Dubai: For the first time in decades, the forthcoming general elections are not swinging definitively in favour of either Labour or the Conservatives. There is also a distinct possibility of a hung parliament.
Gulf News spoke to David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition, about how they will change UK policy if elected.
Gulf News: What is the most important of your key election pledges?
David Cameron: All our pledges are vital to the future of our country. Labour have made such a mess of our country that there are so many things we need to fix.
Our economy's just come out of the longest and deepest recession on record and Labour have racked up the biggest budget deficit in our peacetime history. So we've got to deal with the deficit and get our economy moving — and the longer we wait, the harder it gets.
Politics has been dragged through the muck with one of the worst Westminster scandals we've seen in decades. We need sweeping changes — with more transparency, fewer MPs, much less big government and much more local control.
And in our society, we've got families failing, relationships breaking down, inequality getting worse, drugs, addiction, incivility and violent crime in our communities. We have the poorest pensioners in Western Europe and four out of 10 kids leaving primary school unable to read, write and add up properly. That's why I've said that we need to mend the broken society and we need radical changes — backing marriage, supporting families, raising the basic state pension in line with earnings, promoting responsibility and rewarding people for doing the right thing.
But we must never forget that whoever wins this election will take charge of a nation at war. And a nation at war needs government to be on a proper war footing. That's why, if I become prime minister, one of the very first things I would do is set up a new National Security Council which will act as a War Cabinet through the Afghan campaign. That is how we can make sure we never again send our troops into harm's way without the right equipment and give our troops the right support to succeed.
Where will the necessary funds be generated from, if spending is to be increased for health but taxes cut, abolished and frozen?
We've been very clear about all our plans and how they will be funded. We've made several specific announcements about where public spending can be cut — an unusual thing to do in Opposition — like bringing forward the raising of the retirement age and a public sector pay freeze that excludes the million lowest earners. We'll also save £12 billion of waste this year and find more savings in future years as part of the spending review.
One of the key questions right now is whether we should cut waste and stop Labour's jobs tax from wrecking the recovery. What Labour are saying is that they know there are billions of pounds of waste in government — but they're not going to do anything about this until next year. Instead, they want to raise National Insurance contributions on almost every single job in the country starting next year.
What does that mean? It means taxing the policeman, taxing the school teacher, taxing the nurse — and all this to pay for Labour's waste. We say, that's wrong. You don't see other countries imposing a new and massive tax increase to pay for waste. So if we win this election we'll block the bulk of Labour's tax hike by getting rid of waste in government. That's the best way to save jobs and boost our recovery.
"More than 100 of Britain's most successful business leaders have said that this is the right thing to do. People like Sir Stuart Rose, the Chairman of Marks & Spencer, the Warbuton's boss, Ross Warbuton, and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of easyJet, have said that cutting Labour's waste - not taxing jobs - is the right thing for the recovery. It means that seven out of 10 working people will be better off with the Conservatives - and none will be worse off."
How will a Conservative government in power challenge the problem of child abuse and neglect, and the related issue of social services' power, for example the Victoria Climbié or Baby P cases?
It is unbelievably sad that Victoria Climbié and Baby Peter lost their lives as they did. We've got to do everything we can to stop tragedies like this happening again. A big part of changing things is learning from the mistakes made in the past. That's why we've been arguing that Serious Case Reviews should be published in full — with names made anonymous — rather than the brief executive summaries that we have today. We also need to make serious changes to how social workers spend their time. Some spend 80 per cent of working days on paperwork. This is madness. If they're not in people's homes they're less likely to spot abuse and neglect, so we're going to take an axe to all that bureaucracy. I think we are in danger of becoming a deeply, even dangerously, irresponsible society and that has to change. We've got find ways and do things that encourage responsibility.
"But I also think these problems go deeper and these aren't just social services issues. Now I'm not pointing the finger at one party or one Government here, no - some of the things that have been going wrong in this country have been going wrong for decades. But when you consider the evidence of what is happening in this country, and when you think that we have more children growing up in households where nobody works than any other country in Europe, we have one of the worst divorce rates in Europe, and UNICEF said that Britain was the worst place in the developed world to be a child, then you realise that there is something bigger going wrong in this country - and we do have to fix it. Because it's not just Victoria Climbié and Baby Peter, it was also James Bulger, Ben Kinsella, Gary Newlove, and the horrific attack on two children by two other children in Edlington last year. We have to find the threads which run through these problems and ask ourselves why these things are going wrong.
"And yes, the answers are complicated, and yes, there are different knots we need to untie. But for me, in the end, it all comes down to one thing and one single word: irresponsibility."
How will a Conservative government in power tackle immigration issues?
Immigration is too high and we will bring it down. I think a responsible approach is to immigration is to say yes, we want the brightest people from around the world to come to our country and yes, Britain can benefit from immigration in so many ways — but we need to control the overall numbers coming here. A Conservative government would create a national border police force to prevent illegal immigration and put an annual limit on non-EU economic migration. Overall we would cut net migration from the hundreds of thousands it is now to the tens of thousands a year we saw in the 1990s.
Case study: Jane, is a young mother, who lives with her daughter and (unmarried) partner in the South of England. Currently, she earns more claiming benefits than she would from being a working mother. How would you encourage her back to work?
It is crazy that under Labour many people who want to work are better off on benefits. That's exactly what I mean when I say that big government has been blocking responsibility and making it harder for people to do the right thing.
I don't know enough about Jane's situation to comment specifically on her case, but it is wrong not to be straight with social services about your own financial situation and I do think that Jane should consider that carefully.
The bigger point I'd make is that here we have this Labour government, a centre-left government, an apparently progressive government — and what have they done? They haven't just failed in the areas where Labour governments traditionally fail — like the economy and our national finances — but they have actually been failing some of the poorest people in this country. So at the moment, if you're a single mother with two kids earning £150 a week, the withdrawal of benefits and the additional taxes means that for every extra pound you earn, you keep just four pence. That's effectively a 96 per cent marginal tax rate on the lowest paid in this country. It's totally wrong and unprogressive and it needs to change.
If tax breaks for married couples are introduced, do you think there is the possibility that the divorce rate in the UK could rise?
Recognising marriage in the tax system is part of our plan to back commitment, not weaken it. It's not about saying that people will get married or stay married for money, but about encouraging commitment and giving extra help for families. It's about more than the money, it's about the message — saying that yes, relationships matter, yes, commitment matters, and yes marriage matters, and we should be saying that loudly and proudly.
You wrote in the Daily Telegraph recently that: "We have had enough of the debt, waste and taxes." How can a new Conservative government tackle these more effectively than Labour?
I come at this issue like this: families and businesses up and down the country have been tightening their belts, getting more for less money, why can't government? Leave aside the economic implications of failing to get a grip on spending and waste. This is a moral question — every penny spent by politicians is the public's hard earned money so they have a responsibility to spend it wisely. The question is: how? In the long-term, we need to reduce the long-term demands on the state. By tackling the causes, not just the symptoms, of our social problems, we can reduce the bills for unemployment, crime and poverty. In the medium-term, we need proper reform of our public services. By opening up services like health care and welfare and early years support to new providers and paying them by the results they achieve, we can get efficient and effective services. And in the short-term, we need to root out all waste.
How can the failings of the NHS be addressed?
The NHS says amazing things about Britain — it doesn't matter who you are or how much money you've got, you don't have to worry about getting health care. We will never change that precious principle. What's more, we will provide the money to make sure the NHS can provide world-class healthcare. That's why we've promised to protect health spending — and with a Conservative government the health budget will grow.
But we will change the NHS in other ways because for some people the service isn't good enough. The first thing we will do is trust our doctors. We will scrap the targets that make their lives a misery and let them get on with providing care for their patients as they see fit. But at the same time, we're also going to give much more power to patients. Choice about where you get treated. More information about how good different hospitals are. More information about the things that really matter like the rate of hospital infections and what my chances are of surviving cancer. Together, these changes will create a much better NHS.
On countryside and farming, if "unnecessary paperwork and inspections" (conservatives.com) are reduced, how will the risk of infectious diseases (such as foot and mouth) be properly controlled and prevented?
There's a clue in the word "unnecessary". Of course, we will never compromise on measures to control and prevent animal disease. In fact, we think we need to be much more effective when it comes to keeping disease out of the country. What we're saying is that if we want our farmers to succeed in an open market we've got to stop saddling the industry with an extra burden of cost relative to their competitors. Again, it's about encouraging responsibility, facilitating change, rather than imposing yet more wasteful bureaucracy. Britain already has the reputation of being one of the most heavy-handed countries in Europe when it comes to implementing EU farming legislation and the government is already missing its own target to reduce administrative burdens. So we will commission within the first three months of taking office an industry-led review of all existing regulations with a view to reducing burdens without compromising standards.
How will reducing the number of MPs benefit the country?
It will save money for a start - and show we are leading from the front in delivering more for less. Not just in the fewer salaries but it will also mean there are fewer people dreaming up new ways of spending your money. But I think there's another, and in many ways more important, reason for doing this. I think the more locally a decision is made, more often than not the better it is. It's taken by people who really know the problems, know what will work, know what people want. That's why I'm a localist and it's why the thread running through so many of our plans is pushing power down as far down as possible. When you do this, there's less need for people at the top making decisions. So I think reducing the number of MPs is an important part in shifting our culture from a centralised state to a decentralised one.
Is the creation of an ethnic media press officer post in January 2010 an attempt to make the party more minority-friendly?
Every political party needs to make sure its message is heard, especially when there's such a massive choice facing the country and so much is at stake. And the truth is that there are lots of great publications and media outlets out there that serve black and ethnic minority groups.
What's more, if you believe, as I do, that the Conservative Party is the one nation party, and then you believe in reaching out to the whole nation. That's why we've also worked so hard bring new people into the Party over the last four years for example, and it's why at this election, we've got a much wider range of candidates fighting for winnable seats. So as result, if we win this election, instead of just 18 Conservative women MPs, there could be closer to 60. And instead of just two black and ethnic minority candidates, there will be between 10 and 15. It's not good enough, but it's a great sign of how much we have changed. So as we come at this election, we really can look at every part of British society and say: we are with you, we are like you, we are for you, we are ready to serve you, and if we win, we will be on your side.
If a Conservative government is elected, what will be the first policy to be implemented?
Let's wait to see if we get elected first. But one thing I tell you will happen right from moment I walk through the doors of Downing Street is that we'll set up a proper National Security Council - in effect, a War Cabinet - to make sure we're supporting our troops fighting on the frontline.
What do you think makes a successful Prime Minister? What qualities should he/she possess?
Obviously your policies and plans are important. You need to have the right ideas - right for your times. But I think, more often than not, it's the unpredictable events that can to dominate a premiership. And here, it's your judgment, your character, and your temperament that really counts. Your ability to stick to your values and beliefs, come what may. You need the strength of character to take on vested interests that try and block progress and reform.
You also need to take a long-term view. I think one of the biggest failures of this Labour Government is that they were too obsessed with short-term headline chasing. Real leadership, I believe, comes from seeing your objectives through, over years, not days. That's why I've said that my aim in government would be to be quietly effective.
You also wrote of the building of a "Big Society", focusing on community organisers. How was this conceived and how will it be implemented?
For the past 13 years, Labour's big government has been ever-present, either doing things for people or telling them how to do it. But this has made our social problems worse by undermining the personal and social responsibility that makes a strong society tick. That's why the positive alternative we've been setting out is the Big Society. This is a society strengthened by personal and social responsibility - where people come together, and work together, to solve their own problems. In the Big Society, the force for progress isn't government, but people. So it follows that the first step must be giving people much more power over their lives - over housing, planning, schools, policing. But we also think the state has an important role in helping people take part of these opportunities. This is where our plan for a new army of community organisers come in. They'll be local activists, independent of the state, who help bring neighbourhoods together in common purpose. President Obama was one in his youth. I'm confident similar inspirational figures exist in Britain - we just need to unleash them.
You have referred to the UK society as "broken" - in what ways is it "broken" and how can it be fixed?
Again, it goes back to the things I was just talking about - the crime, the worklessness, the poverty, the family breakdown, the fact that we have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe, the highest level of problem drug use in Europe, and our children are the least happy in the developed world. I know that not everyone agrees with me that society is broken - but I think we've got to think very hard about all the things that are going wrong and how we can put these things right.
And again, there's no one thing we need to do, and there's no quick fix. But we need to start by rebuilding our sense of responsibility. We've got to change the culture of our country from one where too often, people are being encouraged to do the wrong thing. It means changing our tax and benefits system to encourage commitment and stop couples being paid more welfare if they live apart. It means helping families, giving them more time together and being there for them when times are tough - and that's not just something for government. We need to bring about change in the media and advertising, so we're not glorifying violence on our TV screens and big businesses aren't aggressively marketing at kids.
Everyone knows that families are the first place people learn about responsibility - it's where we're first taught the difference between right and wrong. So we need to help families on this mission - and that's why we're coming at this election with what I believe is one of the most family-friendly manifestos we've ever seen. So we won't just extend flexible working and give parents more time together; we won't just build a new army of Health Visitors so that parents get more tailored help with their kids; we will also help couples to get access to the right emotional support, the right counselling, the right expert advice when things are difficult and they are going through a rocky patch.
Profile: Who is Cameron?
David Cameron, 44, has been leader of the Conservative Party since December 2005, and is also leader of the opposition. Born in 1966, he studied at Eton College, then at Oxford where he gained a first. He is married to Samantha and has one son and one daughter, with whom he lives in Notting Hill, London. Cameron worked in the Conservative research department in 1988, then becoming special advisor to Chancellor Norman Lamont in 1992 and Michael Howard — then Home Secretary — in 1993. In 2002 he became MP for Witney and was appointed shadow minister in the Privy Council Office one year later. After Howard took the leadership, Cameron became deputy chairman of the party, winning his first front-bench job as local government spokesperson in 2004. In June of that year he was promoted to head of policy coordination and became shadow education secretary three months later.
Plea to British expats
How will the Conservative party encourage the 240,000 British expatriates living in the UAE to vote, considering that many have moved abroad due to disillusionment with the UK? (Figure is approximate, provided by Edward Oakden, UK Ambassador to the UAE).
What I'm telling every British voter is that we don't have to put up with what we've got. We shouldn't just hope for a better future, we should demand it. And why not?
We're the sixth richest country in the world, we have some great entrepreneurs, great culture, people with real energy and ideas. We just need a government that unleashes that potential and doesn't try to do everything itself. A government that says to our businesses, we'll cut Labour's waste to stop their jobs tax so you can grow, invest and create wealth; that says to our doctors and teachers, you've got a vocation, you've done the training, get on with the job; that says to social entrepreneurs, you know how to tackle our biggest social problems, so why not help provide public services. If we do that, our best days really will lie ahead of us.
