David Cameron: I want privilege for all

Addressing his critics, the Prime Minister admitted that he had no “hard luck story” and had been fortunate to grow up as the son of a wealthy stockbroker.

But he insisted that rather than alienating him from average voters, the comfortable background provided by his father had instilled in him the values of hard work, family and community spirit that could help Britain recover from the current economic crisis.

In his speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, Mr Cameron said his aim was not to defend “privilege” but “spread it” by giving everyone the help he has enjoyed in life.

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He sought to define his governing principles, pledging to “get behind people who want to get on in life” and adding that “rule one” of being a Conservative was that a person’s background did not matter.

He said he was not “ashamed” of backing those who wanted to “make a better life for themselves” and accused Ed Miliband, who last week attempted to claim the Tories’ “One Nation” mantle, of attempting to stoke a class war.

“Line one, rule one of being a Conservative is that it’s not where you’ve come from that counts, it’s where you’re going,” said the Prime Minister. “We’ve been led by the daughter of a grocer, the son of a music hall performer, by a Jew when Jews were persecuted, by a woman when women were sidelined. We don’t look at the label on the tin, we look at what’s in it.

“While the intellectuals of other parties sneer at people who want to get on in life, we are here to salute you.”

Mr Cameron admitted that he had been lucky in attending a Berkshire prep school and then Eton College. But this did not mean he could not help ordinary people, he said. “I went to a great school and I want every child to have a great education,” he said. “I’m not here to defend privilege, I’m here to spread it.”

His speech, which was nearly an hour long, was also used to set out the three key battle-lines for the next general election — reforming the education and welfare systems while addressing the economic crisis. No mention was made of the Liberal Democrats or the Coalition.

Notably, Mr Cameron made virtually no mention of same-sex marriage, the environment, immigration or a potential referendum on Europe — all controversial issues within his party.

Instead, he spoke strongly about his belief that Britain can recover and become “unbeatable” again, drawing on the inspiration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The country is the “most enterprising, buccaneering, creative, dynamic nation on earth” and can recover from the economic crisis with “individual effort and aspiration”, the Prime Minister said.

“The job of this party, of this government is to help bring out the best in this country. Because at our best we’re unbeatable.

“We know Britain can deliver because we’ve seen it time and again. This is the country that invented the computer, defeated the Nazis, started the web, saw off the slave trader, unravelled DNA and fought off every invader for a thousand years. There is absolutely nothing we cannot do.”

The upbeat message came after Mr Cameron warned Britons that the country faced an “hour of reckoning” and was threatened with terminal decline without radical reform and action.

However, he drew on Britain’s historic achievements to warn against defeatism and said he wanted to make a “serious argument” about how the country could recover.

The Prime Minister insisted that “Britain is on the rise” amid recent suggestions from other senior government figures that the economy is healing. “There is a global battle out there to win jobs, orders, contracts and in that battle I believe in leading from the front,” he said.

The central message in the speech was a commitment to back aspiration, which the Prime Minister described as not just an economic necessity but also as a “moral one”. “I am not going to stand here as Prime Minister and allow this country to join the slide,” he said. “My job, our job, is to make sure that in this 21st century, as in the centuries that came before, our country is on the rise.

“And we here know how that is done. It is the collective effort and aspiration — the ideas you have, the businesses you start, the hours you put in. Aspiration is the engine of progress. For us Conservatives, this is not just an economic mission – it’s also a moral one.”

The Prime Minister, said that, like William Beveridge, who established the modern welfare state, he had “great evils to slay”, including “injustice” and “unfairness”, which were undermining British society. “Our reforms are just as profound as those of Beveridge, 60 years ago,” he said.

Mr Cameron called the unfairness of a welfare system where those not working could live in houses beyond the reach of the typical family “an outrage” and said the injustice was “crazy”. He added that it was right to force people back into work, saying: “We’re not sending children up chimneys, we’re giving them a chance. Work isn’t slavery — it’s poverty that is slavery.”

Mr Cameron also attacked the Left-wing “educational establishment”, whom he accused of attempting to block critical reforms to schools.

“Isn’t the greatest disadvantage of all being written off by those so in hock to a culture of low expectations that they have forgotten what it’s like to be ambitious, to want to transcend your background, to overcome circumstance and succeed on your own terms?” he asked. “It’s that toxic culture of low expectations — that lack of ambition for every child — which has held this country back.”

Watched by his wife, Samantha, who later embraced her husband on the stage, the Prime Minister appeared close to tears during a section of the speech about his late son, Ivan. He also talked at length about his late father, Ian.