Cameron: ‘What you need is thoughtful radicalism’

30 September 2009

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The Tory leader talks to Fraser Nelson about Afghanistan, art and why he is taking his time in forging a new Tory revolution. He will not make the mistakes of either Blair or Heath

Mr Cameron was eight years old at the time of the 1972 Heath U-turn, but it’s understandable if the ghost of that government haunts him. Heath’s original agenda was very similar to that of Thatcher, but it was dismally executed and led to ignominy, defeat and five more years of Labour. ‘There is an easy radicalism, whereby you take the latest idea that comes out of the Institute of Economic Affairs or wherever and just say, “well, that’s it”,’ he says. ‘Proper radicalism is thinking through how you are going to get from A to B to C to D. I think that’s what we’re doing.’

Then again, Mr Cameron is also haunted by the memory of 1997. ‘The whole Conservative party has had the benefit of learning the mistake Blair made — having a mandate and not using it. Not actually using your early months to demonstrate how you can transform a country.’ This, I say, is more like it. Not so much like a long runway, but a vertical takeoff Harrier Jump Jet. ‘Well there are some things you can do very quickly. There are some easy wins.’ Such as? School reform can be enacted quickly, he responds.

After the first four years of a Cameron government, how different would Britain look? Where would he like to have made the biggest difference? ‘Education, definitely. As the father of two young kids going through the state sector, I feel we should be breaking the system open and allowing new schools to set up. I think that can be transformative. And that is a very important yardstick against which the government should be judged.’ So would he agree with Michael Gove that, after four years, there could be a new free school in every neighbourhood? ‘I think that is practical.’ Would his children attend them? ‘I would very much like them to.’

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Fatbloke on tour

October 1st, 2009 9:13am Report this comment

Trevor

Your background is coming to the fore.

Your interview is straight out of the Chairman Dave and the Laptop Loyal school of journalism. If only you had taken more time to learn from Glenn Gibbons and less time being Andrew Neil's latest party boy find from the GUU gene pool.

Prepared Radicalism = Compassionate Conservatism = Cheap words to try and make the self interest more acceptable.

Interesting list of priorities, nothing about growth / jobs / progress just a need to cut the deficit.

This isn't neo conservative economics this is straight orthodoxy missing out the 80 years experience that proved it to be wrong.

Welcome to Dave's World, where Nigel Lawson is king and the UK will be first into a recession and last out.

And this is progress.

DavidDP

October 1st, 2009 9:25am Report this comment

"tax that will, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies, lose the Exchequer about £800 million a year "

Garbage in, garbage out. Change the assumptions, you'll change the result. Next.

Simon Stephenson

October 1st, 2009 11:56am Report this comment

DavidDP : 9.25am

To write as you do you've obviously got the definitive valuations of all the consequences of bringing in the 50p tax rate. Care to share them with us?

Stuart Bertram

October 2nd, 2009 4:52pm Report this comment

What people like Fatbloke (is that really you Mr Prescott?) fail to appreciate is that growth, jobs and progress will never come, at least not sustainably, through government spending - that will only ever be achieved through a low tax economy free from government interference.
The root of all the problems created by GB and, with the exception of Afghanistan, the common link among the issues being prioritised by DC, is our addiction to government and complete abdication of individual responsibility. GB's stealth taxes allowed him to preted that we lived in a low tax economy while overseeing a massive growth in public spending (with seemingly proportionately inverse benefit for the taxpayer) - and aren't we paying for it now. One in five of the workforce is on the government payroll, or more accurately on the payroll of the other four. Forty three per cent of the UK's GDP is government spending. So half the output of the real economy is used to support the other half. That is no way to create wealth, jobs and progress.
Apart from the unsustainable economics what this does is create a complete barrier to reform. While 20% of the working population (and all of the non-working) are dependent on the state there will always be a vested interest for both electorate and elected in maintaining large government and no politician is going to advocate the real change we need - how many turkeys ask their fellow turkeys to vote for Christmas?
While I take DC's point that if you try to do too much too soon you can end up doing nothing I do hope that at heart he realises that to fix our broken economy, broken government and broken society we need a fundamental evaluation of what our government does for us and what we as individuals should do for ourselves, not the Morton's Fork currently offered to the electorate - I'm afraid that 10% just doesn't cut it.

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