ConservativeHome's Bournemouth 2006 Conference blog

Cameron Watt: Welfare reform vital says Hammond

In the social justice debate on the main stage this morning, Shadow Work and Pensions secretary Philip Hammond spoke about the urgency of getting the 'betrayed' millions of economically inactive adults back to work.

Hammond described how Labour has taken the easy option of relying on a huge level of immigrant labour to fill Britain's skills gap whilst leaving almost five million British adults languishing indefinitely on welfare. His words imply that the Conservative Party is preparing the ground to embrace the radical welfare reform that will surely be needed to rectify this problem. Strong families were also vital in tackling poverty, he said.

Earlier in the morning Iain Duncan Smith won a standing ovation for his speech on social justice. IDS set out the scale of social breakdown in contemporary Britain and implored delgates to 'make their politics fit their lives' by putting social justice at the heart of their campaigning. Tories are among the most compassionate and caring in their communities and need not be shy about demonstrating this. The Social Justice Policy Group, which was launched by David Cameron last December and is chaired by IDS, will publish its interim report in December. For more information and to input into its work, visit the new website www.povertydebate.com. 

Caroline Spelman chaired a stimulating panel discussion on a broad range of social topics with contributions from Big Issue founder John Bird and Community Action Network chief Adele Blakeborough. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali spoke of the need to challenge the tendency of government to encourage faith-based groups working in prisons and elsewhere to water-down the religious aspect of their activities. Without their faith motivation these groups would not be doing any of their extensive and excellent work.

Cameron Watt: Pisani gets a surprise in drugs debate

Tuesday kicked off on the main stage with a debate on the motion: 'Alcohol does more harm than drugs'. Compered by TV doctor and A-list candidate David Bull, it pitted a senior journalist against a Glaswegian drugs worker.

Rosie Boycott, former editor of the Independent on Sunday, proposed the motion, speaking from first-hand experience of the how alcohol can wreck lives, careers and families.

She was followed by a moving speech from Jim Doherty who runs Gallowgate Family Support Group in the east-end of Glasgow which supports the families of drug addicts. Jim, who has two heroin addict sons, spoke of how the heart has been torn out of his community by the drugs epidemic. All the shops on his high street are locked because of the number of addicts who would otherwise hold them up with dirty needles or knives.

Those opposing the motion won the debate by a decisive margin of 63% to 37%. Afterwards, Rosie Boycott was consoled by Nick Pisani of the Leader's Office. 'We weren't expecting that result', he was overheard to say.

Many questioned whether this was a particularly useful motion. Clearly alcohol and drugs both do immense harm. The real issue is surely how alcoholics and drug addicts can be rehabilitated to live productive lives free of the tyranny of addiction.

Cameron Watt: “We are the real criminals” claims Batmanghelidjh

Camila Batmanghelidjh claimed in today’s crime debate that it’s the general public – including the Tory faithful – who must take primary responsibility for increasing crime and disorder perpetrated by dysfunctional youths.

Camila runs Kids Company in South London, a cutting-edge charity providing a broad range of services to some of the most damaged and vulnerable young people in the capital. Many of these young peoples’ parents are drug addicts, and their off-spring often find themselves – through no fault of their own – living the same chaotic lifestyles. Brutalisation at an early age can do irreparable damage to a child’s developing mind. Their instinct for survival kicks in and behaviour becomes erratic and sometimes violent.

In her hard-hitting speech, Camila powerfully argued that we are all culpable for society’s failure to offer adequate protection to the most vulnerable children. Social services and the care system in urban boroughs are at breaking point. Camila has conducted her own research that lays this failure bare. In one inner-London borough over 7,000 children were referred to social services by concerned citizens. Of these, less than 2,000 received an assessment. Of those who did, only 215 got on to the official “at risk” register – and half of these were moved off within a year due to shortage of resources.

The delegate sitting next to me dismissed Camila’s speech as a rant, but that’s a cop-out. Her language is so impassioned because Kidsco daily has to pick up of the pieces of lives that have suffered profound and often preventable damage through statutory and societal neglect. Although I disagree with her in an number of areas, I was proud to have Camila on stage at my party’s conference. What should Conservative local authorities response to Camila’s message be? (For more information on the work of Kidsco, read Camila’s inspiring book Shattered Lives: Children who live with dignity and courage).

PS I got an unexpected call from Polly Toynbee who wanted more information on Camila’s speech. She was disappointed that it hadn’t dealt with whether voluntary groups should take over statutory children’s services. Don’t be surprised if Polly uses her Guardian column to suggest Conservatives will harm children by rushing to roll-back the state.