Cameron urges people to be nice to each other

Cameron calls for more social responsibility

Monday, 23, Apr 2007 12:00

David Cameron today called for a "revolution in responsibility", as he set out the Conservatives' agenda for social responsibility.

Rejecting Labour's Asbo-led approach, Mr Cameron argued increased civility can tackle anti-social behaviour.

Improving everyone's quality of life includes looking at how people treat each other, he argued, including tackling bad behaviour.

The country needs a "revolution in responsibility", Mr Cameron claimed, alongside a "massive change" in how we think about government and society.

Mr Cameron said: "How we behave towards each other is one of the most important factors in our national well-being and quality of life. A civilised society is a civil society - in the literal sense of being civil to one another.

"We've fallen into the dangerous trap of assuming that social progress is solely the responsibility of the state. But social progress is not just a question of state control and government action.

"It is a question of social responsibility - the attitudes, decisions and daily actions of every single person and every single organisation in society.

"So before we can offer real hope of changing the culture of our country - to make it a more civil and civilised place to live we must first change the culture of our politics, to end the state's perceived monopoly over social progress."

However, Labour countered that David Cameron does not understand what anti-social behaviour means and challenged him to visit an area that had benefited from asbos and meet the older people, families and residents "liberated" from the "blight" of anti-social behaviour.

Home office minister Tony McNulty said: "David Cameron doesn't understand what anti-social behaviour means. Labour can learn no lessons from Cameron and "his 'hug a hoodie' Tories".

"Labour's Respect Agenda is fundamentally about equipping communities with the tools to fight those who seek to blight our neighbourhoods. The Tories have consistently opposed these measures - from anti social behaviour powers to cleaner neighbourhood measures, family intervention programmes and Sure Start."

And the liberal Democrats challenged Mr Cameron to "put flesh on his rhetoric".

"Actions speak louder than words, until David Cameron is prepared to put flesh on his soft-soap rhetoric about trusting communities it will be difficult to take him seriously," concluded home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg.