CONSERVATIVE PARTY leader David Cameron, who is urgently seeking to restore momentum to his general election campaign following opinion polls surges for the Liberal Democrats, has significantly toughened his message to voters on welfare reform, promising “unprecedented” help to get people into jobs, but cuts in benefits for those who refuse work.
Mr Cameron, who will spend part of today preparing for Thursday’s second television debate with British prime minister Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, said: “We’re going to change the whole way welfare is done in this country so everyone takes responsibility and plays their part. This is our new welfare contract: do the right thing and we will back you all the way. But fail to take responsibility – and the free ride is over.”
Benefits would, he said, be cut for up to three years for those who refuse to accept job offers, while those who refuse to join training programmes will also have allowances cut. The long-term unemployed who cannot genuinely find work will only continue to be able to claim benefits if they take part in community employment-type schemes.
Everyone on invalidity benefits will be re-examined, and transferred onto less generous benefits if they are deemed fit to work.
The new poster campaign, “Let’s Cut Benefits For Those Who Refuse To Work”, does not in any differ with the party’s manifesto, but party election managers believe the more direct tone – which will be followed in coming days by a series of similar-type poster campaigns – will connect with voters, and draw them away from the Liberal Democrats.
Last night, an ITV/ComRes offered better news for Mr Cameron, showing the Conservatives on 35 points, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both on 26 points. The result is the largest lead enjoyed by the Conservatives since the end of March, but it is within the margin of error, and, even if replicated on May 6th, would still leave Mr Cameron 27 seats short of a House of Commons majority.
The new poster campaign will not be difficult to fund, meanwhile, since official figures released by the electoral commission last night showed that the Conservatives were given £1,455,812 in the first week of the election campaign, Labour £783,159 and the Liberal Democrats £20,000 – but this was before the first TV debate.
The Labour Party’s measures to boost high-tech industry and research and development, which were unveiled during a visit by the prime minister to the BMW Mini factory in Cowley outside Oxford, have been given backing by the Confederation of British Industry.
Lord Mandelson said Labour had no intention of subsidising failing companies: “This is about the future, not preserving a failed past.” He criticised the Conservatives for a series of manifesto pledges to scrap regional development authorities.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown’s anger towards independent auditor Sir Thomas Legg, for ordering him to repay nearly £12,000 worth of expenses claimed for house cleaning bills at his London flat over a number of years, was made visible yesterday during a BBC Radio 1 interview.
“What the guy [Legg] basically said was that I should not be paying the cleaner a minimum wage. It was not wrong to have cleaning expenses. I was just paying her too good a wage. I was paying her more than the minimum wage. And he told me I had to pay that back.
“To be honest, I’m not going to employ anybody without paying them a decent wage.”
