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Tuesday, 6th May 2008

Have you got any questions for Cameron?

Fraser Nelson 8:30am

I am interviewing the victorious David Cameron later on today, after his monthly press conference. Any questions Coffee Housers would like to put to him?

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Comments

David Shield

May 6th, 2008 8:44am

Does Mr Cameron think Quentin Davies made the right decision?

Stuart

May 6th, 2008 8:52am

Yes. I'd love to know why, at this point, Mr. Cameron does not simply go to the electorate and say "I know I said I would match Labour's spending plans over the first two years of a Conservative government, but the economic situation has changed and this would no longer be a wise or prudent way of spending money up to 2012. We will therefore concentrate on making government services more efficient, and so we can start removing the unnecessary tax burden and boosting the economy".

Ed Byrne said said recently he doesn't understand this stigma about changing your mind in politics - "aww, you u-turned! Have the courage of your convictions and stick to that deeply unpopular policy that we all thought was completely stupid!"

I tend to agree

Tess

May 6th, 2008 9:11am

When Adam Boulton said to him, in an interview the other week, that European leaders were nervous about him becoming PM because of his Eurosceptic views, instead of fudging the question why did'nt he say something like: 'Yes they are nervous because they know that I am going to stand up for Britain and her interests (like they do for their countries) and not capitulate like the current government'.

Mike

May 6th, 2008 9:19am

Now the Tories have proved they are a credible opposition and the public is listening to what you say will you break from Labour's spending plans that are leading this country to ruin? Will you tell the public the truth that you cannot go on borrowing and spending as we are and we will have to cut spending on public services. Will you tell people that the most efficient economies are low tax economies and we need to cut spending to cut taxes. Suprising but you will get a lot of extra votes from this.

Richard

May 6th, 2008 9:20am

While it is a good idea to keep one's powder dry in terms of actual policy, particularly with Labour currently imploding, at some point concrete, costed, proposals will be required by both the media and the electorate.

Assuming we wait until 2010 for the next election, when will those policies be forthcoming?

Tom

May 6th, 2008 9:22am

Fraser please, please, please ask Cameron why he and the Tory party allow Brown to get away with what we at Coffee House have named 'Brownies'. Two off the top of my head:

1. If crime is at an all time low, like ministers keep saying and quoting government manipulated statistics, why are the prisons over flowing with record numbers?

2. If we have the lowest unemployment and more people in work than ever before in our history, then why oh why is the welfare bill absolutely enormous and we have parts of our society where no-one in the family works or ever has?

Travis Bickle

May 6th, 2008 9:25am

1)Will you instruct the Conservative MPs to vote against these rumoured 15% pay rises?

(Since the Labour trough snouters still can get this through without Tory votes such action would be a PR triumph for the party even if you reap the benefits..)

2) Even if you want to stay in the EU how about signalling that we will work as true Europeans just like just about every other member country? i.e take what benefits us, and ignore the rest of their stupid legislation.

3) Can we have some honesty, and allowed reasoned debate, about climate change and "green" taxation?

Carol-Ann

May 6th, 2008 9:26am

Much has been reported over the last few days about relations between himself and Boris Johnson, ask him to set the record straight.

Mike

May 6th, 2008 9:27am

Will you put the EU constitution, er sorry EU reform treaty to a public referendum? If that referendum rejects the treaty will you withdraw from it?

Taylor

May 6th, 2008 9:43am

Can you ask why on earth he has taken the postition he has on 42 days? It is about the only policy that the majority of the public agree with Gordon Brown on (recent NOW poll), and if God forcid there were another terror attack he would be judged soft on terror.

Cindy

May 6th, 2008 9:47am

When the likes of Marr go on about Tory cuts why does'nt he say yes we are going to make cuts but in welfare spending, bureaucracy and barnett formula etc. Oh yes ask about the Barnett formula and whether Osborne will reform it.

Danielle

May 6th, 2008 9:53am

Fraser, could you put the statement I've written below (re: SNP coalition) to Cameron and see what his answer is.

I think the only way forward for the tories is a piece Iain Dale written on his blog, referring to a conservative-SNP 'relationship'. Yes SNP! Conservatives would then be free to agressively persue the England and Wales electorate as it does not seem likely that they will ever even win a seat in Scotland again, this will leave Labour fighting political wars on two fronts and hopefully marginalise the Lib Dems. I know this scenario goes against the whole conservative and unionist tradition but we on the centre right need to do some radical thinking if we are really serious about getting into power again and the fact is England is traditionally a centre right country but Scotland and to a large extent Wales are left wing. The Conservatives power base is in England and they need to be able to motivate and galvanise this without thinking about how its playing in Scotland.

THANX

Jeff, Bristol

May 6th, 2008 9:56am

What will Cameron do about increasingly activists judges and their peverse interpretation of the Human Rights Acts that is undermining justice and immigration policy in this country. Would he consider an elected judiciary along side his policy of elected police chiefs?

wonderfulforhisage

May 6th, 2008 10:00am

How do you reconcile unelected Brussels bureaucrats dictating how we run our affairs with Parliamentary Democracy?

Peter

May 6th, 2008 10:05am

Will Matthew d'Ancona be your London mayoral candidate in 2016?
(PS: I notice you are not offering T-shirts this time, as on the Clegg questions - I'm still waiting for mine!!)

Tom

May 6th, 2008 10:09am

Will the tories still press ahead with the 30,000 tax on non-doms?

Lee Jakeman

May 6th, 2008 10:10am

Isn't it common sense that the answer to the "West Lothian Question" is to have national parliaments for the four constituent nations and a slimmed down, federal UK parliament to handle foreign policy, defence and other issues of common interest? You have practically no support in Scotland and Wales anyway, so why not do justice to the people of England by giving them parity with the Scots and Welsh?

Tony Brown

May 6th, 2008 10:10am

Dear Mr Cameron,
how will you sustain coservative support this time and not lose it like Mrs Thatcher and John Major. May I suggest the Continual Improvement precepts from Quality Management and the Toyoto Motor company as a benchmark.

Howard Fargher

May 6th, 2008 10:17am

Why can you not spell out to the voter DC, the true cost per taxpayer in £'s per annum of the public sector pensions following the massive rise in public sector salaries and the numbers employed in the public sector since G.Brown took control of Nation's finances.Also add in the true cost of the PFI's to future generations. Get this into the public arena before you become PM in 2010 so there will be no doubt who is responsible for the high level of taxes which will be needed to pay for public sector pensions and what is in effect hire purchase payments on our schools and hospitals for years and years to come. Make the generations who will have to pay aware now of what Gordon Brown has saddled us all with.

Gavin

May 6th, 2008 10:22am

Last Thursday showed that the country doesn't believe Brown. Why does he together with George Osborne still believe that Brown's spending plans are sustainable ?

Alex R

May 6th, 2008 10:25am

Other than a greater sense of empathy, what exactly are you offering "hard working families"?

Jonathan

May 6th, 2008 10:29am

I agree with Tom on this one Fraser; please ask him why the Tories allow the Labour party to get away with all these outrageous Brownies......

AlanofEngland

May 6th, 2008 10:35am

Well said Lee Jakeman, I agree entirely, it would be nice to have democracy in England!! Meanwhile, please ask DC why there is NO flat tax system for the pensioners? Who loses out every year by virtue of the Tories policy to break the earnings/pension link? And why not now offer a policy to give pensioners a 10k tax allowance?

salieri

May 6th, 2008 10:39am

Would you reverse Gordon Brown's tax measures on pension funds? If not, why not?

Mike Kingscott

May 6th, 2008 10:41am

What measures will you put in place to end the punitive treatment of British drivers? Reversing the VED tax? Scrapping the fuel tax escalator and reducing duty? Removing revenue-generating speed cameras?

Duncan

May 6th, 2008 10:52am

As mentioned a few times here, why are the Tories so poor at capitalising on Brown's Brownies?

Guy Incognito

May 6th, 2008 10:58am

Dear Mr Cameron,

Would you ask Mr Hoskin to send me my t-shirt that I won for my question to Mr Clegg?

And will you give Frank Field a job in your government?

Slim Jim

May 6th, 2008 11:03am

Please ask him which policies/laws introduced by Labour he will reverse, e.g. the pensions raid, fiscal drag, Human Rights Act, etc.

Anthony Bainbridge

May 6th, 2008 11:07am

I'd just like to see a reference to the fundamentals of Conservatism, and how these fundamentals distinguish us from Socialists. Inevitably there is a lot of focus on specific issues - crime, health, education, etc. But as Janet Daley reminded us yesterday, people must be cut loose to run their own lives and spend their own money. We need less government, even of Cameron's government, not more.

Nicholas

May 6th, 2008 11:11am

When finally in power will his government be reviewing and where appropriate repealing the enormous multitude of stupid, unnecessary, hysteria-based and liberty-threatening laws introduced by New Labour?

Tiberius

May 6th, 2008 11:12am

Do you and George Osborne feel confident that you could explain the Laffer Curve to the electorate?

Idle

May 6th, 2008 11:12am

Do you believe that individuals spend their money more wisely than governments, and are more likely to create sustainable employment and growth than Westminster?

If Yes, how do you intend to assist the realisation of this benign circumstance?

Matt

May 6th, 2008 11:18am

Does he still support the ludicrous idea of allowing Turkey to join the EU? Even though Merkel and Sarkozy are firmly against it and it would be an unmitigated disaster on the immigration front for this country.

Clark

May 6th, 2008 11:39am

Please ask Mr Cameron for one thing.

Will he make honesty a prerequisite for a place in his Gvnt.?

Sometime individual policies don't matter to members of the electorate but honesty matters to all of them.

Michael

May 6th, 2008 11:51am

Please can we raise the threshold and take the poorest out of tax and welfare dependency? Tories need to make this their policy before anyone else does.

Sinom

May 6th, 2008 11:51am

When will he hammer home the strong message 'enough of immigration outside the EU'. There are about 10,000 doctors that John Reid 'invited' from outside the EU and they have no jobs and are competing against our young medical graduates today. These graduates are emigrating to Australia and New Zealand with disgust. Blair and Brown have let us bright younsters down

Mo

May 6th, 2008 11:52am

The nesxt time Gordon Brown boasts about record employment figures, can you put it into perspective by drawing attention to the increasing UK population?

JR

May 6th, 2008 11:57am

Are you going to abolish any tax credits or do you intend to retain the current system?

How will you reduce child poverty - you haven't published any plans to make work pay more for low income families, or any plans to change the benefits system.

batman

May 6th, 2008 11:58am

What is the Tory policy on Europe? What is the Tory policy on defence spending? Pretty straightforward questions really.

Francisco Mendes da Silva

May 6th, 2008 12:00pm

Fraser,

Will you please ask Mr. Cameron what will he do with the Lisbon Treaty if the tories win the general election after it has already entered into force?

Thanks.

WitanSpeaker

May 6th, 2008 12:01pm

Do you consider the election results to be an endorsement of the Tory Party or a rejection of the Labour Party?

Buckinghamshire Tory

May 6th, 2008 12:05pm

Dear Mr Cameron,

Do you consider yourself a One Nation Tory, or a Thatcherite?

Tom

May 6th, 2008 12:06pm

Which taxes will you cut and why?

Stan, UK

May 6th, 2008 12:07pm

Does David Cameron support Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander in her support for a referendum on Scottish Independence? If there were to be a referendum on Scottish Independence it would be a win win for the Tories. Let's face it Conservatives are never going to even get one seat in Scotland again and focus on Brown and some of the cabinet's Scottishness is like a ticking time bomb for this government. Cameron should throw his full weight behind the Wendy Alexander position.

Stan, UK

May 6th, 2008 12:09pm

Oh and if Scotland can have a referendum on being independent from England can we in England have a referendum on being independent from Scotland?

Joe Mooney

May 6th, 2008 1:05pm

Bearing in mind that people do not like completing forms to claim back what is their money in the first place would Mr Cameron agree with me that the only way to compensate the 10p tax loosers is to raise the allowances. If you do agree with me just say so in plain english.

Ian C

May 6th, 2008 1:11pm

1) Is Britain over-governed? What does he propsoe to do about it if the answer is Yes?
2) Will you combine the tax and National Insurance system into one? If not why not?

Jonah

May 6th, 2008 1:13pm

When are the tories going to start standing up for England? Conservatives owe Scotland N0THING!!

Dr Nikan Firoozye

May 6th, 2008 1:43pm

How do we know that the Conservatives will do the morally responsible thing and stand up to America when it veers so seriously from the ideal of small and unobtrusive government as it has under Bush. The Iraq war (and the "war" on terror), whether it is due the US flexing its muscles or a Wilsonian plan to spread democracy, is big government with all the vestiges of senseless overspending and the wasting of international resources. And, for what aim? This was clearly misguided from the start and those of us who thought so have nothing to make us think that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated.

The Tories should give us some hope. They have all the makings of a World standard bearer of morally-responsible and small-government Conservativism. But, the former leaders have shown every inclination to bow down to American might even when it is morally reprehensible. Blair lost his sheen due to his slimy support of the American agenda. He honestly thought we should believe in him only because he believed in clearly false "intelligence" reports. The most we could believe in was a gullibility that was unbecoming of a world leader. Previous Conservative leaders gave us no sense that their backbones were any less wobbly than Blair's.

How will Cameron behave? How can he assure us that he will keep Britain's(and actually the World's) interests in mind in decisions of foreign policy?

Graham Doll

May 6th, 2008 2:46pm

Antisocial behaviour has mushroomed under New Labour and makes many peoples' lives a misery. What will he do to combat it?

Elizabeth Elliot-Pyle

May 6th, 2008 2:53pm

Please ask David Cameron what he will do about the Lisbon Treaty? and will he give us the referendum he promised?

David Lindsay

May 6th, 2008 3:53pm

How would a Cameron Government be POLITICALLY different from a Brown Government?

Herbert Thornton

May 6th, 2008 5:27pm

David Cameron -

1. On immigration - will you do anything at all to reverse, stop or even curb it - and if so, what?

2. Will you consult the country on the matter of the Lisbon Treaty by means of a referendum or do you intend to follow Gordon Brown's policy and deny the country that opportunity?

Max Kaye

May 6th, 2008 7:04pm

1. Are you in favour of smaller government?

2. Will you disassociate a Tory government from Brown's overbearing taxation and overblown spending plans?

3. Will you keep your promise to exit the EPP?

Diana

May 6th, 2008 8:52pm

Will you make public the epxenses of all MPs?

Damien

May 6th, 2008 9:51pm

What is special about being British? Why is the country so screwed up? Who has done it and what are you going to do about it?

gerry

May 9th, 2008 1:49pm

David,
What would you do to correct the current benefits system in which the working low paid are penalised and the fecund idle are rewarded?

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