Cameron spells out the Tories' plans

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Tackling the deficit is not an alternative to economic growth – it is part of the solution, the Tory leader David Cameron said at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference as he set out how the Conservatives would get the economy growing again if they won the general election next year.

Cameron repeated his claim that within 50 days of taking office, a Tory government would introduce an emergency growth budget which would include a plan to bring down the deficit and a plan to "unleash" investment and enterprise. And he repeated a pledge to cut red tape for businesses and to simplify Labour's "nightmare" tax system.

The Tory leader also told the CBI that his party wanted to unlock credit in the immediate term and help to make sure credit lines stayed open for the long-term, solve the skills crisis with 200,000 new apprenticeships and an overhaul of the welfare and education systems, "revolutionise" the UK's transport system with a high-speed rail link, and give the majority of the population access to broadband .

Cameron said that while he couldn't list every piece of infrastructure spending and every tax reduction that businesses would like – because the government had run out of money – the Tory agenda was the agenda that Britain "really needs".

"At a time of difficulty like this, frankness, directness [and] candour matter more than ever," he said.

But Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said that Cameron got it wrong on the recession and he is now getting it wrong on the recovery.

"David Cameron is not 'going for growth'. His policies would choke off growth," Mandelson said. "You cannot say you want to go for growth while in the same breath committing to pull support from the economy prematurely and [make] deep cuts to the very investment in future growth that business needs. Business needs to beware. Mr Cameron's two faces have again been on show at the CBI today. While he talks a business-friendly language he is hiding policies that would set back the economic recovery and leave business weaker in the longer-term."