PRESENTING a sneak preview of David Cameron’s speech to this weekend’s Conservative Spring Conference:
Conference, we find ourselves at a crossroads – a crossroads for change. Our society is broken – the “broken society”, if you will. And we need to change it. Because it’s broken, and only change can fix something that’s broken. That’s why I will be a Prime Minister for change. Because the country needs change because the country is broken – just like society, that I mentioned earlier: the broken society.
We can’t go on like this, with a broken society, always broken, never changing. We need a new government that will mend that broken society, that will bring about change – change in government, change in the country and, yes, change in our broken society.
Our critics say I’m not being specific enough about change. Well, here are some specifics: we will change the economy, we will change our schools, and we will change the health service. Because they’re all broken. And we need change, not broken-ness, and only change – change for the better – can change what we need to change, because (that’s enough “change” – Ed)
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Monday 2 November 2009 at 8:43 am
Sorry Tom. I have to disagree, although you do put it reasonably (and Nutt hasn’t helped himself by moaning about it – as you say, his role was to advise. There’s no rule that ministers have to act on advice and he should have accepted the decision).
The move to class B for cannabis was always one of Obama Beach’s “eye catching initiatives I can be personally associated with”. All the evidence points to cannabis being less harmful than currently legal substances, so where is the case for upgrading it to class B if it’s not for political rather than scientific reasons?
Monday 2 November 2009 at 8:48 am
Lord! How mad is it to try and insist that the Chairman of HMG’s Drugs Advisors doesn’t campaign against the Minister’s decisions?
The scientific views are NOT the only factors, the principal additional one is the effect of any changes on the public mind and thereby public action.
viz putting it into kids’ minds that drugs, such as cannabis, LSD and ecstasy are OK, do not pose the problems they truly pose.
Tom? Have you varied the trolls’ diets in some way . . ?
Monday 2 November 2009 at 8:51 am
@Triffid
“if it turns out to be illegal as well surely Johnson position will be untenable ?”
He wouldn’t be the only member of the government to have acted ‘illegally’ and not resigned.
Monday 2 November 2009 at 9:04 am
Repeat post for QZ, who, I see, has studiously ignored this amongst his uber-pompous utterances from his own high Olympus.
@Quietzapple Sunday 1 November 2009 at 4:16 pm
//
Old Holborn;
You appear to imagine that everything which contradicts the well established, conventional views supported by commonsense and evidence is true
//
And the evidence that proves that criminalising drugs is working is?
Please, do tell us.
Go on then – lets hear it from the great expert’s mouth. Clearly, you know far more about this than such government appointed experts as Prof. Nutt, so lets have the benefit of your extraordinary knowledge and wisdom. And a few more ellipses, as well, please, they always add to your air of pomposity.
Monday 2 November 2009 at 9:09 am
Johnson
“Professor Nutt was not sacked for his views, which I respect but disagree with,” he writes. “He was asked to go because he cannot be both a government adviser and a campaigner against government policy.”
I.E. He was not allowed to say that government policy is wrong. I.E. The council is there to back up government policy, and is in now way “independent”.
Why should an adviser NOT criticise government policy if they believe it to be wrong? Or does “advise” now mean “confirm as correct”?
Someone? Tom?
Monday 2 November 2009 at 9:32 am
Nothing a politician says is worthy of anything other than cynicism. But why you chose to highlight your own parties lies over this very issue, a manifesto commitment rather than a tale to a rag I can’t imagine.
Can you do the electorate a favour and remind your colleagues not to claim expenses for wreaths this year please.
Monday 2 November 2009 at 9:33 am
Silly Plodder . .
The conventional wisdom among those of us who have children is that anything like the Nutt episode will tend to draw them into trying out drugs.
Obviously the trolls among you will continue to ignore that fact.
I trust this doesn’t indicate the mental depredations which certain substances are said to bring, rather just a mispreception of your own political interests.
Sunday 28 February 2010 at 10:32 am
Is this a real extract?
Sunday 28 February 2010 at 10:33 am
LOLZ.
love it.
Sunday 28 February 2010 at 11:46 am
if true this is bad news Dave has found some clarity at last. At least compared to the last er 4 years
Monday 1 March 2010 at 1:05 am
Your text was if anythin more plausible than the actual spech- which was no notes and no content. Daves big (but patriotic idea) is to recommend William Vagues book? Did u boyce that he also basically made his team unsackable by making a virtue of how little change there was in their ranks. Dave maybe there is your problem mate – Gove and Osborne for a start you should have sacked the both twice by now.
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