We are mired in the deepest and longest recession since the Second World War, with deep social problems and a political system that is held in contempt. The State Opening of Parliament tomorrow ought to be about radical ideas to deal with this triple crisis.
Instead, by all accounts, the Queen’s Speech will be little more than a Labour press release on palace parchment. Don’t take my word for it. As The Times reported yesterday, a Cabinet minister has been boasting about the contents of the speech. What was said? That it was the most ambitious since Labour had come to power? That it was the most likely to help the poorest in our society? No. The boast was that this will be “the most political Queen’s Speech for 12 years”. Apparently, it’s all going to be about dividing lines between Gordon Brown and the Conservatives.
That tells you all you need to know about the character of this Government — and, indeed, this Prime Minister. Dig deeper into any of his plans and you’ll find pettiness masquerading as principle. What we need is radicalism and the Conservatives have proved that we are the only party to possess it.
Our reforms would start with the government deficit. Next year Britain is expected to borrow almost 14 per cent of our national income — twice as much as when we almost went bust in the 1970s. The Prime Minister was, at first, in complete denial about the problem — and even now he has not said what he proposes to do about it.
The Conservatives have always been clear: unless we get to grips with this national crisis, interest rates will rise and our whole economic recovery will be in jeopardy. And we have been clear about how we will bring down public spending — for example, by cutting tax credits for those on higher incomes, bringing forward the planned increase in the state pension age and freezing public sector pay for all but the one million lowest paid workers for one year to help to protect jobs.
The next focus must be jobs. Today youth unemployment is the highest on record. Yet this Prime Minister is increasing national insurance contributions — a tax on jobs, in other words. At our party conference we set out our plan to get Britain working. At its heart lies one ambition: to create more wealth and jobs. We will achieve that by cutting red tape, simplifying Labour’s nightmare tax system and doing all that we can to give new businesses a head-start. For example we will abolish employers’ national insurance contributions on the jobs created by new companies for two years. As well as creating new jobs, we must ensure that the workforce is ready to take them. Our plans to reform welfare will bring in the private and voluntary sector to give the long-term unemployed the tailored support that they need to get back into work.
The next area crying out for reform is our broken society. In almost all indicators of a country’s wellbeing — teenage pregnancy, addiction and crime — Britain has one of the worst records in the developed world. Fixing this will not happen overnight. But we can give ourselves the best possible chance by tackling what lies at the root of so many of our social problems: educational failure. But today we see a Labour Government content to preside over failing schools in our most deprived communities. The timid education reforms pursued by Tony Blair — which we supported at the time — have now been put into reverse by Ed Balls and Gordon Brown to prove a political point.
This is where we would focus our most radical reforms. We have said we would bust open the supply of education so that any suitably qualified organisation could set up a new school anywhere they wished. To tackle the injustice of the poorest children going to the worst schools we will introduce a new pupil premium, so there is a real incentive for schools to take on those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Finally, our reforms would address the crisis in our politics — the anger at MPs’ expenses, the resentment that those in power are rarely held to account, the deep disillusionment about our entire system. This is almost a prerequisite to any other reform, because when a great fracture occurs between government and the governed, change becomes infinitely more difficult.
We would take action to clean up the political system and cut its cost to the public purse by publishing all information on spending and expenses online, cutting ministers’ salaries by 5 per cent, scrapping the perks and subsidies of parliamentary life, reining in the quango state and giving power to local government, communities, families and individuals.
Two and a half years ago the Prime Minister stood in Downing Street and told us that he would be “strong in purpose, steadfast in will, resolute in action”.
But tomorrow we will hear the most divisive, short-termist, shamelessly self-serving Queen’s Speech in living memory. A country anxious about our economic future, despairing about our society and fed up with our political system will see a Prime Minister playing politics with the biggest constitutional event of the year.
What they need — what you deserve — is radical reforming zeal to tackle the great crises of our time head on.
David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party.