Cameron makes co-operative pledge to public sector workers

The Tory leader said rank-and-file staff would be encouraged to form co-operatives and direct their own work within national standards. He insisted the policy could be as revolutionary as former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher giving people the right to buy their council houses.

Speaking at a press conference in south London yesterday, Mr Cameron said co-operative groups embodied his party's core values, and it was time to reclaim them from the political Left.

"I know that there are millions of public sector workers who work in our public services and who frankly today feel demoralised, disrespected and unrecognised. We will not only get rid of the targets and bureaucracy that drive you so mad," he said.

"We will give you the chance to set up employee-owned co-operatives to take over the services so you can be your own boss and offer the public a better service the way you think it should be done, not the way some distant bureaucrat thinks it should be done.

"So instead of government controlling every aspect of public service in our country, we would say to people who work in Job Centres, in the NHS, in social work, in call centres, right across our public sector, 'here is your budget, deliver this service, and if you do it more efficiently and more effectively, you can keep some of the savings that you make'."

The proposals build on Mr Cameron's long-standing support for such groups, after he launched the Conservative Co-operative Movement in 2007.

The Tories also unveiled a new poster campaign designed to appeal to voters who previously backed Labour, and an accompanying series of videos featuring people who have already switched allegiances.