Wednesday 4th October 2006.
BBC TV news at 6:00pm
“United, rejuvenated and open to new ideas – David Cameron’s vision of his Conservative Party.”
With those few words George Alagiah opened the BBC Six O’Clock News. Fellow newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky added:
“Out went the old slogans: this time it’s all about public service and social responsibility.”
Those of you who have followed earlier reports of the rather disappointing BBC coverage may join with me in expressing pleasure and delight that the Conservative Party Conference has finally become the top story on the six o’clock news bulletin. Nick Robinson was especially complementary of David Cameron’s first keynote speech as leader:
“He mapped out a new direction for the Party: not of new policies, but of new positions.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. At last the media is beginning to propagate the core message of the quiet revolution currently taking place within the Party, as the principled foundations on which twenty-first century Conservatism prepares to govern twenty-first century Britain are laid in place.
David Cameron promises to save the NHS from the Government
At last, people are beginning to understand that principles – not policies – should lie at the heart of British politics. David Cameron was right to say the creation of the NHS is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. And he is right to promise to save the NHS from the “one size fits all” approach that has characterised the top-down target-driven approach of our increasingly centralist (indeed, some would say Leninist) Government.
David Cameron understands strong family life leads to a strong, cohesive society
“Everyone watching at home,” David Cameron was speaking from the platform, “knows that we will only tackle crime…
“…if we tackle family breakdown…
“…if we tackle drug addiction…
“…if we mend broken lives.
“So we have a new reality in British politics today. With David Davis as Home Secretary, this Party, the Conservative Party is the only party in Britain that will be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.”
With these stirring words, David Cameron underlined the commitment to support families made yesterday by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne. He continued:
“All families do a vital job, and they all need our support. But I also believe that marriage is a great institution, and we should support it.
“I'm not naïve in thinking that somehow the state can engineer happy families with this policy or that tax break.
“All I can tell you is what I think. And what I think is this. There's something special about marriage. It's not about religion. It's not about morality. It's about commitment.
“When you stand up there, in front of your friends and your family, in front of the world, whether it's in a church or anywhere else, what you're doing really means something.
“Pledging yourself to another means doing something brave and important.
“You are making a commitment. You are publicly saying: it's not just about me, me me anymore. It is about we – together, the two of us, through thick and thin. That really matters.
“And by the way, it means something whether you're a man and a woman, a woman and a woman or a man and another man. That's why we were right to support civil partnerships, and I'm proud of that.”
A New Direction and there’s no doubt it was New alright
Delegates warmly welcomed the speech saying it would take Britain forward to a better life for all. Nick Robinson closed his report from Bournemouth by summing up the grassroots mood of the Conservative Party delegates in three sentences:
“No longer pessimistic. No longer backward looking. No longer angry.”