Cameron ‘will stay the course’ on cuts

THE Conservatives will seek to play up the leadership strengths of David Cameron at their conference in Manchester starting today, as they insisted that he will “stay the course” on Britain’s deficit cuts, despite facing attacks from all sides last night.

Meeting delegates under the banner “Leadership for a Better Future”, the Prime Minister is expected to use his speech on Wednesday to say that he is holding fast to his plans on cutting debt.

But it comes as right-wingers in his own party accused his government of spending in a manner more suited to an “age of abundance” rather than an age of austerity.

Meanwhile, Cameron was facing fresh calls from opposition leaders to offer a tax cut to give a “jolt” to the sluggish UK economy, amid fears that the country could get pulled back into recession.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister acknowledged that people are “anxious”, but said he was “confident” that his government’s economic policies would lift the country out of recession.

Dismissing calls for a so-called “Plan B” on the economy, Conservative party co-chairman Baroness Warsi added: “Although these are difficult times, we are going to stay the course.

“By taking tough decisions now, we create a better future for our children.”

Speaking ahead of conference last night, and following criticism that he did not have a plan for growth, Cameron said: “First of all, we’ve got to deal with the debts and the deficit and stick to our plan there, but we are doing things to cut corporation tax, to help small businesses to de-regulate, to make it easier to employ people.”