Stick with it, Cameron urges UK

5 October 2011 Last updated at 10:14 ET

David Cameron has urged people to “stick with” the government’s spending cuts plan to ensure a “better future”.

The prime minister, who is delivering his Conservative conference speech, warned businesses and consumers not to be “paralysed by gloom and fear”.

Rejecting pressure to raise spending and lower taxes, he insisted cutting the deficit was his top priority.

The speech was re-written at a late stage to change a call for households to pay off credit card debts.

Mr Cameron’s address to the Tory conference, his second as prime minister, comes on the day that economic growth figures for the second quarter of the year were revised downwards to just 0.1%.

‘Uncomfortable’

He warned that the risk of world recession was “as serious” as it had been in 2008.

But he urged optimism and a “can-do” spirit, at the end of a week overshadowed by the crisis in the eurozone.

Rejecting Labour’s call to slow the pace of spending cuts and bring in temporary tax breaks to stimulate growth, Mr Cameron said ministers “need to tell the truth about the overall economic situation”.

“People understand that when the economy goes into recession, times get tough,” he said. “But normally after a while things pick up. Strong growth returns. People get back into work.

“This time, it’s not like that. And people want to know why the good times are so long in coming.

“The answer is straightforward, but uncomfortable. This was no normal recession. We’re in a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing by individuals, businesses, banks and most of all governments.”

But he also warned against becoming “paralysed by gloom and fear”.

‘Spirit of Britain’

“If we correct the mistakes and take on the vested interests of the past, I know we can turn this ship around,” he said.

“Slowly, but surely, we’re laying the foundations for a better future. But this is the crucial point: it will only work if we stick with it.”

The prime minister talked of the “spirit of Britain”, adding: “Some say that to succeed… we need to become more like India, China or Brazil. I say we need to become more like us. The real us.”

He talked up Britain as a hard-working, creative and optimistic country.

The speech was re-written slightly, after a passage released to the media on Tuesday apparently urged the public to make paying off debts a priority.

It read: “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with r debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.”

Instead, Mr Cameron said: “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with r debts. That’s why households are paying down the credit card and store card bills”.

Newspaper headlines on Wednesday morning were dominated by the now-abandoned passage.

‘Struggling’

The prime minister’s aides said it had been included due to “sloppy drafting” and the briefing of an unfinished speech to the media.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said it was easy to understand the “sensitivity” of appearing to tell people to stop spending at a time of austerity and falling consumer confidence.

The UK economy grew by 0.1% between April and June, less than the 0.2% estimated previously, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Output from the service sector grew by 0.2% in the quarter, compared with the previous estimate of 0.5% but industrial output fell by less than previously thought.

A Labour spokesman said: “We need a plan for growth, to create jobs, help struggling families and support small businesses, but the Conservatives are giving away hundreds of millions of pounds to the banks in corporation tax cuts – the wrong choice in a time of scarce resources.”

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