Cameron Challenges Britain: Is Britain Up To It?

There were moments, I confess, when David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative party conference this afternoon was oddly, disconcertingly reminiscent of George W Bush’s second inauguration speech. Each address was soaring, passionate and heroically optimistic. Bush foresaw a world transformed; at least Cameron’s ambitions are limited to remaking this sceptered isle.

If Bush serves as a warning that words are not enough it might also be said that words are still required. There was, as Andrew Neil immediately pointed out, little that was new in the Prime Minister’s address but, frankly, after the child benefit hash that was no bad thing. What we heard, however, was perhaps the most coherent – certainly the most passionate – declaration of Cameronism yet. 

As Pete says, the Big Society is back as a central theme, indeed the dominant theme, for this government. Eliminating the deficit in this parliament is a means to an end, not merely a virtuous end in itself.