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

Jonathan Reed Political Editor

DAVID Cameron invoked the spirit of wartime as he told the British people “your country needs you” to overcome the pain of spending cuts and to change Britain for the better.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.