Highlights of David Cameron's interview with Andrew Marr

[Not verbatim]. 

The party is ready for a General Election: Refusing to discuss the "fluctuating" opinion polls Mr Cameron said that the Conservative Party was ready to go to the country whenever Gordon Brown made the decision.

Lots of policy review ideas will be junked this week: The policy reviews were excellent but this week lots of ideas will be junked - there will be no higher taxation of alcohol, no charges on supermarket parking, no VAT on domestic flights, no penalty for a second overseas holiday flight.

Green taxes will pay for cuts in family taxation: Green taxation as a proportion of total tax take must go up.  Mr Cameron reiterated that any increase in green taxation will, however, go into an independently-audited family fund which will pay for reductions in the taxation of ordinary families.  The party is committed to eliminate the couple penalty in the benefits system.

Recognising marriage: Every other European country recognises marriage in the tax system.  The next Conservative Government will do so, too.  It will send a signal that marriage is important.

No unfunded, upfront tax cuts: Every tax relief announced this week - including stamp duty relief for first-time buyers - will be fully-funded.  There will be no unfunded, up-front tax cut promises.

We're not lurching right: The first policy announcement was on the NHS and the GPs' contract and the second announcement on the couples' penalty within the benefits system will help 1.8 million of the poorest people in Britain.

There'll be three big themes here in Blackpool: (1) Conservatives will give people more power over their lives - (2) We'll never solve social problems until we make society and families stronger - (3) We'll make Britain safer and greener.

The choice at the next General Election... will be whether to continue with Labour's failed record on the NHS, higher taxes and doubled gun crime or to vote for real change with the Conservatives... "I really want this election."

On Margaret Thatcher's Downing Street visit: It was lovely to see her outside of Number Ten again.  It's not true that I haven't been photographed with Lady Thatcher.  I was photographed with her at the unveiling of her Commons statue.

Immigration: We will control immigration - we will introduce firm measures - but we will always address the issue in calm, measured language.

Comments

[Ryan]

Just watched Cameron with Andrew Marr on BBC1. He seems anxious, enthusiastic and desperate with too much to say and not enough time. He needs to pull it out at Conference this week.

I think he needs to change his interview style and delivery style a little bit. Lower his voice, vary his volume, quiet and soft adds emphasis and look down the camera from time to time and address the British people directly.

Cameron comes across so scripted as to lack true conviction and sincerity.

[Paul Kennedy]

An impressive interview.

[EML]

I dare any real Conservative to disagree with anything Cameron said in that interview.

Watch it here.

Oh, and in case anyone missed the e-mail, the Blueprint for a Green Economy proposals are now up on Stand Up Speak Up. Read the overview here.

[Patsy Sergeant]

I thought David Cameron came across very well in that Marr interview just now. Marr did his very best to interrupt, annoy and or throw DC 'off message', but I don't think he succeeded. And I liked the sound of the policies!

DC is a much clearer speaker than Brown, Brown garbles and waffles, and his small eyes look at no-one. DC speaks clearly and does NOT waffle, AND he is not afraid to look at his interviewer, AND when he smiles he does not switch it on and off like a light, because he suddenly remembers mid-sentence that he has been told to smile more! DC's smile is natural!

[mark]

As someone who's been very critical i thought he came accross as confident and clear in the interview.Hope that is the theme of the whole week.

[MHDH]

Paul, as someone who's left the Party courtsesy of Dave, I do agree it was fairly strong. This said, there's just something about him that comes across as really fake. Pronouncements aside, it's something in the manner: a kind of sub-Blair. Puts me and quite a few people I know right off.

[Umbrella man]

Very vgood. One of his most confident interviews. There's something in the Blackpool air that lifts David Cameron!

[Jennifer Wells]

I'm glad to hear that there will be no VAT on domestic flights.

I hope someone is making sure Zac Goldsmith and john Gummer don't explode with so many of their ideas getting rejected.

[Traditional Tory]

POINTLESS NEGATIVITY OVERWRITTEN BY THE EDITOR.

[Realcon]

Glad to hear no mention of the EU - we don't want the punters to realise that the real government isn't at Westminster anyway.

[HF]

Very good interview David.

[michael m]

Surely there should be 4 themes- not three. The last one being
" we undertake to ensure that we get full value for money for every £1 we collect off you in tax"

The Wanless latest report on the NHS is sufficient evidence that this is not happening under Brown.

[Mike H]

I thought the lad did OK. But I think he could have been much stronger on immigration and could have used the subject to show that he intends to control the worst excesses of the EU.

While I reluctantly acknowledge that in today's PC-infested Britain it is necessary to be seen to use 'calm and measured' language when dealing with this subject (or risk being labelled a racist), we can't afford to pussy-foot around this issue.

Personally I see nothing wrong with using the Blunkett word 'swamped' because it is entirely accurate. The word 'swamped' is accurate, calm and measured, so let's use it.

English is a language that is learnt and spoken throughout the world. For that reason alone, the UK is probably at the top of most potential immigrant's list of target countries. Why go to France, Germany, Spain, etc (all of which are far larger and less densely populated than the UK) when you don't speak French, German or Spanish, but you do know some English?

The UK is a small, very densely populated country. We need to better protect and preserve the identity and culture of the indigenous people. We also need to protect green space from what would otherwise need to be a never-ending house-building programme to house all the incomers, their families and their future generations.

*IF* we are to remain in the EU, we have to address this problem of immigration before it is too late.

There should be NO 'free movement' of the populations between new member countries and the UK until those countries have had time to develop their own economies and the motivation of its people to come en-masse to the UK no longer exists. The existing provisions for the recent joiners do not allow sufficient time for this to happen. A more realistic timescale is probably of the order of 25 or 30 years.

This issue needs to be much further up the agenda than Mr Cameron seems to think it warrants.

[Torygirl]

Blackpool has good bracing air, just right for the Conference. I have been to two Conservative Conferences in Blackpool and I really enjoyed them. I hope Dave keeps his cool and sticks to what he just said. Perhaps he should remove Zac as a spokesman, he seems a bit reckless with his ideas. We don't want him putting his foot in it again.

[michael mcgough]

Predictably he had to spend a significant amount of time discussing ooff the wall' discarded policies such as supermarket parking taxes and multiple flight taxes which needn't have entered the arena in the first place.Still good to see he's keeping up his EUro-credentials with his 'Easyjet' promoted flight tax in line with the the 'environment liabilty directive'

BBC;on last Sunday's Marr show the windows of the room where Brown were interviewed were adorned with the words LABOUR,and the cameras kept panning to this.No sidn of 'Conservative' on the windows this week.You really should complain.

[onlinefred]

I though David Cameron did very well this morning, it was a shame that the BBC decided to report in their news headlines at the end, the worst possible part of the interview. Typical BBC..

[Letters From A Tory]

His TV interviews over recent months have all been excellent, it's such a shame that most people never see him in that environment.

[Patriot]

I and others have posted here over the past weeks about the importance of the party promoting sustainable policies rather than "green" policies.

The electorate will understand and lean towards sustainability which also logically embraces the need for a sensible finite figure for population, but they will move away from a "green" agenda, particularly one which appears to be based entirely on increased taxation.

Sustainability can be promoted by positive policies. Just as an example, California had outstanding success 20 years ago when it introduced a mandatory requirement for car manufacturers to provide an increasing percentage of their vehicles with zero emissions. The policy resulted in firms like Toyota and GM providing affordable mainstream electric family vehicles with ranges of around 120 miles on a single charge. (The strategy was eventually overturned by the oil and auto industries - see "who killed the electric car" on DVD -but it would work again if implemented at country level). Please don't post here that the technology doesn't support it - it does - watch the documentary first.

Finally - Brown didn't mention Iraq last week because he was the second most senior minister in a Labour government which invaded a sovereign country for reasons (WMD etc) which we now know were completely groundless, and as a result of which millions are refugees and over a million more are dead.

Next week's conference is an opportunity for us to tell the electorate that we understand their revulsion for what was done in their name, if we have the courage and the integrity to speak out.

I posted at length on this on the "support for the armed forces thread" earlier today, so I won't go any further here, except to say again that it is morally unacceptable for us not to hold Brown to account for the 2003 invasion of Iraq - and the electorate have a much greater instinctive feeling for
this than CCHQ are giving them credit for.

[Oscar Miller]

Very good interview from Cameron - clear, honest and incisive. Marr threw everything he had at him (including tactical rustling through newspapers while he was speaking) but Cameron outsmarted him elegantly (e.g. the polls and Thatcher nicely dealt with) which ended up unsettling Marr rather than Cameron. Brown got treated like royalty last week and was a prize, plastic looking bore. Could anyone remember what he said apart from the vacuous 'I'm getting on with the job'? Cameron by contrast engaged in a real discussion, outlined attractive policies in a way everyone could understand and looked raring to go. He also comes across as a signed up member of the human race.

[mark]

Hed did the right thing not to dwell on the polls.I think Brown does have a lead but i can seriously see it ebbing away.People who were impressed with him last week are already looking more carefully at his speach and not swallowing this "fresh start" rubbish.Gordon Brown's achiles heel is the past ten years in government.He has'nt just appeared in a puff of smoke and Mr Cameron needs to hammer that home

[Traditional Tory]

On the question of immigration, Cameron would do well to consider the following in today's Sunday Telegraph:

Immigation drains Britain, says Left think tank

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants are a drain on Britain and its economy, not a benefit, says a Left-leaning think tank.

Migrants from many developing nations fail to pay their way, while those from wealthy countries, such as the United States and Australia, provide a boost for the economy.

The report, published today by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), sets out to reveal which nationalities are "a debit on Britain's balance sheet".

It found that fewer than half of Britain's 650,000 Somalis, Bangladeshis, Turks and Pakistanis, have jobs and the four communities have the highest levels of benefit dependency.

Britain's fastest-growing migrant group, the Poles, score above-average for employment, but have the lowest hourly pay and make a below-average tax contribution.

Channel 4 commissioned the report for a Dispatches documentary, Immigrants: the Inconvenient Truth, to be shown tomorrow night.

The IPPR, which has close links to Labour, insisted that its report "is not an attempt to cast immigrant communities in a bad or good light". However, its findings will be seized on by those campaigning for tighter immigration controls.

New government statistics predict a two million rise in population over the next decade due to immigration, more than previous projections.

Liam Byrne, the immigration minister, said last week that the forecast "underlines the need for swift and sweeping changes to the immigration system".

This newspaper revealed last week that one in five crimes in London is now committed by foreign nationals, with Poles, Jamaicans, Irish and Somalis at the top of the list

[John Leonard]

I thought David Cameron was very good. Despite all the election hysteria came across as focussed and ready. I'm not sure it's a bad thing that he was enthusiastic and seemed to have a lot more to say than time allowed. Considering the dull vacuous complacent nature of Brown's reheated message it makes a strong contrast.

Ali Miraj (remember the spat a few weeks ago) has been on Sky being very supportive of the leadership and totally on message.

When asked by Adam Boulton when the election would be. His answer was:

'I don't care. We're ready for it and we're going to win.'

He came across very strongly. I was impressed and perhaps it is a shame that what happened a few weeks ago occurred.

George Osbourne also had a good interview as well. He answered all the questions over tax with sound reasoning.

Good stuff.....

[michael m]

I hope the party is watching how many times the tv channels allow the Labour Party to put up a spokesman to rebut any Conservative policy this week. Last night Balls was brought out, but at the Labour Conference, i cannot recall one Conservative being interviewed after a Labour pronouncement.

We ought to watch this closely as Labour will have made sure the BBC particularly has them on this week as often as possible to rubbish whatever we say

[Rod Sellers]

As a long time critic of Cameron I thought he put up a good show. Of course he has a slightly fake air - because anyone in elected politics has to be partly fake. He handled the parading Mrs Thatcher on the steps of No 10 very adroitly - pointing out that he was last with her for the unveiling of her statue in the Commons. perhaps he should also have added "How do we know that Mrs T wasn't digitally inserted later into the picture with Gordon Brown ?"

'Fake ' is the current buzzword.

[M A PATEL]

POINTLESS NEGATIVITY OVERWRITTEN BY THE EDITOR

AKA Conference week therefore censored!

[Effie]

M A PATEL | September 30, 2007 at 12:40

Does that mean as this is conference week no dissent will be allowed.
No honest opinion allowed if it does not say nice things about Cameron et-al?
Are you muzzling free speech editor?

[Editor]

No Effie. The fact that I allow you and many other critics to post here suggests that this site has a liberal comments policy. But some people turn every thread into a 'change the leader' argument. I'm not going to tolerate endless negativity - from the same people - that doesn't have some cleverness, insight or humour.

[Edison Smith]

What can you say: Cameron is a supreme performer. He's been excellent in every interview I've seen since he became leader, but today - after a fortnight on the exercise bike - he seemed refreshed and even more enthusiastic.

His comments at the end on immigration stood out for me. He handles the issue so well, even criticising a former Labour minister for being provocative in their language about the issue, and rightly pointing out that Labour simply has no answer to the issue.

And when Marr asked if he thought he could turned things around in just four days, DC didn't even blink or wait a nano-second to respond, 'I believe we can'.

Good on him.

As someone has already said, unlike Brown, Cameron has the human touch.

Bring on an election campaign.

[Effie]

Thank you editor for that information.
I for one would never suggest you change your leader.
I am perfectly satisfied and more than content for you to keep the status quo.
I wonder if everybody else will at the end of this week?

[Andy Peterkin]

He needs a touchdown on this drive.

[Ian redwood]

As a married man with no kids I am a bit sick of people, like DC, telling me that a family is not a family unless it had rugrats in it. Today he said he would help families by shifting the tax burden onto green taxes and then give money back to those with kids. I am sick of paying for other people's children. I already pay for their education, child benefit and health care - I'll be buggered if I'll pay more for my flights and petrol to fund their trainers, MacDonalds and trips top ToysRUs.

[Patriot]

Ian Redwood@16:41

Yes I wasn't sure how to take "Green taxes will pay for reductions in the taxation of ordinary families" either, child allowances already recognise the cost of raising children.

Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture, but I can't immediately see the electoral attraction of taxing me more for some affront to greenness in order to raise more money to give to someone else to raise children. Plus the logical extension of this course of action is that if the tax is effective in stopping the targeted behaviour it follows that there will be no tax paid and therefore no extra money for parents.

If you follow this through, the only conclusion you can come to is that the money is being promised to parents because it is assumed that the tax will not be effective in producing green behaviour. If this is the case, why introduce it as a green tax in the first place? Be honest and say the Conservative party intends to impose a net increase in taxes for people who don't have children!!

As someone who is married I of course like the idea of endorsing the concept of marriage through the tax system again, if that is truly what is intended - increased personal allowances (regardless of whether there are children or not) for people who enter into marriage would be a sound idea - a return of the old marriage allowance but applicable to both partners to reflect todays improved equality - and transferable from one partner to the other if only one partner works - an excellent proposal, if that's really what's intended.

[Paul Kennedy]

16:41

Ah but remember Ian, you were once a child. ;)

[David]

These children will of course eventually pay for your pension.

[Philip]

Just watched the recording of the interview. Excellent - particularly on marriage.

[Sarah]

Well, let's hope someone has children, Ian - otherwise they'll be noone to pay for your pension and hospital bills when you get older

[Dominic Harvey]

I think Cameron's performance was adequate. He handled the interview very well but we won't know until Wednesday whether or not Cameron's pronouncements are more of what has turned off many Tory voters - good ideas, but with a sense of vagueness and uncertainty. The Conservatives have a good policy foundation, but they need someone who can show the electorate that they can and would translate those policies into action. I think Cameron has the ability to do that; we will know for certain soon.

[Rod Sellers]

"Well, let's hope someone has children, Ian - otherwise they'll be noone to pay for your pension and hospital bills when you get older"

This of course is the shortsighted argument of the Pyramid Salesman.

[Ian redwood]

yes, shock, I once was a child. My parents got some benefits, such as free education etc, but the rest they paid for themselves and stopped at one child because it would have been hard to raise two on a low income - they did not have a second child and then expect someone else to pay.

As for my pension - I pay a massive contribtion every month thank you and save more just in case. I also pay huge sums in NI and tax.

My god - why am I having to convince Conservatives that redistributive taxes are wrong.

Bottom line - we all pay something to help others, but we need personal responsibility in the system and people should pay to raise their own kids.

[Chad Noble]

Oh no, please tell me that Gids didn't say he was going to get the money to fund his tax cuts from resident-nondoms?

These people only live here because their *non*-uk tax income, non uk remitted income is not hit by UK revenue, and they'd be on the first plane out if any such change took place, yet our economy benefits from having them living and spending their dosh here.

This is amateur politics of the worse kind. Gids is sounding like a Labour throwback.

Squeeze the rich!