Bit of a quiet one for me this year, the recent arrival of Rupert meant that I wasn't down in Bournemouth very much.
There were some significant differences this year compared to last, firstly the mood of the conference was very upbeat and the focus of everyone's attention was very much on the probable general election next year. I don't know if it was because of the weather or because of the confidence of the party.
There were lots of candidates around and it was good fun talking to people about their seats, their campaigns and their ideas. There was very much a first week at University feel to all these conversations, freshers' week is full of "What school did you go to?" and "What grades did you get?" at conference it is full of "What seat have you got?" and "What majority are you fighting?".
I was planning to give a day by day brief but realised that it would be very boring for me to write and even more boring for you to read so here are some edited highlights.
..........
Lord Saatchi lays down the law. Satisfaction = Performance - expectation.
The advertising guru and party co-chairman talk us through the difficulty that the Labour government has created for itself by over promising and under delivering. He also reminded us that the governments target culture is not new, in fact it is an idea lifted from early communist Russia. The big difference is that in 1928 the Supreme Soviet had 50 targets to govern the whole of Russia and we have 400 in the NHS alone.
The Labour party have shown that they have not improved social justice as promised, they have increased the tax burden on lower income families and they have replaced income generating jobs with an explosion of "back room" public sector jobs which cost the economy £millions each year.
..........
Dr Fox and Elvis. A little less conversation a little more action.
Those who are more interested in Pop Idol than in Conservative politics (and admittedly there are many) sometimes confuse Dr Liam Fox (Conservative Party Co-Chairman) and "Dr" Neil Fox (Top DJ and TV talent show judge). Some say that they even look a little alike, you might think that I couldn't possibly comment.
Dr L Fox (the Tory) has now made life harder by being intimately associated with the up-beat and catchy Elvis tune "A little less conversation". Luckily Dr N Fox (the DJ) has not started to make political speeches.
Our Foxy made the point that the current Labour government were all talk and no action. All talk on education but then causing a funding crisis that cost teaching jobs. All talk on defence and security then cutting the armed forces. All talk on crime reduction then watching violent crime spiral out of control.
I felt that one particular sentence summed up pretty well the direction that the party will take when in government. "Cleaner hospitals, discipline in schools, an end to political correctness, police on the beat, support for our armed forces, control of our borders and the British people controlling their own future in Europe."
..........
Michael Howard. Straight talking
Michael Howard broke with tradition and spoke both early in the week and again at the end of the conference, both were very strong speeches. In the first he conceded that all governments have been to keen to promise what the cannot deliver, the current Labour government had taken this to new heights. The new Conservative government will deliver on its promises, he set out a timetable of action and made it very clear that if Ministers did not match up to the job they would be replaced. Not good news for ministers, excellent news for everyone else.
Michael finished his opening speech with a ten word pledge "School discipline. More police. Cleaner hospitals. Lower taxes. Controlled immigration." and a reminder of why he is so passionate about making Britain great.
He closed the conference with a speech reminding us of our responsibility to the people of this country and committing to deliver on what we promise and only to promise what we can deliver.
0 comments:
Post a Comment