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Cameron rules out tax cut pledge Cameron places focus on optimism
(about 2 hours later)
David Cameron has delivered a sharp rebuke to those in his party calling for a commitment to cut taxes. David Cameron has told Conservatives to be the party of optimism, urging them to "let sunshine win the day".
The Conservative leader told BBC One's Sunday AM: "I can't say to the British people here are some up-front tax cuts which we haven't found how to fund". In his first conference speech as leader, Mr Cameron conceded that the party had alienated voters by "banging on" about Europe and tax cuts.
He added: "Those people who say they want tax cuts and they want them now - they can't have them." And he rebuffed calls from within the party to commit to tax cuts.
Mr Cameron was speaking as the Conservatives gather in Bournemouth for their annual conference. The party must claim the political centre ground and become the champions of a "new spirit of social responsibility," said Mr Cameron.
The Conservative leader is expected to say in a speech later that the party must lay a "solid foundation" of principles before detailing policies. It must also trust ordinary people to make decisions about their own lives, said Mr Cameron.
And he will set out the "unifying idea" he wants to see running through Conservative policies. And it must focus on the issues which concern voters, like childcare, standards in state schools, a better NHS and low mortgage rates, he added.
Mr Cameron told Sunday AM: "What we need is a revolution in social responsibility - giving power to parents, to teachers, to the people working in hospitals and also in local government as well. 'Centre ground'
"You know, we are far too centralised as a country. So let's see some civic responsibility, let's drive down responsibility to local authorities. So that's a unifying idea." Speaking against a backdrop of green foliage and bright sunlight, he told delegates: "Our party's history tells us the ground on which political success is built."
Pressure "It is the centre ground. Not the bog of political compromise. Not the ideological wilderness, out of the fringes of debate. But the solid ground where people are."
Mr Cameron, who received a one minute standing ovation, faces a challenge to his plans on Monday from John Redwood, the chairman of his competitiveness taskforce, who will publish a pamphlet calling for big tax cuts.
Mr Redwood, chairman of the Thatcherite No Turning Back group, claims the backing of more than 50 Tory MPs for a document arguing the case for lower taxes and the "moral justification" for doing do.
The Conservatives' Tax Reform Commission set up last year under previous leader Michael Howard is expected to call for £20bn in tax cuts - mainly in income and inheritance tax - when it reports later this month.The Conservatives' Tax Reform Commission set up last year under previous leader Michael Howard is expected to call for £20bn in tax cuts - mainly in income and inheritance tax - when it reports later this month.
But speaking earlier on BBC One's Sunday AM, Mr Cameron said he would not be rushed into making policies.
"Those people who say they want tax cuts and they want them now - they can't have them," said the Tory leader.
It follows an attack by Mr Cameron on Chancellor Gordon Brown, the frontrunner to be the next prime minister, who he claimed in the Sunday Telegraph was "tragic" and "being pushed around by everyone".
CONSERVATIVE WEEK Sunday Senator John McCainDavid CameronMonday Hot topic: Marketing to childrenPublic services debateDavid Davis, Crime debateHot topic: Cheap flightsEnvironment debateTuesdayHot topic: Alcohol and drugsSocial justice debateBusiness in societyGeorge Osborne, economyWilliam Hague, Liam Fox, foreign affairsDevolution debate Wednesday Culture of creativityHot topic: Globalisation Global poverty debateLeader's speech Analysis: Taxing problems Send us your viewsCONSERVATIVE WEEK Sunday Senator John McCainDavid CameronMonday Hot topic: Marketing to childrenPublic services debateDavid Davis, Crime debateHot topic: Cheap flightsEnvironment debateTuesdayHot topic: Alcohol and drugsSocial justice debateBusiness in societyGeorge Osborne, economyWilliam Hague, Liam Fox, foreign affairsDevolution debate Wednesday Culture of creativityHot topic: Globalisation Global poverty debateLeader's speech Analysis: Taxing problems Send us your views
The commission, chaired by Lord Forsyth, is reported to have come under pressure from Shadow Chancellor George Osborne to water down its proposals. Mr Cameron was preceded in the main hall by US Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain, who hailed his "able and determined" leadership.
The party's policy chief, Oliver Letwin, has repeatedly stressed a Tory government would not rush to cut taxes. Mr McCain paid tribute to the "unity, confidence and principled sense of purpose that distinguishes British Conservatives under the leadership of my friend David Cameron".
"I don't ever see us as putting economic stability at risk by making promises about tax cuts until we know we can prudently fulfil them," he told the BBC's Straight Talk programme He also warned of a "dangerous, difficult and long fight" against Islamic terrorism but insisted America, Britain and their allies would prevail.
But an ICM opinion poll for The Taxpayers' Alliance, a new lobby group backed by Tory donors and other business figures, suggests people would be more likely to vote Conservative at the next election if they promised to cut taxes. Mr McCain won loud applause from Conservative activists in a packed hall when he insisted "government that governs best, governs least".
Taxpayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "The idea that people don't want to hear the Conservative Party call for lower taxes and public service reform is completely wrong. Environment Secretary David Miliband later gave his reaction to Mr Cameron's big speech.
"The leadership have got too many people giving them advice that's 10 years out of date." "Today's speech again confirms that when you get beyond the image and PR, David Cameron does not have the policy answers to the challenges the country faces.
Weblog "Empty rhetoric and vacuous slogans are not enough.
US Senator John McCain, one of the frontrunners to secure the Republican nomination for 2008, has been addressing the Conservative conference. "The fact is that until David Cameron begins to back up his warm words with concrete and workable policy commitments, people will conclude that the Tories are all style and no substance," said Mr Miliband.
Mr McCain, who compared Mr Cameron to John F Kennedy in an interview with The Spectator magazine, said he had met the Tory leader for the first time this week, but was "excited" by what he was trying to achieve.
"I'm excited and thrilled to see this new generation of leadership coming up and by the way I know they'll make mistakes, we all do when we're just moving in to those kinds of situations but fresh blood, enthusiasm, conservative principles...I'm excited about this group," he told Sunday AM.
He told party representatives on Sunday he was pleased to observe "the unity, confidence and principled sense of purpose that distinguishes British conservatives under the leadership of my friend David Cameron".
On Saturday Mr Cameron launched his own video weblog, Webcameron.org, to try to get his message across to young people.