Cameron in ‘earn or learn’ ultimatum to young

David Cameron has said East Yorkshire will become the centre of Britain’s new green energy industry as he promised to build “an economy for the North and the South”.
David Cameron with his wife Samantha following his keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party ConferenceDavid Cameron with his wife Samantha following his keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party Conference
David Cameron with his wife Samantha following his keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party Conference

The Prime Minister used his keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference to make a powerful case for a Tory majority at the next election, insisting there is more work to be done on cutting the deficit, reforming welfare and overhauling education to create “a land of opportunity for all”.

In a speech which contained more than a dozen attacks on Labour but was almost devoid of any new policy announcements, Mr Cameron dropped just one hint of the Tories’s 2015 manifesto with his assertion that young people should no longer be allowed to leave school and go straight into “a life on benefits”.

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Number 10 said the plan had not yet been “fleshed out”, but made clear there will be a pledge in the next Conservative manifesto that unemployed people under the age of 25 will no longer be entitled to job seekers’ allowance or housing benefit if they are not taking part in education or training.

“Today it is still possible to leave school, sign on, find a flat, start claiming housing benefit and opt for a life on benefits,” Mr Cameron said. “It’s time for bold action here. We should ask, as we write our next manifesto, if that option should really exist at all.”

Cutting housing benefit entirely for 16- to 24-year-olds would save £2bn. However, more than half the 400,000 young people who would be affected have dependent children, while nearly 30,000 are severely disabled.

But dismissing any suggestion that cutting benefits for the young is “callous”, Mr Cameron argued instead it is the only fair way of helping people who become trapped on welfare dependency.

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“This is what we want to see – everyone under 25 earning or learning,” he said.

Beyond the single nod to a new welfare policy, the speech was largely a blue-skies vision of Britain under a Tory Government, combined with a series of rebuttals to Labour over the party’s past record and leader Ed Miliband’s recent policy announcements on business taxes and energy prices.

Mr Cameron fiercely defended big business and stressed the need to encourage overseas investment, warning Mr Miliband that his plan to reverse a future one per cent cut in corporation tax could cost Britain jobs.

His central pitch was that only a Tory majority in 2015 will deliver the prosperity Britain needs.

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“There is no shortcut to a land of opportunity,” he said, dismissing Labour’s plans. “Let’s stick with it and finish the job we’ve started.”

The Prime Minister also offered another passionate defence of the need for a new high-speed railway linking London to the North, warning that the current West Coast line is “full” and that Britain “has to build a new railway”.

“This country has been too London-centric for far too long,” the Prime Minister said. “HS2 is about bringing North and South together in our national endeavour.”

Speaking afterwards, Keighley and Ilkley’s Tory MP Kris Hopkins praised Mr Cameron’s ‘big picture’ vision and contrasted it with Mr Miliband’s “gimmicks, debt-funded spending commitments and half-truths”.

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“There were no half-baked ideas aimed at grabbing short-term newspaper headlines,” Mr Hopkins said. “Instead, we heard a realistic analysis of the challenges we face clearing up the financial mess left behind by Labour.”

The Sheffield Chamber of Commerce also praised the Prime Minister’s pro-business approach.

“It is encouraging to hear him putting enterprise, wealth generation and aspiration at the forefront of his speech,” said the chamber’s executive director, Richard Wright. “This will strike a chord with businesses of all sizes.”

But Labour dismissed the speech as “out of touch” for failing to offer real measures to address the squeeze on people’s finances.

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David Cameron just doesn’t get it,” said Michael Dugher, the Labour vice-chairman and MP for Barnsley East. “There’s a cost of living crisis facing Britain’s hard- working families and he’s got nothing to say about it.

“David Cameron only offers a land of opportunity for just a privileged few, not for the many.”