Cameron promises 'real grit'

Wednesday, 6 December 2006 12:00 AM

David Cameron has promised the Conservatives will offer voters some "real grit" on policy as he enters his second year as party leader.

He has spent the last 12 months setting out his vision of "compassionate Conservatism", focusing on the environment and 'soft' issues such as childcare, but has offered little in the form of strong policies.

But in an interview with the BBC last night to mark his one-year anniversary today, Mr Cameron said his first job was to improve the public's view of the Tories as a credible party - which he believed he had now done.

And he stressed that in the coming months, "you're going to hear real grit in terms of how we're going to change this country for the better".

"You've heard about the change to the Conservative party - that was important, we weren't being listened to, we weren't even part of the picture. We are part of the picture now. I want to use that huge privilege to show we can serve our country," he said.

Labour has made much of the lack of firm Tory policies, and during a heated session of prime minister's questions last month, Tony Blair warned: "The next election will be a flyweight versus a heavyweight.

"However much the right honourable gentleman [Mr Cameron] may dance around the ring beforehand, at some point, he will come within the reach of a big clunking fist."

But Mr Cameron said he would not rush into announcing "eye-catching policies" that would not stand up in an election, saying his policy groups - which report back next year - would offer a "rigorous and clear analysis of what is wrong and what we'd put right".

He told the BBC: "I do not want to make the mistake Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made when they got into power - they didn't know what they wanted to do when it came to the vital areas of our hospitals and our schools."

The prime minister has also mocked Mr Cameron for his apparently soft view on crime, notably his call to "hug a hoodie" and belief that many young offenders just need "love".

The Tory leader retorted: "I'm a Conservative, I understand, you break the law, you get punished." But he said it was critical to "look at the background of crime, look at the causes of crime".

"There's too much family breakdown in this country. There's too much alcohol abuse and drug abuse, too much sexual abuse in the home, too many people going wrong at school and playing truant," he said.

Mr Cameron's new, softer image was well received among the party faithful at the Tories' annual conference this autumn, but there are many in the right-wing of the party who are concerned about his lack of substance.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats' campaign chairman, said: "David Cameron's first year charm offensive has certainly brought him good headlines, but has left most traditional conservatives confused by his spin.

"As Cameron's honeymoon ends, the central question of his leadership remains - is he sincere about changing the Conservative party, and prepared to take on traditional Tory activists who strongly oppose his views, or is his talk of change simply empty rhetoric?"

However, the Tory leader told the BBC: "I've had plenty of criticism this past year. I've ignored them. I've stuck to the path I want to take to get my party to the centre ground, to address the issues people care about, to modernise the party."

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