In a riposte to Ed Miliband, who alarmed the Tories with his populist pledge last week to freeze fuel prices for 20 months, the prime minister will warn against "quick fixes" as he seeks to rebuild the economy after the downturn.
"There is no shortcut to a land of opportunity," he will tell the Conservative conference on its final day in Manchester. "No quick fix. No easy way to do it."
Aides insisted the main focus of the speech is not a point-by-point response to Miliband. Cameron instead wants to outline his positive vision to create a "land of opportunity", following last year's "aspiration nation" speech. One source said of the two themes at the two consecutive conferences: "They are cousins of each other."
But Miliband's announcement on energy prices, which prompted George Osborne to claim on Monday that the Labour leader wants to revive Karl Marx's Das Kapital, will hover over Cameron's speech as he charts a careful course. He wants to depict Miliband's proposal as a dangerous lurch to the left, while acknowledging the concerns of voters over high fuel prices.
Cameron will criticise Miliband for pursuing an anti-business agenda and hail the role of business when he says: "We know that profit, wealth creation, tax cuts, enterprise – these are not dirty, elitist words. They're not the problem, they really are the solution because it's not the government that creates jobs. It's businesses that get wages in people's pockets, food on their tables, hope for their families and success for our country."
But he will acknowledge that some businesses must shape up when he says the Tories champion "responsible businesses". He may suggest greater action is needed to regulate the energy market.
Over the weekend Cameron said the government needed to look at the level of subsidies for Britain's energy companies. He also criticised the "big six" energy suppliers for failing to do enough to offer customers the lowest tariff.
The leadership has attempted this week to highlight the signs of economic recovery without sounding triumphalist.
The former chancellor Ken Clarke on Tuesday night backed Osborne's speech pledging to stick to austerity, but warned that ordinary people are "not feeling much benefit" from the economic recovery and it will be "an extremely tall order" for Cameron to win a majority at the next election.
On Tuesday Cameron said the need to eliminate the budget structural deficit within the next parliament, and move towards an absolute surplus, would require spending freezes. He told the BBC: "Over the whole of the next parliament, it's early days but it could mean a real terms freeze in public spending – so not a cut but a freeze. Obviously we would then have to make the decisions about what we do in each department. But we've demonstrated as a government that you can make reductions but improve services."
In a sign of pre-election discipline, the PM has reached an understanding with Boris Johnson. Cameron said he would "absolutely" welcome Johnson's return to parliament at the next election in 2015 – a year before the end of his second term as mayor. Johnson has in return agreed to be more supportive of Cameron.
The PM, who was irritated when Nick Clegg highlighted 16 areas where the Lib Dems have restrained the Tories, will try to show where the Tories have been more responsible than the Lib Dems as he makes clear he is determined to avoid another coalition after the election.
He will say he wants to finish the job he started, adding: "It requires a strong government, with a clear mandate, that is accountable for what it promises and, yes, what it delivers. Let me tell everyone here what that means. When the election comes we won't be campaigning for a coalition, we will be fighting heart and soul for a majority Conservative government because that is what our country needs."ButHe will also say that he wants to forge a new economy when he talks of replacing Britain's "casino economy".
He will say of the "land of opportunity": "It means building something better … [replacing] the casino economy [with] one where people who work hard can actually get on.
"You can't conjure up a dynamic economy, a strong society, fantastic schools all with the stroke of a minister's pen."
Original Article
Source: theguardian.com
Author: Nicholas Watt
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