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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