UK:CONSERVATIVE LEADER David Cameron has invoked prime minister Gordon Brown's "experience" in office to argue for a change of government and a new era for "Conservative means" in pursuit of the "progressive" goal of mending Britain's "broken society", writes Frank Millar, London Editor.
In the "bipartisan" spirit of his emergency statement on Tuesday, Mr Cameron closed the Conservative conference in Birmingham yesterday with the assurance that his party "will work with the government in the short term" to protect the British economy.
At the same time, Mr Cameron allowed himself to look beyond the global financial crisis to the resumed battle for power in 10 Downing Street - casting himself an outsider in the style of the young Margaret Thatcher when she first ran for election against an incumbent Labour prime minister.
In a sombre one-hour speech, Mr Cameron tackled the prime minister's assertion in Manchester last week that this was no time to put "a novice" in charge of the country.
"Experience is the excuse of the incumbent over the ages," Mr Cameron told conference.
"Experience is what they always say when they try to stop change. In 1979, James Callaghan had been home secretary, foreign secretary and chancellor before he became prime minister. He had plenty of experience, but thank God we changed him for Margaret Thatcher."
Tory representatives liked that, as they did Mr Cameron's description of himself as "a fiscal conservative" who would always want to see taxes reduced but would never fund tax cuts by way of reckless borrowing; a leader who was conservative and "not libertarian", who believed in personal, professional, civic and corporate responsibility and who was unapologetic about his proposal to see marriage recognised in the tax system.
Putting the issues of character and judgment at the heart of his pitch to replace Mr Brown, the Conservative leader said: "When it comes to handling a crisis . . . to really making a difference on the big issues, it's not just about your values. When people ask, 'will you make a difference?' they're often asking will you - ie me - make a difference? You can't prove you're ready to be prime minister and it would be arrogant to pretend that you can. The best you can do is tell people who you are and the way you work, how you make your decisions and then live with them."
Mr Cameron continued: "I'm a 41-year-old father of three who thinks that family is the most important thing there is . . . I am deeply patriotic about my country and believe we have both a remarkable history and an incredible future. I believe in the union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and I will never do anything to put it at risk. I have a simple view that public service is a good way to channel your energy and try to make a difference.
"I am not an ideologue. I know that my party can get things wrong, and that other parties sometimes get things right. I hold to some simple principles - that strong defence, the rule of law and sound money are the foundations of good government."
As some commentators detected a return to politics pre-Tony Blair, Mr Cameron also declared himself a child of his time.
"I want a clean environment as well as a safe one. I believe that quality of life matters as much as quantity of money. I recognise that we'll never be truly rich while so much of the world is poor."
Then, in barely coded reference to Mr Brown's leadership style, he said: "I believe in building a strong team - and really trusting them. Their success is to be celebrated, not seen as some kind of threat.
"Thinking before deciding is good, not deciding because you don't like the consequences of a decision is bad. Trust your principles, your judgment and your colleagues. Go with your conviction, not calculation. The popular thing may look good for a while. The right thing will be right all the time. Tony Blair used to endlessly justify short-term initiatives by saying we live in a 24-hour media world. But this is a country, not a television station.
"A good government thinks for the long-term. If we win we will inherit a huge deficit and an economy in a mess. We will need to do difficult and unpopular things for the long-term good of the country. I know that. I'm ready for that."
While Mr Brown talked about his economic experience, Mr Cameron said the problem was that the country had actually experienced his experience. "We experienced the folly of pretending that boom and bust could be ended. This is the argument we will make when the election comes. The risk is not making a change. The risk is sticking with what you've got and expecting a different result."