An Englishman's Castle

On a Glasgow estate, David Cameron has hard words for broken society - Times Online

Impelled by the need to decontaminate the Conservative brand, the Tory leader laid the emphasis initially on modernity and compassion. Believing his reputation for those two elements is assured, Mr Cameron thinks the time is right to emphasise his Conservatism.

In flagging the significance of yesterday’s speech, the Tory leader hinted at both the length of its gestation and his trepidation at making a moral pronouncement. “The time has come for me to speak about something that has been troubling me for a long time,” he said, adding: “I have not found the words to say it sensitively.”

What followed was an intensively crafted passage that seeks to re-establish public morality and expressly tilts the balance from the State to the individual.

As the headlines prove it is dangerous ground, almost as dangerous as saying the much misquoted; "They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours."

But it needed saying, will he rise over the manufactured media storm? Are we ready for such truths? Gordon certainly won't be trying it again after his "it's all your fault for wasting food" got such a pasting.