'Your country needs you' says Cameron in cuts rallying call

The Prime Minister issued a call to arms as he urged people to "step up" and take responsibility to build a Big Society as he sought to paint a brighter vision of the future less than two weeks before plans for Government spending cuts of 25 per cent are outlined.

Appealing for a culture of "mutual responsibility" after the "selfishness" of the Labour years, he held out the prospect of tax cuts and a more prosperous country if painful spending cuts are made now and the public seizes the opportunity of the Government's plan to cut back the state and give more power to the people.

Although his first conference speech since moving into Number 10 included a fierce attack on Labour, he also admitted irresponsible behaviour by individuals and businesses had contributed to the "mess" the country was in and said there was no alternative to tackling the deficit aggressively now.

Mr Cameron's speech came after two days of controversy over Chancellor George Osborne's plans to end child benefit for higher-rate taxpayers.

He admitted the row – which has overshadowed the conference in Birmingham – showed how difficult some decisions would be, but said it was fair for the better-off to shoulder more of the burden as spending is slashed.

In a speech designed to appeal to Tory activists, Mr Cameron heaped praise on the "greatest peacetime Prime Minister of the last century" – Margaret Thatcher – pledged never to risk the national security and vowed to govern for the entire United Kingdom.

He also won warm applause as he reeled off a list of the coalition's early achievements for the Tories, praised Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for working with him and warned rebels to "put country first" and not wreck legislation to set up a referendum on changing the voting system.

Mr Cameron, watched by wife Samantha, also rejected the idea that the Tories could have governed as a minority administration, saying it would have meant "limping on" without being able to change the country.

He challenged police not to be afraid of plans to install elected commissioners instead of police authorities.

Challenging critics of his vision for cutting the size of the state and handing more power to people and communities, he said: "The Big Society is not about creating cover for cuts. I was going on about it years before the cuts.

"It's not government abdicating its role, it is government changing its role. It's about government helping to build a nation of do-ers and go-getters, where people step forward not sit back, where people come together to make life better."

Claiming the Tories were now the radicals in politics, he seized on the wartime spirit of Lord Kitchener, saying: "We need to change the way we think about ourselves and our role in society. Your country needs you."

He added: "When we say 'we are all in this together', that is not a cry for help but a call to arms. Society is not a spectator sport. This is your country. It's time to believe it. It's time to step up and own it."

He admitted cuts of up to 25 per cent in Whitehall budgets would be big, but said private firms had made bigger savings during the recession.

I'll be around for a long time yet, says Hague

William Hague has brushed off speculation he could walk away from politics by insisting he will remain "knocking around" for a long time.

The Foreign Secretary dismissed speculation over his future which mounted as he faced down allegations over his personal life this summer and said he would remain in politics to "see through" his responsibilities.

In an interview at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, he also denied the Government had been sent into "panic" over its plans to cut child benefit and said Ministers will not be derailed from making tough, unpopular decisions. "When we announce things we will carry them through," he said.

He also revealed he is fighting for jobs at BAE's Brough site – where 212 staff are facing redundancy – by pressing foreign governments to buy the company's planes.

Talking about his future for the first time since revealing the heartache of he and wife Ffion's battle to start a family after being forced to deny having an inappropriate relationship with a male aide, Mr Hague rejected speculation he could walk away from Government as a result – something further fuelled when his friend Lord Ashcroft said he did not expect the former Tory leader to remain in politics.

The Richmond MP told the Yorkshire Post: "We've been working for years to come into government. I had a sentence in my speech on Sunday that said now we have these responsibilities each one of us must see them through and I meant that very much – I meant that about myself as well as about everybody else.

"So that is the spirit in which we're approaching it. I will be knocking around in politics for quite a long time."

Mr Hague insisted the party was emerging from this week's conference in good shape, describing the atmosphere as "workmanlike" rather than "champagne and dancing".

In light of concerns from many MPs over the plan to cut child benefit for higher rate taxpayers, Mr Hague braced the party for "difficult arguments over many of the decisions to be taken over the coming months, starting with the Comprehensive Spending Review in less than two weeks.

"When you suggest a change, a reduction in some long-standing piece of Government spending it's not surprising there's a reaction against that," he said. "But our job as a Government is to battle through that, to explain why we've got to do it and why we're choosing to do it in that way.

"There is no panic over this because we will carry it through, we will put in place the policy the Chancellor announced on Monday. We have in any case in the Coalition Agreement proposals about transferable tax allowances and those still stand so there's no panic in any direction.

"We want people to see Government policies as a whole. When we announce things we will carry them through. We know there will be a bit of track along the way but people wouldn't thank us in the end for not carrying through the tough but fair choices we're starting to set out."

Mr Hague also revealed he and David Cameron have been pressing foreign governments to invest in the Hawk and Typhoon plans manufactured by BAE, which last month announced plans to cut 212 jobs at its plant in Brough, near Hull.