By Jonathan Isaby
Today sees the Tory Reform Group holding its 35th anniversary conference at the Royal Overseas League in Central London with a plethora of speakers contributing to the all-day event. The line-up includes Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt; Cabinet Office MInister Baroness Verma; recently-elected MPs Neil Carmichael, Jane Ellison and Richard Fuller; and Charles Tannock MEP.
But the first session of the day saw Home Office Minister and TRG Vice President Damian Green deliver a keynote address to mark the 35th anniversary of the founding of the TRG by the late Lord Walker of Worcester - SCROLL TO BOTTOM FOR VIDEO!
He began by expressing his delight that much of the agenda on which TRG has long campaigned is now at the heart of Conservative, and government, policy:
"It’s an honour to be asked to speak today on the occasion of the Tory Reform Group’s 35th Anniversary... Today’s Conservative Party does now care about many of the issues the TRG has always cared about. The last five years have seen the Party transform under David Cameron. Both in tone and content it is clear, and welcome, that the Party under David Cameron is recognisably living in the 21st century and grappling with the problems of Britain today. It is modern and outward looking. It is determined to devolve power from the state to the individual. And to restore the civil liberties eroded by Labour’s authoritarian state."
But he emphasised the need for the TRG to continue pushing that "progressive" agenda within the Conservative Party:
"The circumstances of the Coalition make it even more important than ever that our section of the Conservative tradition flourishes. It obviously too early to tell what will happen to the long-term relationship between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. We are still in the early tentative stages of this relationship.
"What is absolutely clear to me is that the Conservative Party must retain its own capacity to be moderate and progressive. We must not sub-contract the need to keep the Government in the progressive space to the Liberal Democrats. It would not only be bad for the Government to think that progressive policies must come from the Liberal Democrats it would be flatly untrue. I am about to go though some of the key policy areas in which the Conservative progressive tradition is proudly upheld.
"Thinking longer-term, as we should do at this type of celebratory conference, it would be a disaster for the Conservative Party to lose the habit of thinking progressively. Some Conservatives do not have this habit, and some indeed regard it as a very bad habit. So the role of the TRG is more important than ever under the Coalition. We need to maintain a strand of thought which is recognisably moderate and reforming, but also recognisably Tory. Because we are not Liberal Democrats. We do look first to the market, to the voluntary sector, to the individual. We glory in the history of our country.
"We know that sometimes you have to be hard-headed as well as warm-hearted. But as Tory Reformers, we know that it is right to help the poor, both at home and around the world. We know that individuals flourish best in strong communities. We know that spreading opportunity throughout the economic spectrum is the best gift a Government can provide its people."
He went on to highlight the ways in which the new Government is introducing reforms to improve opportunity for the most disadvantaged in society: Iain Duncan Smith's welfare reforms, Michael Gove's education reforms and the commitment to the NHS which Andrew Lansley is overseeing. "These are three big and hugely ambitious policy areas which illustrate what Tory Reform is actually about in practice," he said.
Mr Green then highlighted the decentralising policies being implemented in local government and policing, as well as the variety of measures being introduced to "make this a free country again".
He concluded:
"What is vital for the next five years and beyond is that a significant proportion of the Conservative Party continues to articulate the progressive Conservative message. Never again should we have to be warned about being out of touch and out of time.. A successful Coalition Government will make the real the argument that many of us have been making for the past 35 years, and will go on making for the next 35. That a combination of Tory realism and progressive idealism gives us the right kind of Government, the right kind of politics, and most importantly, a country we can be proud of".
3.30pm update:
Here is the video of Damian Green's speech in full:
