Cameron must offer women more than an apology

Shortly after he arrived in Downing Street as the chief political strategist, Andrew Cooper sent David Cameron a memo about the nation’s hopes and fears.

Shortly after he arrived in Downing Street as the chief political strategist, Andrew Cooper sent David Cameron a memo about the nation’s hopes and fears. Cooper’s research showed that voters’ greatest concern was that their children wouldn’t have the opportunities they’d had. The mood of pessimism in the country, he concluded, could not be lifted until this question was addressed. This is why the conference this week has featured lots of of talk about children and ‘inter-generational fairness’.

‘Inter-generational fairness’ sounds like the sort of meaningless phrase that only a politician would use, but both parties believe that the idea is vital to their prospects. Cameron is eager to show that his government will, as he put it in his conference speech, ‘give our children the future we want them to have’.