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post(s) 1-11 of 11
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My visit to Washington - part one
30/11/2007
Britain and America have very often done things together, and sacrificed together. That's why it was important for me to visit Arlington National Cemetery and show respect for what Americans have done in the cause of freedom across the world.
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Forum responses - 21st November 2007
21/11/2007
Here are my latest responses to comments and questions on the Webcameron forums - keep them coming!
Admiral Alan West - a Man of his Word?
Author:
scrubsupwell
I don’t think Lord West himself is the problem here. In saying in his first interview that he wasn’t fully convinced of the case for extending the 28 day limit for detaining people without charge, he was simply reflecting the view of many others who have looked at the evidence objectively – including most MPs the last time we voted on it.
The problem was that, following his meeting with Gordon Brown, Lord West’s tune had changed. So I am interested to hear what the Prime Minister had to say. I, too, remain to be convinced after looking at the evidence that we need to extend the period of detention. Unless new and compelling evidence can be produced, we will be resisting this. So was the Prime Minister able to produce such evidence in his meeting with Lord West?
I suspect not. I suspect the conversation took an altogether different turn. After all, Lord West is meant to advise the Prime Minister on security issues, not the other way round. The only advice the Prime Minister could give him was political advice.
It is rather concerning that this political advice seemed to win the day. This whole episode will simply confirm in people’s minds that, when it comes to the debate about 28 days, the Government isn’t concerned with the evidence but the politics.
Would Baroness Williams be right to risk prison over ID cards?
Author:
Hoolio
I agree with those who say that, in a democracy, those who make the law shouldn’t break it. The precedent this would set for picking and choosing which laws to obey would not be a good one.
The way for politicians to deal with the ID card scheme is to campaign against it in an election and then to repeal it.
Cameron Speech 12/11/07
Author:
chrisbarber
The problems I set out in my speech – comparatively low conviction rates, falling custodial sentences, the closure of vital rape crisis support centres, and the rise of unacceptable cultural attitudes towards women and sexual violence – are very real ones, which any responsible politician needs first to recognise and then to address.
Many on this thread have said there are no easy answers. I agree. In my speech I never sought to pretend that there were. Instead, I set out some practical steps we can take as soon as possible, and then the detailed work we will be carrying out to deal with some of these issues in the future.
As examples of practical steps, I want to see the current annual funding decisions for rape crisis centres (meaning they often face the threat of imminent closure) replaced with three-year funding cycles (meaning they can plan ahead). And I want to make sure that teaching the importance of consent to sex is included in the sex education curriculum.
In addition, our ongoing review of prisons and sentencing, led by Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Herbert, is going to look specifically at this issue and provide recommendations on changes to sentencing for rape convictions.
When we come into Government, I am determined that we will have an integrated strategy to tackle violence against women. That is what we will be developing over the next few weeks and months.
David Cameron and the Disabled
Author:
Andie
Andie raises benefits for disabled people in particular, and then welfare reform more generally.
First, most importantly of all, let me correct Andie’s misapprehension that we have an agenda to introduce a sort of cut-price welfare so we can reduce taxes. We haven’t. With a Conservative government, spending on public services will rise. We intend to share the proceeds of growth between lower taxes and more public spending.
My primary motivation for wanting to reform the benefits system is to help those currently on it. The current structure of welfare is letting too many people down – including many disabled people. The system is far too complicated, making it hard for people to claim the money they need and to which they are entitled.
Looking at welfare as whole, at present there are nearly five million people on out-of-work benefits in Britain – including Incapacity Benefit, but other benefits too. Of course many of them are not able to work and it is important that they get the proper help and support that they need. But crucially, there are also four million people without jobs who want to work. We need to support more of these people as they look to fulfil their own ambitions.
Instead of the revolving door of people flitting in and out of benefits and work, I have said we will draw on successful examples of welfare reform from all over the world to overhaul our welfare system.
These systems tend to have two things in common. They are tailored to the individual. And they harness the private and voluntary sectors, rather than just government bureaucracies, to help people get back into work.
We will be looking further at how we can adapt these lessons to the British experience. In that detailed work we are going to be helped once again by Iain Duncan Smith and his team at the Centre for Social Justice.
So the aim of our welfare reform is to help lift more people out of long-term poverty and into long-term employment. And helping more people into work will also reduce costs, enabling us to increase the Working Tax Credit that couples receive. This change will bring tax credits fully into line with the rest of the benefits system, end Gordon Brown’s ‘couple penalty’ which penalises those who stay together, and lift 300,000 children in two parent families out of poverty.
Saw David in Manchester today
Author:
Castonsmith
A belated hello to Castonsmith. Sorry not to stop and say hello at the time. I will look out for passing students on my next visit.
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Our policies for better schools
20/11/2007
It's time for a revolution in the supply of education in this country. So today I made a speech on our first green paper designed to give more opportunity to our children and increase the chances for the brighter future our country deserves.
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"Nang!"
16/11/2007
On Tuesday, I met with young journalists from "Nang!", the magazine produced by students at the Tower Hamlets Summer University.
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Devolving power from Whitehall to the Town Hall
14/11/2007
If councils want to put up Council Tax by a high level, they should have a local referendum. On Tuesday, I was at the Young Foundation to speak about replacing beauraucratic control with democratic accountability.
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The need to end sexual violence against women
13/11/2007
As many as one in two young men believe there are some circumstances when it's okay to force a woman to have sex. We need a cultural change in attitudes towards women and sexual violence.
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Involving parents in the education of their children
12/11/2007
On Thursday, I put forward the idea of more co-operative schools in Britain. We want organisations that really involve parents in the education of their children, and what better way to do that than to have schools that are effectively owned and run by the parents?
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The Election Day That Never Was
09/11/2007
November 1st was meant to be the day of the General Election, but Gordon Brown bottled it. So here is a video of what I got up to instead, on a day that started at the GMTV studios when I'd been expecting a visit to my local polling station!
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Forum responses - 7th November 2007
07/11/2007
Thanks for all your contributions on the Webcameron forums - here are my latest responses.
English only votes for the English issue
Author:
STORM
As Webcameron aficionados will know - I have discussed the issue before - the idea of giving MPs for English constituencies the decisive say on issues that only affect England isn’t a particularly new suggestion.
It would be an effective way to deal with the current situation, which is – quite rightly in my view - widely regarded as unfair.
I’ve asked our Democracy Task Force, led by Ken Clarke, to look at solutions in detail, and we will study the suggestions they make.
It is no good ministers trying to bury their heads in the sand on this. People know it can’t be right that Scottish MPs can sometimes have a decisive say on policies which don’t affect their own constituents.
I have spoken out strongly both in favour of the Union and in favour of devolution, and supporters of both should be looking at ways to rebalance what is currently an unbalanced situation.
EU vs Common Wealth
Author:
amk
I don’t think it is a case of Britain having to choose between being an active and constructive member of the European Union and being an active and constructive member of the Commonwealth. One of the results of our history is that we can be active and constructive members of both, as well as playing our part in the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Take an issue like the crisis affecting Zimbabwe’s population, and the need to put real pressure on the Mugabe regime: both the EU and Commonwealth countries – especially those in the region – are able to play their own distinctive roles.
One of the main items on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month, which amk mentioned, is climate change. On that too, Britain needs to play a leading role in all international organisations of which we are members, in the run-up to the crucial UN climate change talks in Bali in December.
Visit from King Abdullah
Author:
STORM
I did accept the invitation to meet King Abdullah.
That’s not because I wanted to send an
“everything is OK” message, as Storm puts it.
But the relationship between
Britain
and
Saudi Arabia
is an important one.
Most of the meeting
was spent discussing vital issues like co-operation on counter-terrorism -
including radicalisation inside and outside mosques in Britain, and the
importance of stopping this and stopping the sources of funding for it.
We also discussed other issues, like the
Middle East and
Iran.
Population/Immigration Speech
Author:
lukas
Setting aside the issue of immigration, my argument on the social issues lukas raises was two-fold.
First, we should indeed prepare properly for a sustainable rate of growth of population, as lukas suggests.
That means, on housing, coming up with proposals on planning to encourage affordable and sustainable house-building – as well as our plans on Stamp Duty for first-time buyers.
We are now setting out further details of our reform plans for the NHS and schools, to reduce top-down centralisation and enable public services to respond more flexibly to changing circumstances.
And on transport, we are developing ambitious proposals for increasing and modernising our rail capacity, extending light rail services in our cities, and tackling road congestion.
But we do also need to recognise the effects that some of our lifestyle choices may have on our resources, our public services, our infrastructure, and their ability to cope.
The independent National Housing and Planning Advice Unit said recently that a total of 270,000 more homes may be needed each year. And a recent estimate suggested that divorce and separation accounts for twenty-four per cent of the growth in the total number of households. So this is a big part of the increased demand for housing and other services.
The result of these changes is that it is harder for young people to get on the housing ladder. It is harder to build strong families, communities and public services. And it is harder to protect our quality of life and our environment.
None of this is about government forcing anyone to live one way or another. But that doesn’t mean we should go to the other extreme and become completely indifferent to the kind of society we have.
Instead, I set out in the speech the kind of approach I am talking about. For example, we currently have a benefits system that actively discourages parents from living together. I want to abolish this 'couple penalty.'
I also think that building a family-friendly society is the first step in fighting crime, in fighting poverty, and in improving our quality of life. So this approach will help us both to tackle the problems associated with family breakdown, and also to deal more effectively with some of the pressures on public services that arise from more and more people living on their own.
'How has WebCameron help David Cameron win the youth vote?'
Author:
Owen17
Well, first of all, good luck to Owen17 on your media studies course. Your choice of critical research topic is an inspired one!
It’s great of course if a lot of young people get involved on here, but I don’t really see Webcameron as just a “youth” thing. People of all ages want to be given a greater say on the things that affect them, and that includes having as many ways as possible to put their opinions directly to elected representatives.
It’s also really encouraging seeing posts from people saying that discussing issues on Webcameron has helped them to see things from a different perspective – and to develop their own opinions in the process.
The internet offers real opportunity for politicians and members of the public to communicate more effectively. To be honest we’re probably just scratching at the surface of what can really be achieved.
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Backseat interview
05/11/2007
On the day that we should have had an election, I gave a speech on about the change that Britain so desperately needs, we produced an eye-catching poster and I also gave this exclusive interview on "The Day That Never Was".
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Change is on its way
01/11/2007
November 1st was supposed to have been the day of the election. But it
wasn't to be - Gordon Brown cancelled it. Today I gave a speech on our
vision for Britain, and the change this country desperately needs.
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