David Cameron offering 'more for less' in Llandudno

David Cameron argued to delegates in Llandudno that money can be spent more efficiently

Conservative leader David Cameron has attacked Labour's record in office when he spoke at his party's Welsh conference in Llandudno. He said the country faced a "monster" debt and could not afford another five years of Gordon Brown. Mr Cameron said people knew his party had the "grit and the guts" to cut public spending and sort the problem. The Tory leader argued reforming public services and cutting waste would allow them to "deliver more for less". He said the challenge was to "make things better" without it costing more money, something that businesses up and down the country delivered to their customers every year. This is the last Conservative conference before the general election. Party leaders say there is no concern in their camp despite recent polls suggesting that their lead over Labour has narrowed. The Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan, said the party was still "in the running" and argued that the polls had been steady over the last 12 months. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement In his speech, Mr Cameron criticised Labour's spending saying that it could not continue but he also argued that money can be spent more efficiently, and government be more local and more transparent. Mr Cameron told the conference: "The question today is this: how do we make things better without just spending money? "This is the question that will define British politics for the years to come. In answering how we can make things better without just spending money, we need to deliver more for less. "Let me make clear: we are not offering a simple efficiency drive. What we propose is something entirely different - something so bold and radical I would call it a whole new type of government. "We're going to shape government in a way it has never existed before so we use our instincts as Conservatives, our understanding of how people and communities really work and the latest technology to deliver more for less." He also told delegates that a future Tory government will reform public services, where there was "death by a thousand tick boxes". "We'll also smash open the state monopoly and open the door to charities and private companies who can play a part in the public sector. And we'll pay them all by the results they achieve." 'Tory pound' Mr Cameron also said waste, bureaucracy and a "spendaholic culture" had to be tackled, giving examples of one department spending £12,000 on branded golf balls and another on a massage room and contemplation suite. "Conservatives loathe waste. Efficiency is in our DNA. We never forget that fundamental fact about public money, which is that it's public." "I don't think people quite get how radical we propose to be," he added. "The next Conservative government will be the first genuinely post-bureaucratic government in the world." Despite recent polls showing a narrowing of the gap between the Conservatives and Labour, the party hopes it can use this conference to rally the troops ahead of the general election. Mr Cameron also said the party's message was a positive one. "I defy anyone to call our plans of changing the way government works timid. They are bold and they will make a massive difference." Earlier in the speech, echoing the party's election slogan, Vote for Change, he said that Wales needed to see a change at Westminster even more than "anywhere else in Britain". He criticised Welsh Secretary Peter Hain for comparing Wales with Rwanda. "I've been to Rwanda and it's a beautiful place. But what does it say about this government - and these ministers - when they compare Wales to the 17th poorest country on the planet?" he said. "When the scale of their ambitions for Wales do not seem to go beyond a country that in the last 20years has been ravaged by war and genocide?" He claimed that Wales had been "let down" by Labour and that there was now "not just a border" separating Wales and the rest of the UK but "a prosperity gap." Mr Cameron added: "There is only one word for what Labour have done in Wales this last decade: Failure."



Bookmark with: Delicious

Digg

reddit

Facebook

StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version