm ent notionally com m itted to progressive aim s but where the record shows that the poor have got poorer, social m obility has stalled, our carbon em issions have gone up, our quality of life has gone down and where people feel m ore at risk from the threat of crim e as anti-social behaviour has soared and violent crim e has alm ost doubled. After a decade in which the left has been unable to bring about a fair society, an opportunity society, a greener society and a safer society I believe we are now starting to win the argum ent that conservative m eans are the best way to achieve those shared progressive aim s. That’s why the “conservative” half of progressive conservatism is so im portant and so relevant to the practical challenge of actually delivering this political philosophy in governm ent. CONSERVATIVE MEANS Just as there are four principal aim s of progressive conservatism , I think we can sum up in four propositions the m eans that a m odern Conservative governm ent would deploy to achieve those aim s. First, in the words of Alan Milburn, that the “the entrenched problem s of social exclusion in so m any com m unities and unfilled potential am ong so m any of our citizens expose the lim its of centralised state action.” So the first – perhaps the defining – characteristic of the m odern Conservative approach is a belief that we achieve progressive aim s through decentralising responsibility and power to individuals, com m unities and civic institutions. And that we should use the m echanism s of what we describe as the post-bureaucratic age creating fram eworks rather than rules; influencing behaviour rather than issuing diktats; designing sm art incentives rather than im posing blunt regulation. The second characteristic of our approach is closely allied to the first: and that is for governm ent to act wherever possible to strengthen the institutions of civic society and here I place greatest em phasis on what is, for m e, the m ost im portant of those institutions: the fam ily. We can see already that while there m ay be broad political consensus around the aim s of progressive conservatism , there is a sharp political divide around the m eans. For we have seen in this Labour governm ent – and particularly in this Prim e Minister - a political approach which actively set out to centralise power. In the process, it has underm ined responsibility and weakened, rather than strengthened, social institutions – notably the fam ily. 1he third proposition we m ake in describing how conservatism will deliver progressive ends is that the foundation of social and environm ental progress is econom ic growth. So progressive conservatism m ust contain a plan for econom ic recovery and growth. But it can’t be a plan that just takes us back to the old econom y we had before an econom y which in som e im portant ways actually set back the cause of a fair society, an opportunity society, a greener society and a safer society. It m ust be a plan for a new econom y, which rethinks the way our econom y works so we can unblock social m obility, unleash green growth and raise everyone’s quality of life as well as everyone’s standard of living. But it’s not just about a plan for a new econom y. In the light of Labour’s Debt Crisis and the catastrophic fiscal position this country now faces we m ust understand that uncontrolled public spending and rising governm ent borrowing does not advance our progressive vision – it threatens it. And that’s why today we need the fourth exam ple of conservative m eans applied to progressive ends. If we continue on Labour’s path of fiscal irresponsibility, at som e point – and it could be very soon – the m oney will run out. Then you will see the return of what happened under Labour in the 1970s, including em ergency cuts to m any of the public services on which a progressive society depends. So to avoid a rerun of those dark days, and to ensure we continue to support the public services that are so vital in building a m ore progressive society progressive conservatism m ust also contain a plan for ensuring that governm ent lives within its m eans and delivers real value for m oney. That, in a nutshell, is what progressive conservatism m eans to m e, today. The progressive aim s of a fair society, an opportunity society, a greener society and a safer society delivered through the conservative m eans of decentralising responsibility and power, strengthening fam ilies and society, building a new econom y, and ensuring that governm ent lives within its m eans. POLICIES AND PLANS That sim ple idea - progressive ends delivered through conservative m eans - is what ties together our plans in alm ost every area of policy, adding up to a coherent and consistent overall plan for change. For exam ple, our plans for radical school reform – ending the state m onopoly on school provision and introducing a pupil prem ium for children from the m ost disadvantaged backgrounds will be vital in building a fair society and an opportunity society and they are a clear exam ple of the bold steps we intend to take in decentralising responsibility and power. Our plans for radical welfare reform – even m ore vital in our deteriorating econom ic circum stances - and a transform ation in the NHS health visitor service show how we intend to prom ote responsibility and help strengthen fam ilies. Our plans for a low carbon econom y show how we intend to build a new econom y where Britain can be a world leader in green technology and innovation at the sam e tim e as reducing our em issions and becom ing a greener society overall.
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