George Osborne urges Tories to 'stay modern' and win the centre ground

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/01/george-osborne-tories-modern-win-centre

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George Osborne on Tuesday warned his party not to abandon its modernising instincts, insisting elections were won in the centre ground and that his party had not been able to touch Tony Blair because he had fought elections in the middle.

The chancellor said: "With Labour's shift to the left there is a great space we can occupy with those that want credible economic policy with decent public services."

Speaking during a wide-ranging conversation on the fringe of the Conservative conference in Manchester, he said the party had to continually work to stay modern, adding that the biggest step of Tory modernisation had not just been the social issues such as gay marriage, but David Cameron's commitment to the NHS.

"He understood that people wanted to know that the Conservative party cared about the NHS, and we would do everything possible to support and grow the NHS."

At the same time Osborne left open the possibility that the spending ringfence around the NHS, schools, aid and defence equipment might be lifted in the next parliament.

He said: "We may go with the same decisions in this parliament – they were driven by our values and we haven't made those decisions yet, they are decisions for the manifesto."

He said the Tories never really worked out how to deal with Blair, describing him as "the master of the political landscape". The Tory party needed to understand why he was appealing to the centre ground of people who wanted a strong market economy but also decent public services. "That is where the modern Conservative party can put itself."

The chancellor also said he recognised in the wake of the Commons rejection of military intervention in Syria that there was "a war weariness in this country" and it will be harder to win public support for foreign military interventions in the future. "For people like me there is no point denying that. We are living in a post-Iraq world," he said.

Osborne speaking at a Channel 4 event where he talked more openly than in the past about his personal life, including the way he protected his family in Downing Street. He revealed that he expected one of his sons to go to St Paul's public school.

Tipped once again as a possible successor to David Cameron, h e also rejected suggestions that the party needed to plan for the possibility of a coalition, saying "there is a bit of a danger of everyone fighting the last war," and asserting that because few had foreseen a coalition in 2010 too many were speculating on one now.

He said there was no secret planning for a coalition this time. "Nick Clegg is going to do everything possible to stay as deputy prime minister," he said. "I am going to do everything possible to make sure he is not deputy prime minister and we have a Conservative-only cabinet".

Although he suggested there were more years of difficult decisions and cuts ahead he said his plans for a budget surplus after 2020 would not necessarily involve big spending cuts.

He also admitted that after the budget shambles last year he had "retreated a bit into the Treasury" until he realised he "had to get out there and explain what he was doing".

He said: "Late last year and the beginning of this, we were under maximum pressure to do a U turn and we resisted that. It was a period when we held our nerve and when we look back on this government it will be seen as a very important period."

He added: "My approach has always been when I make a mistake to be honest, look at it and try not to repeat it."

He denied there was a problem with the Tory party women's vote, saying men and women wanted the same thing – which was a government that was competent and credible.

He praised Lynton Crosby revealing that he had approached him to run the election campaign and denied that Crosby would adopt a tone running across his desire for a centrist campaign. Osborne claimed he did not want to run the Tory 2015 election campaign, saying "I already have a job, as chancellor".

He also spoke about his Metropolitan London roots revealing that he had changed his name from Gideon when, aged 13, he had repeatedly asked his mother why he had been called that and she had replied "well, if you don't like it, change it".

Osborne denied the switch was made because even at that young age he had been plotting a career in politics.

"I genuinely was not thinking, hmm, what is the best name to have as chancellor of the exchequer?" he said to laughter.

Asked about his recent change of hairstyle, he said Michael Gove, the education secretary, was "the one to spot what was really going on". He added: "He had said, 'you have applied your economic policy to your hairstyle, you have turned it around to stop the recession'."

Osborne insisted he did not have a glitzy lifestyle saying he relaxed in the evening by watching television with his wife, and they were currently looking at the latest series of ITV's Downton Abbey.Asked about images of him apparently in tears at Lady Thatcher's funeral in St Paul's Cathedral in April, Osborne said it had been an incredible occasion.

He said: "Because of my job I was right at the front, very close to the coffin. There was a moment when the Bishop of London was giving his eulogy and he talked about all these incredible achievements of this prime minister, and then he turns his hand to the coffin and there she lies, Margaret Hilda Roberts.

"Suddenly I welled up a bit because in the middle of this whole service, which was a celebration of her life, there was actually a dead body, as there is at funerals."

Osborne said he had no idea that his emotion had been caught by TV cameras. He had had to rush off to the airport for a trip to the US. As he boarded the plane, messages started arriving on his phone from aides saying "we need a line on you crying at the funeral".

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