Tories up to their old tricks again

cymrococh · July 8, 2008

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/poli...icle4290298.ece

David Cameron declared yesterday that some people who are poor, fat or addicted to alcohol or drugs have only themselves to blame.

He said that society had been too sensitive in failing to judge the behaviour of others as good or bad, right or wrong, and that it was time for him to speak out against “moral neutrality”.

In a conscious shift of strategy, the Tory leader said he would not shirk from discussing public morality and claimed that social problems were often the consequence of individuals’ choices. “We talk about people being ‘at risk of obesity’ instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise,” he said. “We talk about people being at risk of poverty, or social exclusion: it’s as if these things — obesity, alcohol abuse, drug addiction — are purely external events like a plague or bad weather.

“Of course, circumstances — where you are born, your neighbourhood, your school and the choices your parents make — have a huge impact. But social problems are often the consequence of the choices people make.”

The Conservatives retain a commanding lead over Labour — 13 points — according to the latest Times poll.Mr Cameron travelled to Glasgow — a city that he said had inspired his party’s crusade for social justice — to make his boldest appeal yet on restoring personal responsibility.

Ending an era in which politicians have fought shy of judging personal behaviour, he blamed such sensitivity for eroding responsibility over decades.

Mr Cameron attacked the notion that public figures should refuse to use concepts such as right and wrong and, signalling a harder edge to Tory policy making in the months to come, declared he would criticise people who brought misfortune on themselves.

He sought to pre-empt comparisons with John Major’s “back-to-basics” speech, when the former Prime Minister called for a return to traditional values but was portrayed as embarking on a disastrous moral crusade. Speaking of politicians, Mr Cameron said: “Our relationships crack up, our marriages break down, we fail as parents and as citizens just like everyone else. But if the result of this is a stultifying silence about things that really matter, we redouble the failure.”

Aides said that Mr Cameron’s speech was a deliberate toughening of his stance at a time of acute concern over issues such as knife crime. The Tory leader was seeking a mandate to take tough action against those making the wrong choices, they said.

The Conservatives have already unveiled a package of radical welfare reform to strip the workshy of benefits. Mr Cameron backed up his rhetoric yesterday with a commitment to jail anyone convicted of a knife crime.

Some charities expressed concern at the prospect of returning to a more judgmental society. Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: “It is always positive to talk around individuals taking responsibility for their actions as long as we accept there also has to be support to help them. Berating individuals because they are in a situation through no fault of their own is not helpful.”

Hugh Thornbury, strategic director of the children’s charity NCH, said: “It’s fine for politicians to judge, but one does need to see the behaviour he’s talking about.”

Murphman · July 8, 2008

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