William Croft Speech to the TRG

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Will Frost
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William Croft Speech to the TRG

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At the invitation of the Tory Reform Group, William Croft heads to a packed speaking hall in downtown London where he is set to address TRG MPs, Conservative staff, party members, and reporters about his views on compassionate conservatism. After being introduced by Shadow Foreign Secretary Clarice Ashbridge, he takes the stage. With the phrase "The Right Way Forward," written on the wall behind him, he shakes Clarice's hand, grabs the mic and begins speaking.

Good evening,

Allow me to begin by thanking Clarice for that very kind introduction. One of the best parts of this job has been to work alongside an incredible group of MPs, who share my vision for a Britain that is freer, fairer, and more aspirational. Clairce has been invaluable in our party’s work to make the case that our country needs strong Conservative leadership now more than ever, and the whole of our party is better off as a result of her leadership as Shadow Foreign Secretary.

I’ve been invited to speak to the Tory Reform Group this evening to set out my views on compassionate Conservatism, and the role it has to play in our movement. So let me tell you plainly where I stand. I am a compassionate Conservative who believes that the problems we face as a nation are best solved by modern Conservative solutions. One of my central aims as the leader of our party is to deliver compassionate conservative policies that our members can believe in, and that voters across the political spectrum will resonate with. Anything else would be a failure on my part as your leader, because it would amount to relying on a tired and overused playbook of ideas that have failed to get us over the line and back into Government.

The 2001 general election is the best example of this. The British people did indeed resonate with our message on taxes and Europe, and that’s a good thing. While highlighting these two areas allowed us to win 80 seats in the last election, which is no small feat, they did not enable us to reach the all important goal of politics: returning to power. Now I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t made some of these mistakes as well; after all it was my decision to jump head first into the issue of Europe that gave me the reputation as Britain’s cowboy. But it is a mistake that we cannot afford to make again. The British people are crying out for alternative solutions to New Labour policy on education, climate change, policing, and the NHS. They want us to talk about the fundamental issues that really matter to them. To put forth our solutions to the problems that keep people up at night. Simply put, to meet them where they are at. And that, my friend, is what I intend to do.

The solution to the challenges we face is to recognize that our future as a party depends on our ability to embrace compassionate Conservatism, and to mean it. It is compassionate to give a helping hand to those in our society who have fallen on hard times. It is conservative to insist on personal accountability and results. These two concepts aren’t mutually exclusive, indeed they go hand in hand. Lady Thatcher once said that the facts of life are Conservative, and I would argue that the facts of compassion are as well. It is both conservative and compassionate to ensure people can keep more of what they earn, to fulfill the promise of giving every young person the best possible education, and to combat climate change in order to allow our children to inherit a world of promise and opportunity. A Conservative Government committed to defending the rights of the individual, expanding economic opportunities for all, and leaving our country a better place than how we found it is fundamentally a compassionate government. It is the sort of Government that I intend to lead.

There are some in our party who suggest that we should revert back to the policies and politics of the 1980s. Pointing to our electoral victories over the course of that decade, they believe the Conservative Party of that era holds the key to our renewed success. I reject that. Because while the Britain of the 1980s needed that sort of Conservative Government, the Britain of the 21st century needs something different entirely. While our core values should remain, our party should be far more willing to commit ourselves to an agenda of commonsense, compassionate, and thoroughly modern policy objectives. We should commit ourselves to protecting and enhancing our collective society, and the individuals who are a part of it. Our country has changed, the British people have changed, and as a result we as a party must change as well. If we are ever to return to power we must come to terms with that fact.

So tonight, I am announcing my agenda for our party and for this country: The Right Way Forward. The Right Way Forward represents my commitment to a root and branch review of our policies as a party, and will set out our stall as an alternative Government prepared to deliver more than New Labour is capable of providing. It will consist of modern, ambitious, innovative policy proposals to enable Britain to best meet the challenges of the new century. Each one will chart a bold course for our country, and will be centered around our belief that Britain is best off when each person has the tools and support they need to make the most of their lives. At its core, it will be guided by my personal belief in compassionate Conservatism. The idea that, when it works the way it should, Government can provide meaningful value to the people that it serves. It’s that idea that got me into politics in the first place: that Government can and should lay the foundation for individual citizens to better themselves, their families and their communities.

To kick off the launch of the Right Way Forward, I’d like to share with you one of our new policy proposals that signals our commitment to full fledged compassionate Conservatism. As of this morning, I have instructed the Shadow Chancellor to begin costing out our plan to abolish Tuition Fees once and for all and replace them with a progressive graduate tax. During the 1997 general election campaign, Tony Blair promised that a Labour Government would not introduce fees for university students. In true New Labour fashion, he U-turned on that promise just two months into his term and imposed a £1,000 tuition fee. In what I imagine will shock everyone in this room, I actually find myself in agreement with the National Union of Students, who have argued that since their inception tuition fees have made attending university costlier and harder for working people. While the fee is means tested, and support is available for students with parents earning less than £16,000 a year, this provision leaves far too many families struggling to determine whether or not they can afford to send their children to university. That is a choice no parent should be forced to make, and under the Conservative Government that I lead they won’t have to.

Since their introduction our party has opposed tuition fees… but we haven’t done anything about it. That ends now. Our proposal to phase out tuition fees will be appropriately costed and included in the upcoming Shadow Budget. In its place, we will implement a graduate tax that is paid annually, and paid only if a student graduates and after they have found employment. And low income students who were not required to pay tuition under the current scheme won’t be required to pay the graduate tax at all. Through this revolutionary proposal we ensure that our universities still have the funding they need to function while eliminating the existing upfront cost that serves as a barrier for many students who aspire to attend university. And that is really the core of what we are trying to achieve with this policy: ensuring that every young person has the right to aspire to something greater.

Under the New Labour status quo, receiving a university degree has become increasingly dependent on the socio-economic status of your family. A student who works hard, who dedicates themselves to their studies, and who dreams of a better life deserves to pursue a university education no matter how much money their family has. Financial status should never be a barrier to receiving an education; we recognize this for primary and secondary education, and it is about time we extend that recognition to university education. We have no idea how many future doctors, lawyers, engineers, or scientists we are depriving our country of by making it disproportionately harder for working people to attend university. I refuse to accept wasted potential, and the barrier to receiving a university degree created by tuition fees is wasted potential on a national scale. Imposing tuition fees is a policy devoid of commonsense, and totally lacking in compassion. Under a Conservative Government, if you want to attend university nothing will stand in your way.

Abolishing tuition fees perfectly encompasses the core offer behind the Right Way Forward: a set of policies rooted in our Conservative principles, and inspired by our desire to form a compassionate Government. It speaks to our commitment of giving British people the tools they need to realize their full potential. And critically, it represents the sort of leader I intend to be. A Conservative who leads from the front, who pushes our party forward, and who is committed to expanding our appeal and bringing new people into our movement. Tonight I offer this invitation: no matter your background, no matter who you’ve voted for in the past, no matter where you live or where you’re from you have a place in the Conservative Party. I hope you’ll join our movement to ensure that Britain’s best days remain ahead of us.

Thank you and good evening.
Will Frost MP
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Re: William Croft Speech to the TRG

Post by Marty »

Let me let you in on a (admittedly rather obvious) secret: the list of speech invites has been carefully curated to set challenges to certain parties. For each of these speeches, I had a purpose in mind which I would put it to. And Croft sensed quite rightly that this speech invite was an opportunity for him to get away from the more populist-ish rhetoric coming out of the Tories since his leadership election and give him room to air his plans to shed the 'nasty party' image, which is still a very real problem for the Tories in this era.

Your diagnosis of the things people, and the TRG in particular, want a more compassionate line on is spot-on. The audience receives the middle of the speech, where you outline how Conservatism is naturally compassionate and deliver some pretty sharp blows to the Thatcherite orthodoxy, reasonably well.

I find "the Right Way Forward" a bit cringeworthy, but hey ho, you need a buzzword (even if it has the British House of Cards overtones I have alluded to in The Sun). The speech flows relatively well until the point where you jump from this overarching agenda directly into a quickfire policy launch on tuition fees. There are multiple problems with the choice of policy, I think. One is that, as you say yourself, it is not actually an entirely new policy. The second is that the link between your entire ideological story about compassion and the policy itself feels a bit disconnected. Sure, I can get to it myself, but what I want you to do in speeches is to show me. Third, and lastly: as a departure from the 'nasty party' image, it seems to me you might've been better off choosing a different, even more bread-and-butter policy area such as the NHS or schools to signal it. The choice you made did put even more pressure on the delivery of the policy, and it just didn't get there.

I'll be marking these speeches to a maximum of +10 momentum either way. This is a +5 momentum to the Conservatives.
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