Conservative conference 2011: live coverage

Rolling coverage of all the day’s developments in Manchester 10.17am: Here is some Twitter reaction to Cameron’s interview on the Andrew Marr show. From the Daily Express’s Patrick O’Flynn Cam unscathed by #Marr but seemed far too complacent on EU. This will cause him problems here #cpc11 From the Daily Telegraph’s Benedict Brogan Agree With @oflynnexpress: Cam has strong voice, speaks in plain English, carries authority. Ominous for Labour From Gaby Hinsliff, the former Observer political editor Cameron looking more uncomfortable on growth strategy questions than on Europe. this’ll be the Q to watch during #cpc11 From PoliticsHome’s Paul Waugh PM ducking EU treaty change ‘opportunity’ to repatriate powers. Suggests it’s medium term issue, bit garbled answer 9.58am: The snap verdict in the press room at Manchester Central, the conference venue, was that that interview hasn’t really taken us much further forward. Cameron confirmed that he still agrees with what he thought about the Human Rights Act in May 2010. With Theresa May, the home secretary, telling the Sunday Telegraph that she would like the HRA to go (ie, she still thinks what she thought in May 2010 too), this gives us an easy coalition row, because Nick Clegg told the Lib Dem conference: “Let me say something really clear about the Human Rights Act. In fact I’ll do it in words of one syllable: It is here to stay.” But this feels like a choreographed display of posturing, rather than a fresh insight into what the government will do. Unless I missed it, Cameron did not have anything very original to say about the economy. But I thought it was interesting that when Marr tried to tempt him into saying he couldn’t wait to get rid of the Lib Dems after 2015, Cameron refused to take the bait. The Independent on Sunday suggests that, if Cameron wins a narrow majority at the next election, he is planning to offer Lib Dems positions in the cabinet. I’ll post a proper summary shortly 9.55am: Oh, no, it’s not quite over. Marr has a quick chat with PJ Harvey, the musician. She mentions government cuts to the arts. Cameron says the lottery is still providing plenty of money. Now she’s singing about “beautiful England”. Cameron will like that. 9.49am: Marr returns to the economy. Q: Vince Cable says the crisis was like a war. Cameron says there are some similarities. The last coalition was during the war. Q: Some people don’t seem to be affected by the crisis. Cameron says he does not accept that. People are affected, particularly by things like energy prices. He mentions a visit to a hospital yesterday. A patient told him about his sons, all working in industry. He was proud of the fact they were building Britain’s future. Cameron says the government has show people that there is a better future. That’s it. The interview’s over. 9.45am: Marr asks about the state of the coalition. Q: If you had a majority, would you push the Lib Dems out? Cameron says the coalition is working well. Of course there are “tensions and pressures”. At the next election the Conservatives will fight as a separate party. “We will be fighting to win.” Q: What kind of Conservative are you? A Thatcherite? Or a Conservative who enjoys coalition? Cameron says he is a “modern, compassionate Conservative”. He says he does not accept that the government are being held back by the “cuddly Liberal Democrats”. The decision to increase health spending was a Conservative policy. The success of one party does not have to be at the expense of another, he said. Q: Will there be a coalition divorce? We are not married, says Cameron. He jokes that he is married to his wife, not Nick Clegg. At the next election, he wants to win outright. 9.41am: Marr is now asking about planning. Cameron says he loves the countryside. He would no sooner harm the countryside than harm his own family. Q: But will the new planning laws allow signs to go up everywhere, as they do in the US? Cameron says that is not quite right. Under the government’s plans, local communities will get to benefit. Q: Do you accept there will be more homes in rural areas? Cameron says he wants to give local people more control over new homes. Local councillors want more homes to be available. Q: Do you agree that it would be good to get rid of the Human Rights Act? Cameron says he agrees it would be better to replace it with a British Bill of Rights. But the coalition has a policy on this. It has set up a commission to look at that. What it can do is look at the way this is interpreted in the UK. Recently a prison van had to be used in a case where a prisoner could have walked, because people thought human rights were involved. These issues can be addressed. 9.34am: Marr is now asking about the economy. Q: Are you ruling out cutting taxes? Cameron says it is important to stick to the government’s economic plans. But some business taxes have already been cut. Q: And you can’t spend any more money, can you? Cameron says those who argue that spending “a few more billion now” will make a huge difference. The government will be spending £3tn (trillion) over the next few years. Cameron says the government is taking various steps: 1) dealing with the deficit; 2) doing everything possible to make it easier for busineses to expand and invest. Q: Andrew Tyrie says the growth strategy is incoherent. Cameron says exports to China are up 40%. The motor industry is expanding. Q: Do you need to re-engineer the growth strategy? Cameron says the government needs to everything it can to fire up growth. It is. For example, the housing plan announced today could create 200,000 jobs. (See 8.55am.) The government is also bringing back the right to buy, he says. (The BBC has more on that here.) Q: But there aren’t that many council homes left? There are, says Cameron. Some 2m homes are available. 9.32am: They are still talking about Europe. Q: What would you do if there were a treaty renegotiation? Cameron says that is not on the agenda right now. Q: But would you “relish” the chance to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU? Cameron says the priority is to get the economy going. People across the EU are not talking about a treaty negotiation. 9.26am: David Cameron is on the Marr show now. Q: Are you worried that coalition policies are hitting women? Cameron says times are tough for all families. And women are at the heart of families. The government has do to better at explaining what it is doing. Q: How much worse could the economy get? There is a real problem in the Eurozone, Cameron says. The government has been saying the Eurozone countries have to face up to this. It’s “a threat to the worldwide economy”. Q: Do you accept that there has to be a single economic area? The logic of the Eurozone leads in that direction, Cameron says. But the problem is more urgent. Action needs to be taken in the next few weeks. These countries have to get “ahead of the markets” now. Q: What happens to the UK if the Eurozone breaks up? It would be “very bad”, he says. Some 40% of British exports go to the Eurozone. Cameron says he thinks it is in Britain’s interests to be in the EU. But he would like some powers to be repatriated. Q: So will you support a referendum on the EU. [The Mail on Sunday is splashing on the news that there will be a backbench vote on whether or not to have a referendum.] Cameron says he is not in favour of a referendum of that kind. But he does think Britain can have a “better” relationship. Britain has forged alliances with France and Germany on issues like the budget. 9.23am: ConservativeHome is always worth reading, but it’s particularly useful during a Conservative conference. Its summary of all the Tory stories in today’s papers is up on the site now. 9.18am: You’ll have noticed that David Cameron did not have much to say about the economy in his interview with the Sunday Times. I trust he’ll make up for that on the Marr show. The interview should be starting soon. 8.55am: While we wait for David Cameron to appear on the Andrew Marr show, here are some more highlights from David Cameron’s interview with the Sunday Times (paywall). • Cameron has said that redundant government land will be handed to developers so that they can build up to 100,000 homes. The Sunday Times used this as their second story from the interview. (They led on Cameron’s apology to women – see 8.42am.) Here’s an extract from the story (paywall). The government is to hand thousands of acres of land to developers to build homes. In an attempt to boost growth the prime minister has unveiled plans for 100,000 homes on sites that have been developed but have since fallen into disuse. Construction companies will be allowed to take over the areas for nothing and will pay for the land only when the properties are sold. (Actually, this is just an extension of a scheme announced by Grant Shapps, the housing minister, in March.) • Cameron said the EU needed to cut regulation. I’m not defeatist about it, but I think Europe needs a wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee moment, in terms of, ‘We’ve got the single market, can we now put it to use to help grow our economies?’ There’s too much coming through about cost and regulation and not enough that’s about freedom of trade and business and investment and expansion. • He defended the government’s decision to reform the planning laws. Look, the planning system needs reform, it really does. When you have guidance that runs to thousands of pages it just becomes an enormous regulatory quagmire. It’s also completely untrusting of local authorities. It’s almost saying ‘those idiots in town halls can’t make decisions.’ I think that’s wrong. • And he attacked the critics of the planning reforms for misrepresenting what the government was doing. We’re not changing the rules about areas of outstanding natural beauty, the green belt or sites of special scientific interest. Frankly, some of the things that have been printed have been really quite misleading. Partly on the basis that because you’re simplifying guidance it enables someone to write, say, that it doesn’t mention bats — so it’s the ‘end of the bat’. But it isn’t! • He described himself as “an absolute lover of the British countryside”. He liked going for long walks and cycling in the countryside, he said. “The idea that I would want to see the British countryside ruined is completely ridiculous.” • He said that it was “essential” that the government stuck to its deficit reduction plans. • He suggested that MPs shout obscenities at him during PMQs. (I presume he’s referring to Labour MPs.) This came when he was explaining his comments to Angela Eagle and Nadine Dorries. (See 8.42am.) The noise in that place is unbelievable. The things that people shout at you … you just wouldn’t … you just couldn’t print them in a family newspaper … [PMQs] serves a purpose in that the whole country can see that the prime minister can get asked any question about anything; and you [can] see, are they up to the job? Do they know what’s going on in government? You’ve got to demonstrate that. And also it serves a sort of purpose in that because I need to know everything that’s going on in the deepest recesses of government, I find out all sorts of stuff. So it’s actually a good way of government being accountable to me. But is it an enjoyable half-hour that I look forward to every week? No, it bloody isn’t. 8.42am: Party conferences used to provide an opportunity for politicians to tell the public about all the many things that they had got right. But if you pick up a copy of the Sunday Times today, you could be forgiven for thinking that that’s all changed. At the Labour conference last week Ed Balls and others spent much of their time talking about the mistakes that the party made when it was in office. And this morning David Cameron has decided to engage in a spot of humble apologising too. But not to the entire nation – only to women. He tells the Sunday Times (paywall) that he is sorry that his remarks at PMQs to the Labour frontbencher Angela Eagle (“Calm down, dear”) and the Tory MP Nadine Dorries (whom he described as “frustrated”, prompted smutty laughter) were misinterpreted. It’s my fault. I’ve got to do better, I totally accept. I’m the one who’s got to explain who I am and what I’m like and what I think … What I find frustrating is that I’m not a sort of ‘All right luv, I’m down at the pub tonight’ whatever. That’s not me. But obviously I’ve come across in this way … If I offended anyone [with the "Calm down, dear" comment] I am hugely sorry. That is not what I wanted to do. It was a light-hearted reference. Catchphrases stick with me. I’ll be taking a look at the other Conservative party conference stories in the papers later this morning. But I’ll be focusing on Cameron’s interview with Andrew Marr, which should start at about 9.30am. I’ll be blogging it minute-by-minute, and afterwards I’ll post a comprehensive summary, as well as bringing you any reaction. The conference proceedings start after lunch. Here’s the agenda. Around 9.30am: David Cameron gives an interview to the Andrew Marr show. 2pm: Fiona Hodgson, president of the Conservative national convention, and Lady Warsi , the Conservative co-chairman, open the conference. 2.20pm: Session on a United Kingdom, with contributions from Cheryl Gillan , the Welsh secretary, Andrew Davies , the leader of the Conservative group in the Welsh assembly, David Mundel, a Scotland Office minister, and Annabel Goldie , leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Owen Paterson , the Northern Ireland secretary, winds up, 3.20pm: Session on the environment and climate change, with contributions from Caroline Spelman , the environment secretary, Richard Benyon, the environment minister, and Charles Hendry and Greg Barker, energy ministers. 4pm: Session on international development, with contributions from Stephen Crabb MP and Lady Jenkin. Andrew Mitchell , the international development secretary. 4.30pm: Speech from William Hague , the foreign secretary. There’s also a huge TUC rally in Manchester today against the spending cuts. Up to 30,000 people are expected to attend. It will culminate in a rally at Number One First Street at 2pm. As usual, I’ll be covering all the conference breaking news, as well as bringing you the best comment from the web. I’ll post a lunchtime summary at around 1pm, and an afternoon one at about 5pm. Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Conservatives David Cameron William Hague Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 2, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.