In a surprisingly testy interview on the Andrew Marr show, David Cameron defended the
government’s approach to Europe, the economy and planning. But before the interview really got going, Cameron had to reiterate his Sunday Times’ apology (£) to women for the patronising comments he has made in the Commons
chamber. This is hardly an ideal start to conference for a party leader who is struggling to maintain female support.
On the Eurozone, Cameron was blunt that its problems were a threat to “the British economy and the world economy”. He also risked a clash with Nicolas Sarkozy by demanding that “action needs to be taken in the coming weeks to strengthen Europe’s banks”. The French president is unwilling to recapitalise the banks until after next year’s election.
One area where Cameron got rather tangled up was on the question of whether there should be a referendum on Europe. Looking visibly irritated by a line of questioning rarely comes across well on TV.
Cameron was on far stronger footing, though, when it came to the economy. He argued crisply that a few billion of extra spending is unlikely to make much difference when the government spends trillions of pounds and that this few billion could lead to higher interest rates, choking off the current monetary stimulus to the economy.
The other story of the opening day of conference is planning. Cameron took a more conciliatory line than Francis Maude, saying he would no more put the countryside at risk than his own family. But it was also clear that there’ll be no backing down on the substance of the measures.
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