The big speech-the verdict-Bulldog or tired hound?

So what did we all make of the big speech this afternoon.

The consensus seems to be that it was a bit of a damp squib but here is some of the reaction.

Polly Toynbee

Most of this speech could be made by any party – same pieties, same promises to protect the vulnerable, promote enterprise and return Britain to greatness. How is anyone to tell parties apart, except by actions? The gap between Cameron's words and what's happening is growing

Martin Kettle

It may be clever, but it could also be too clever by half. It's the smartness of the political consultant and the professional adviser winning out over the reality and fear of the lives that most people live in potentially double-dip recessionary times.

Peter Hoskin

As for hard policy, there was little of that — but that's how it has been this week. In the end, Cameron's speech today was more about mood. It merged realism about the grey mire of the present with optimism about the future. It contained a healthy sprinkling of crowd-pleasers. It was celebratory and buoyant. Yes, this conference has been flat on the whole. But, so far as it matters, Cameron has just injected some bounce into its final step.

Tim Montgomorie

was this the time to remind people of Cameron's broader, gentler conservatism? A Belgian bank has gone bust. Italy's being downgraded. American politics is in gridlock. I hoped this Conference would give us much more on growth.

Samira Shackle

Cameron looked tired and sounded hoarse, which was unfortunate given his emphasis on "can-do optimism". There wasn't much here in the way of policy, simply an attempt to encourage positivity - a tough call in the face of inconvenient facts, such as the news today that growth figures are being revised down.

Ann Treneman

“This was the speech that put the Great back into Great Britain. It was a bulldog speech, a stand against sogginess and people who would rather sit down than stand up. It was a pep talk with so much energy that it was practically sprinting around the convention hall. It was marvellously upbeat and, probably, just a little bit bonkers.”

Rachel Sylvester

“This wasn’t a game changer speech but it didn’t have to be - the game will be won or lost in the eurozone, on the financial markets and on the shop floor. It was a successful balancing act - between optimism and pessimism, social and economic priorities, modernity and tradition, heart and head. No more “let sunshine win the day” the storm has broken and now the tory leader is promising to turn around the ship. That’s fine as rhetoric but what matters is reality. The fate of the prime minister and his party will be determined elsewhere.”

Peter Kirkup

The keynote of the speech is, of course, leadership. Mr Cameron is pitching himself as the man to lead us into the battle to come. Quietly, he’s recasting himself, changing his role from sunshine kid to economic war leader. As ever, Mr Cameron doesn’t want for self-belief. But he’s betting ever greater sums on himself. Voters first warmed to him and his optimism during sunnier days. Now, under darkening skies, will they think him tough enough for the struggle that lies ahead?

Christine Blower

"Yet again we see the myth being peddled that the academies and Free Schools programmes are the answer to a good education in this country. The Prime Minister knows just as well as his education secretary that it is good leadership, teaching and proper funding which makes a difference in schools, not its status.

James Forsyth

Cameron’s delivery wasn’t his best but it was still enough to best the other two leaders. He did, though, occasionally move up a gear, like when he explained why what the coalition was doing with the economy was the equivalent of laying foundations.
Overall, it wasn’t a great speech or a vintage performance. But it did, broadly, what it needed to do.

Whilst political scrapbook point out that

The only British company to be namechecked in David Cameron’s conference speech has donated more than £4 million pounds to the Conservative Party in the last ten years, figures reveal. After citing a string of American firms based in the UK and alluding to manufacturing sectors, the only UK company to be mentioned by name was heavy vehicle manufacturer JCB.

Maya the cat-an accident waiting to happen?

Brilliant piece in this morning's Guardian by the excellent Jonathan Freedland.

Some Tories are measuring the success of their party conference by the fact that the biggest story yo come out of it is Maya the cat but Freedland writes that its very nature has exposed their vulnerability.

He says

It seems trivial – and it is. But in this miniature row one could glimpse some of the vulnerabilities of an apparently dominant Conservative party, of which a tendency towards cock-up and tension at the top are the most minor. More important, May's original remarks – made by the woman who famously told the Tories they were "the nasty party" – suggested a reversion to type, as the original Cameroonian bid to decontaminate the Tory brand by relocating on the softer centre-ground of British politics gives way to a familiar, hard-edged Conservatism.

Cameron and his women problem

The Tories obviously believe that they have a problem in attracting the votes of women.

Over the weekend David Cameron sought out the press to explain that far from being the old fashioned Tory who told women their place,he was reaching out as a 21st century man rather than aping his recent conduct in the Commons towards fellow MP Nadine Dorries or opposition spokesman Angela Eagle.

Cameron told the Sunday Times that

What I find frustrating is that I'm not the kind of, I'm not sort of one of the lads. Actually, you know, most of my, I mean one of my best friends ... When I go out ... it's always ... oh, I'm not explaining this properly.

There is little doubt that the female vote probably cost the Tories any overall majority at the last election as polls around that time gave them a 10 point lead over Labour among men ,but only a 5 point lead among women.

According to Mary Ann Sieghart,writing in this morning's Independent,only 13 per cent of women say that the Conservatives are the party that best understands and reflects their views.

This reflects in part the coalition's deficit reduction strategy which seems unfairly weighted on the female sex.As Mary Ann continues

Cameron can't, for the moment, abandon his deficit-reduction strategy, though he could do more to encourage growth. But he could reverse the insane childcare cuts, which are pushing women out of jobs just when they should be working. And he could talk more cogently about what he is doing beyond the economy to make women's lives better

A point to which Polly Curtis agrees

Independent research suggests that women are feeling the impact of the cuts more keenly than men, offering another explanation of the trend in women's voting intentions. Cameron's apology may be welcomed, but it is misses the bigger target.

Over at Dale and Co, Deborah Mattinson

I have rarely experienced such anger in a discussion like this. These women were all working very hard. Several were juggling family and more than one job. They all feared losing those jobs in the coming months. Most had endured pay freezes while simultaneously coping with rising bills, especially on essentials like gas, electricity and food. Those with younger kids felt that their ambitions for university had been dashed. Those with older kids wondered if they would ever get a job. While the men were more tolerant of the government's economic strategy the women were personally affronted.

It's not going to go away for the Tories.They have to hope that in four years,the economy will have turned and women start to feel the benefit.Otherwise we are in for another hung Parliament

Two contrasting views of the Tory conference coming to Manchester

Yes the Tory party conference returns to the city this weekend

This is the official release from the Council Press Office with quotes from many of the usual suspects and reminding us that the conference sector is worth more than £570m to Manchester's economy each year and that this year's conference will generate £27.4m for the city's economy.

Here is an alternative from Manchester Mule which reminds us that although Marketing Manchester suggests that it brings in £27.4m to the city

This ignores not only the enormous, £110 million cuts forced on the city by Westminster, but also the ongoing structural inequality which means that Manchester still has the highest levels of child poverty in the UK, and some of the lowest life expectancies. Tweed-suited Tories spending a bit of cash will not only do little to alleviate these problems, but when conspiring together in conference centres they are simply plotting how to make them worse.

Whose right? Well probably neither of them.

Whilst Mule is correct in highlighting the ridiculous propaganda that comes out of the council over the revenue generating ability of the conference to turn this into some sort of radical crusade on events that happened 200 years ago is a rather tired argument.

Manchester,whilst a historical hotbed of radicalism has always been a city in which freedom to exercise opinion has been allowed.

So why should the Tories not be given a platform just in the same way that the TUC are given a platform to mrch on Sunday?

As for the worst child poverty figures in the country and a dose of other deprivation statistics,remember the left has been in power in Manchester for some time and nationally for 13 years.

The downward slide in living standards in some areas of Manchester can be held firmly at the door of a policy of deindustrialisation being replaced by consumerism,a practice that both sides of the poltical spectrum have been engaged in since the 1950′s and a policy ruthlessly followed by the last Labour government

Two exciting fringe events-and they're outside the zone

The Centre for local economic strategies (CLES) is hosting 2 fringe events at this year’s Conservative Party Conference.

Details of the events are as follows:

What kind of localist are you?

3rd October, Committee Room 1, Manchester Town Hall

6pm – 7.30pm

This session will examine the localism agenda and the balance of power between local and central government. A key element of the government’s localism agenda is public service transformation and we’ll explore some of the challenges of this change as well as some of the opportunities.

Confirmed speakers:

Mike Blackburn, North West Regional Director, BT Plc
Sir Tony Hawkhead, Chief Executive, Groundwork UK
James Lloyd, National Trust
Getting local economies growing again

4th October, Committee Room 2, Manchester Town Hall

1pm – 2pm

This session will be taking a critical look at the challenge of rebalancing the economy by examining what we mean by rebalancing, what we’ve learned about rebalancing from the past and the effectiveness of current policy proposals on LEPs, Regional Growth Fund and enterprise zones.

Confirmed speakers:

Lord Maurice Glasman, Director of faith and citizenship programme, London Metropolitan University
Professor Danny Dorling, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield

Everyone is welcome to attend these events which are free of charge and will be held at Manchester Town Hall.

There is no need to book a place on either of these events – just come along. For venue location map click here

Tory party conference boost to Manchester

A report on this morning's Business Desk suggests that the Tory party conference which begins in Manchester next weekend is set to generate £27.4m for the city's economy.

The figures released by Marketing Manchester is set to attract more than 13,000 delegates.

They report that

Marketing Manchester chief executive Andrew Stokes said: “Political party conferences have been one of the city’s biggest success stories of the last decade.“The development of Petersfield, investment in the surrounding infrastructure and a city-wide partnership approach has enabled us to not only attract these events but keep them coming back year after year.“They are now a firm fixture of the city’s business tourism calendar and contribute a significant amount to the city’s £573m-a-year conference industry.”

The truth about the 96p tax rate

Jim Pickard unpicks David Cameron's story about the working single mother paying 96p of tax for every £1 earned.

He sets the record straight

Labour has just pointed out that in 1998 (a year after the Tories were removed from power) there were 130,000 families facing marginal deduction rates (the technical definition) of over 90 per cent.
That has fallen to 60,000 thanks to the minimum wage, tax credits and lower income tax.
In fact, in 1998 there were 5,000 families facing 100 per cent deduction rates. Every £1 they earned was then taken in tax. The number is now more or less zero. (See page 90 of the Red Book for full details).

The blogosphere's thoughts on the Cameron speech

Mixed reviews of David Cameron's speech in Manchester this afternoon from the commentators.

Nick Robinson described it as

a speech designed to answer those who say they don't know what he really believes. His answer - a traditional Conservative one - family... community... country.
It was a speech designed too to show what makes him angry - that was Labour's belief that "big government" was the cure rather than the problem.

According to Iain Dale

David Cameron's speech this afternoon was in stark contrast to Osborne's. There was some tough talk but he shared a vision of the kind of Britain he wanted to see and used some very optimistic language. His attacks on Gordon Brown worked well and he showed a real passion. It was a speech seeking to seal a deal with the concerns of those who are not yet convinced by Cameron as a person or his own brand of politics. It was light on policy details, but so it should have been. Other members of his team provided enough meaty proposals during the course of the week. What I wanted from Cameron was what I got - a total contrast to Gordon Brown's machine gun speech last week.

John Rentoul was underwelmed

David Cameron took my advice after all. That was a "just come to Manchester, keep your head down and let Labour lose the next election" speech.

In contrast Frazer Nelson says

This was one of the best speeches I have heard David Cameron give. It may not have been a masterpiece of oratory, he may have read from notes, left too make lulls lulls inspiring only a few standing ovations. But it was packed with mission, seriousness, vision, principles – and, most of all, a real agenda

Jon Craig was rather intrigued by the seeming announcements of who will be in a future conservative cabinet particually that

it was revealing that when Cameron pledged to "ring-fence" the budget for international development, there was no mention of spokesman Andrew Mitchell. A significant omission?
Other omissions? Eric Pickles, Caroline Spelman, Theresa Villiers, Nick Herbert and Jeremy Hunt will all have left Manchester a bit jittery after listening to their leader's speech.

Just before David Cameron came on stage they played a video looking back at his four years in charge of the party. It concentrated on the modernising moments — the huskie hugging, the efforts to get more women into Parliament and the rest. When Cameron did these things, some critics mocked them, claimed that they showed he was all style and no substance. But today we saw what those moments have made possible. Cameron devoted his pre-election conference speech to a classic conservative message, that the big state is the problem. Crucially, this message is getting a hearing. It is not being dismissed as those ideological Tories banging on again. Modernisation has achieved one of its principal purposes

.says James Forsyth

Bagehot says that

it was definitely a good speech, even very good, and a better one in Mr Cameron’s delivery than it read on paper. He was strong on Afghanistan and on the indirect social costs of the deficit and debt, both foolishly downplayed at the Labour conference last week. There were three or four extremely resonant passages, on the NHS, on the need to address the welfare trap, on giving parents more choice and power over schools, and on not treating children like adults and adults like children. That is above all what a leader’s speech needs to achieve. I expect it will look very good on the news this evening.

And if you are really looking for a different angle check out Ruth Gledhill who writes that it was

full of Biblical allusion, according to Paul Woolley of the think tank Theos. His reasoning is below. Archbishop Cranmer considers it 'mildly theological'. The Rev Rob Marshall, one of his clergy in Kensington, has also analysed David Cameron's social theology for Articles of Faith.