Jobs pledge: David Cameron gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Mail over his final hour in Number Ten before hitting the campaign trail

David Cameron tonight pledged to create the highest employment rate in the developed world, promising a Conservative government would create ‘a job for everyone that wants one’.

The Prime Minister said the coalition’s biggest success story had been the creation of 1,000 jobs every day it had been in power, despite the struggle to turn the economy around after the financial crisis.

Over another five years, the Tories would help business to create another two million – on top of the 1.9million created since 2010.

Saying job creation had been his motivating force as Prime Minister, Mr Cameron said that would mean effective ‘full employment’.

‘People ask me ask me what is this economic plan all about - what’s its benefit?’ he said.

‘The benefit is to give people the chance of a job, security, a wage, a pay packet, and that’s one of the most important aims of this Government. It’s not dry statistics on a page- it’s changing people’s lives.’

Mr Cameron said the job of restoring prosperity was ‘only half done’ as the general election campaign finally got underway.

He and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg each had audiences with the Queen today to mark the dissolution of Parliament and the formal commencement of hostilities.

Following months of unofficial campaigning, there will be a five-and-a-half week race before the most unpredictable election in a generation.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, over his final hour in Number Ten before hitting the campaign trail, Mr Cameron:

Revealed plans to put ‘rocket boosters’ under Margaret Thatcher’s flagship right-to-buy policy

Claimed ‘Hampstead socialist’ Ed Miliband is more out of touch than him, with ‘no understanding’ of ordinary people’s lives

Warned the Union between England and Scotland would be in serious danger if the SNP props up a minority Labour government

Admitted there was ‘no excuse’ for the Government’s failure to reduce immigration but insisted removing incomers’ rights to tax credits would bring numbers down

Dismissed Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ figure

The Prime Minister sought to dismiss questions about his appetite for the job, following last week’s surprise announcement that he would not seek a third term.

The race is on: Mr Cameron (with director of communications Craig Oliver) sought to dismiss questions about his appetite for the job, after last week’s surprise announcement that he would not seek a third term

‘I definitely feel I’m only half way through,’ he said.

Mr Cameron said there were ‘parts’ of his job that were enjoyable, adding: ‘I’ve found it very satisfying in that I felt we came in with a very clear task ahead of us, to turn the country round, turn the economy round, and there were times at the beginning when it looked very, very difficult, and it was taking time.

‘It has been incredibly fulfilling to see a plan coming together and working.’

We’re creating 1,000 jobs a day. We believe we can get to this very high rate – even beyond the very highest rate of employment we’re at now

When the coalition came to power, he said, unemployment had ‘rocketed’ in the financial crisis.

But the latest figures showed Britain had record numbers of people in jobs and is about to overtake Canada – with the employment rate expected to hit 72.6 per cent within weeks, ahead of Canada’s 72.5 per cent.

Creating two million more jobs over the next five years would mean maintaining the current job creation rate over five years and take the UK ahead of Germany and Japan.

The Tories have pledged to help firms hire by offering the lowest business taxes in the G20 group of developed nations, and corporation tax will tomorrow be cut again to 20 per cent.

More to be done: Mr Cameron said the job of restoring prosperity was ‘only half done’ as the general election campaign finally got underway

‘We’re creating 1,000 jobs a day. We believe we can get to this very high rate – even beyond the very highest rate of employment we’re at now,’ Mr Cameron said.

HOW SAMANTHA WILL PLAY BIGGER ROLE IN THIS ELECTION CAMPAIGN Mr Cameron with his wife Samantha on Saturday Mr Cameron confirmed his wife Samantha will play a bigger role in this election campaign, making some solo visits on the campaign trail. ‘She will be sometimes on her own, going to support candidates, some of the time with me, some of the time sorting out the children’s homework and her business and everything else she’s got to do,’ he said. ‘She’ll take multi-tasking to a new level. She’s already done a bit more, and is really keen to. 'She’s really up for it, she’s very sort of pumped up about it, really wants me to win, is really focused on the campaign.’ The Prime Minister said he would cease campaigning on Easter Sunday, adding: ‘I’ll maybe have a bit of a day of rest. 'It’s the most important Christian festival in the calendar. But the rest of the time I’m going to be pretty hard at it.’ Advertisement

‘That’s the clear goal we’ve set. It’s achievable. It means doing two times as well as the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast for us, but we’ve done twice as well in this Parliament as predicted.

‘If we train those three million apprentices, cut corporation taxes as we’re planning to do, go on with the investment programme in infrastructure, road and rail improvements, if we see continued expansion in housebuilding with the success of Help to Buy, if we go on with the improvements in skills training… I see no reason why we can’t get to a level which is higher, that we’d see as full employment.’

Mr Cameron said he envisaged employment rates ‘up to those some Scandinavian countries achieved in the past’, adding: ‘It can be done.’

‘The way I’d define it is a job for everyone that wants one. The Chancellor has talked about the highest rate of employment in the G7 as one way to measure it – so you’re going past the Canadian rate and others with high employment rates. We’re in sight of that now.

‘The truth is, we’ve generated four private sector jobs for every public sector job lost.’

Though two polls in recent days have put the Tories on 36 per cent of the vote, the same as they achieved in 2010, Mr Cameron conceded many voters were still reluctant to give them credit for the recovery.

‘We came in at a time after deep and painful recession, when people were really hurt in terms of jobs lost, living standards squeezed and livelihoods destroyed, and it takes time to recover from that.

‘I think people are seeing increasingly that the plan’s working and that it’s translating into benefits for them: wages are now growing ahead of inflation, the effects of our tax reductions are helping people’s take-home pay. But it just takes time for people to see the benefits of an approach that’s working,’ the Prime Minister said.

Mr Cameron said he would not think of ‘crowing’ about the Conservative record, but suggested he wanted to frame the election as a binary choice between his party and the ‘chaos’ of a Labour government propped up by other parties,

Praise: The Prime Minister (pictured with Daily Mail Political Editor James Chapman) said the coalition’s biggest success story had been the creation of 1,000 jobs every day it had been in power

‘Elections aren’t about records, they’re about plans and choices,’ he said.

‘You’ve got an economic plan with a record behind it that will go on creating jobs, go on cutting taxes, go on building homes, go on making businesses want to start up and expand, and set against that is Labour’s plan for more debt , more borrowing, more spending, more taxes, which will wreck jobs and wreck our economic prospects.

'I WAS NERVOUS': PM ON PAXMAN Mr Cameron and Jeremy Paxman last Thursday Of his bruising TV clash last week with Jeremy Paxman, Mr Cameron conceded he had been nervous, saying: ‘It’s an important event. Paxman is Paxman. 'You just have to get your point across at the same time as answering his. I was pretty pleased with how it went.’ Of this week’s seven-way debate with the leaders of Labour, the Lib Dems, Ukip, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens, he said: ‘There’s an awful lot of people there and I expect they’ll all have one or two things to say about me. ‘I think it’s going to demonstrate there are a lot of different parties out there but most of them seem to believe in uncontrolled welfare, increased debt, more borrowing and higher taxes. ‘This clear choice between the competence of a Conservative government with a plan and a team and a track record and the chaos of the alternatives, I think this debate format will show that up.’ Advertisement

‘We’re going to use every opportunity we have to put forward the choice that people have rather than just talk about the record.’

Scotland

The 300-year old union between England and Scotland will be in mortal peril if Ed Miliband is propped up in Downing Street by the rampant Scottish Nationalists, Mr Cameron warned.

The Prime Minister mounted his strongest attack yet on the SNP, referring to them as ‘these people’ and insisting their only interest was in breaking up the UK.

For the first time, he declared he would never negotiate with SNP MPs if he ends up leading a minority government – even on a vote by vote basis.

Asked if he would rule out deals on particular Commons votes with the SNP, currently on course to seize dozens of Labour seats, Mr Cameron insisted: ‘Yes, yes. They are different. They want to break up Britain. You cannot deal with these people.’

The Prime Minister told the Daily Mail that the SNP, which has suggested an £180 billion debt-fuelled spending spree will be the price for propping up Mr Miliband, was ‘just trying to take the Labour Party hostage’.

‘They’re just laying out this list of demands. I want to keep the United Kingdom together so I will do everything I can to help make that happen,’ he said.

‘Labour ought to rule out not just coalition - but any form of deal with the SNP. They can’t recover in Scotland unless they actually say “we’re not going to deal with these people”.

‘While they are saying effectively they’re going to deal with them, that’s giving people in Scotland a green light to vote SNP. They’ve got to have the courage of their convictions.

‘The only party that’s actually recovering a little bit in Scotland is the Conservatives, because we’ve said “we’re not dealing with these people, they want to break up our country, we’re not having anything to do with them. Vote for what you believe in”.

Campaigning: Mr Cameron gives a speech at a general election rally at Corsham School in Chippenham

‘What is Labour’s message? “We don’t like the SNP but we might do a deal with them, they might help us over the threshold”? That’s useless. It’s useless in Scotland and it’s terrible in England.’

Mr Cameron said it would be a ‘very bad step’ that would put the Union in danger for Labour to be sustained in power by the SNP, even on a vote-by-vote basis.

DOES CAMERON ENJOY THE JOB? Mr Cameron pictured at Downing Street yesterday ‘I’m not sure enjoy is necessarily... There are parts that are enjoyable, you know, things like the Olympics, the people you get to meet, the things you get to see. 'I’ve found it very satisfying in that I felt we came in with a very clear task ahead of us, to turn the country round, turn the economy round, and there were times at the beginning when it looked very, very difficult and it was taking time. 'It has been incredibly fulfilling to see a plan coming together and working, but I definitely feel I’m only half way through.’ Advertisement

‘There’s a difference between the SNP and other parties: they want to break up our country,’ he said.

‘When you’re dealing with separatists you’ve got to remember that separation comes before everything.

‘It’s not austerity they’re really worried about, it’s not even Trident they’re worried about. It’s breaking up Britain they’re worried about.

‘Everything they do will be about breaking up Britain. I worry that Ed Miliband is not strong enough to stand up to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon and their transitional demands.

‘He ought to say “No, no coalition, no confidence and supply, no vote by vote. You are people who want to break up Britain. Go away, I don’t want to talk to you”.

‘And then Labour might recover in Scotland, because they could say to people “don’t think that voting SNP is kind of one way to a Labour government, and voting Labour is another way”.

‘They should be saying voting SNP is wrong because these people are going to break up our country and we don’t want anything to do with them.’

The Tory leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, today risked undermining the Prime Minister by admitting the party is ‘unlikely’ to win a majority.

Launching the Scottish party’s election campaign, she urged Mr Cameron to rule out another coalition and pledge to lead a minority government instead, if he is again leader of the biggest party in a hung parliament.

Labour, which polls suggest could lose dozens of seats to the SNP on May 7, today deployed Gordon Brown on the campaign trail to commit the party to £800 million in extra spending for Scotland.

Shaking hands: Mr Cameron arrives to speak at a rally to mark the start of the general election campaign at Corsham School in Wiltshire yesterday

He said a Labour government would spend £150 million to guarantee a job and training for every young person out of work for a year; £200 million from the mansion tax to be spent on the NHS; £150 million to end the so-called ‘bedroom tax’; £200 million for youth programmes, such as free university tuition; and £100 million yet to be assigned.

WHAT ABOUT ANOTHER COALITION? Another coalition? Nick Clegg and Mr Cameron at their first joint press conference in May 2010 Mr Cameron said he would not issue a ‘batsqueak’ over the next five-and-a-half weeks about the prospect of being involved in another coalition. ‘I think people would rather have a majority government than a coalition. 'I think we’ve done well as a government but people would like the accountability of knowing if you vote for this manifesto, you get all of it not some of it, and it’s not going to be traded away in some backroom deal with another party. ‘So I think it’s quite empowering to people when you say there are 23 seats to go [for a Tory majority], you could make the difference, your seat could be the one that gives you a majority government and you could determine it,’ he added. Advertisement

Labour panic over an electoral earthquake in its traditional Scottish stronghold has been increased by the latest polls.

The latest showed Nicola Sturgeon’s party way ahead, with 43 per cent of the vote, with Labour languishing on 27 per cent, the Conservatives on 14 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on six per cent.

On a uniform swing, the figures would see the SNP jump from just six of Scotland’s 59 seats at the last election to 43.

Right to buy

David Cameron vowed to put ‘rocket boosters’ under Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy.

The Prime Minister confirmed that the Tories are to include a big extension of the policy, introduced by in 1980, in their election manifesto.

It is expected to be expanded to include housing association tenants – transforming the lives of up to 2.5 million people.

The original right-to-buy led to more than 1.5 million council homes being sold off at discounted rates and a surge in home ownership.

Senior Tories believe that big extension of the policy would attract more ‘C2 voters’ – the skilled working classes who helped to deliver Lady Thatcher’s three election victories.

Mr Cameron said: ‘I am a massive supporter of the right-to-buy.

‘I have sweated blood in this government to get the Liberal Democrats, who don’t really buy this and believe in it, to agree to bigger discounts, to market the right-to-buy to stop councils hiding it away from their tenants.

‘We’ve got more people who’ve bought their council homes. We’ve got the discounts back up. It’s working again.

Hello there: Mr Cameron greets 16-week-old Florence Skinner with her mother Lara Skinner, from Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, as he launches the Conservative general election campaign in Corsham School

‘But it’s been like pulling teeth, getting blood out of a stone with the Lib Dems who have frankly… a view ‘oh, do people really want to buy their council homes?’.

‘Yes, they do. Unencumbered by the Lib Dems we’ll put rocket boosters under this policy.’

ON SPEAKER JOHN BERCOW After the Tories failed to oust Mr Bercow (above), who they accuse of bias, in a plot last week, Mr Cameron said archly: ‘I’m sure he will find a way to demonstrate what a unifying figure he is across our great Parliament.’ Advertisement

Hampstead socialists

Hampstead socialists like Ed Miliband are more out-of-touch than him, Mr Cameron suggested.

‘It’s that mindset of “we know best”. “Don’t buy your council house because that’s thieving from society”, they say from a well-upholstered, comfortable red-brick Victorian mansion that they bought,’ he said.

‘”We’re not going to cut your taxes because frankly we know how to spend your money better than you do”. “Buying shares in businesses that you work for or state-owned enterprises, that’s selling the family silver” – this sort of condescending view that we know best, the man in Whitehall knows best, rather than I think the best ever Conservative slogan: trust the people. That’s what we believe.

‘I do think when you look at what Ed Miliband really thinks, it is a very kind of Hampstead socialist, we know best kind of view.

‘It’s that mindset that says choice, freedom, responsibility, aspiration - that these are things to worry about rather than celebrate. That’s what I’m having a go at.

‘There’s a very strong Labour argument for reforming welfare. They should be the party of work, not the party of welfare. People got trapped on welfare. Yet it has been a Conservative government that has come along and made these difficult decisions, and actually got 900,000 people off out-of-work benefits and into work.

Five-and-a-half week race: Mr Cameron makes a statement to the assembled media outside 10 Downing Street after an audience with Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve parliament

‘Labour should be pleased at that. Instead all they’re doing is endlessly attacking every change to the welfare system.

‘I think it means they’re out of touch with the instincts people have. There’s a very natural instinct to keep more of their own money to spend because you want to spend it on your family, you want to try and plan for a nice holiday, have a bit more put aside for Christmas, take the children on that trip you want to take them on.

ON THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS AND THEIR 'FREEDOMS BILL' DEMAND 'Jekyll and Hyde': Mr Cameron on Vince Cable The most ridiculous Lib Dem demand over the last five years, blocked by the Tories, was for a new ‘freedoms bill’ that would have included new rights to public nudity, Mr Cameron said. ‘I think there was a paper, wasn’t there, that… what was it, naked swimming? There was naked rambling. For a long time there was their policy of not allowing goldfish being sold in fairs. ‘I think the coalition worked well in terms of delivering an economic plan that worked, and I managed to work with all of these people, Vince [Cable] included. ‘There were sides to Vince – there were the public speeches about the horrors of the Conservative Party, and then there was the private side, which was working very hard with me to improve trade to India and other things. ‘There was a bit of Jekyll and Hyde really.’ Advertisement

‘That’s the most natural instinct in the world. Owning your own home – I’ll never forget the moment I got the first keys to my first flat and walked through the door. You just feel so excited that you own something and you’re going to take care of it.

‘When the Conservative Party does best is when it's completely in tune with the instincts of hardworking people in Britain.

‘I think on things like taxes, home ownership, being able to have a school that you’re really proud of for your children, we are.’

Ed Miliband and austerity

Mr Cameron claimed Mr Miliband had ‘disqualified’ himself from the job of prime minister by refusing to make tough calls on restoring order in the public finances.

‘Look, one of the most important things we’ve had to do as a country is deal with the deficit, get the economy moving, live within our means,’ he said.

‘Ed Miliband has been in denial about that. He’s spent the last five years either forgetting about the deficit or opposing every single step we’ve made to get it down.

‘He famously went on that great anti-austerity march and told everyone they were standing on the shoulders of the Levellers or something.

‘He’s shown no engagement with the crucial issues that Britain needs to tackle. As far as I can see, that means you’re not qualified for the job.

‘We’ve had to make difficult decisions, it’s not been easy. I think generally people are very understanding about that, but I’m not surprised after five years of difficult decisions you end up with an election that’s close.

‘But what we have to persuade people is the plan’s working, it’s been worth it, we’re coming through this and we’re on the brink of something very special, which is an economy that’s growing and succeeding.

‘We can turn that into a plan for a better job, more money at the end of month, a home that you can afford, a great school place for your child, dignity in retirement.

Labour leader: Hampstead socialists like Ed Miliband are more out-of-touch than him, Mr Cameron suggested

‘We’re on the brink of achieving what people want which is the chance to live a better life here in the UK, a country they’re proud to call home. Some of the hard work’s been done, but I want to see through all of it.’

Immigration

Mr Cameron said there was no excuse for failing to meet his target of reducing numbers to tens of thousands a year.

But he said Britain’s employment boom – which has seen Yorkshire create more jobs than the whole of France – inevitably meant more people had used EU free movement rights to seek work in this country, particularly from struggling countries like Spain, Italy and Portugal.

I think people are seeing increasingly that the plan’s working and that it’s translating into benefits for them

‘You have had this extra circumstance where we’ve created more jobs than the rest of the EU put together,’ the Prime Minister said.

‘This is not an excuse, because we need to do better. We’ve got to cut EU migration, we will.’

The Prime Minister claimed plans to ban EU migrants from claiming tax credits and other benefits – a centrepiece of his proposal to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership – would have a ‘very significant effect’.

‘Effectively the current system gives people as much as £8,000 after tax extra for coming to work in the UK,’ he said.

‘If you remove that by saying you’ve got to work here for four years before you get out of the system I think that would have a very big effect,’ he said.

The latest national poll from Lord Ashcroft tonight put the Tories on 36 per cent, up three points on last week, and Labour on 34 per cent.

Support for the Liberal Democrats is down to just six and Ukip stands at 10 per cent, the party's lowest vote share since last May.