DAVID Cameron will today rally to the defence of Britain's big businesses as he makes clear that profit and wealth creation are not the nation's problem but its solution.
The Prime Minister, declaring in his keynote conference speech how the great Conservative mission is to create a "land of opportunity" for all, will run the risk of being accused of siding with the energy giants after Ed Miliband last week attacked the so-called Big Six power providers for overcharging consumers and proposed a 20-month freeze on energy bills.
Sources close to Mr Cameron insisted his speech - which will contain a section on Scottish independence - was not a direct response to the Labour leader, but would address the issue of rising energy costs.
He will say: "I didn't come into politics just to fix what went wrong but to build something right. We in this party don't dream of deficits and decimal points and dry fiscal plans; our dreams are about helping people get on in life - aspiration, opportunity - these are our words, our dreams.
"Today, I want to talk about … the great Conservative mission: that as our economy starts to recover we build a land of opportunity in our country."
The Prime Minister - whose keynote speech last year was about the "aspiration nation" - is expected to talk about "finishing the job" by building something better through a mixture of hard work, common sense and having the right values.
He will stress the need to help people "by putting up ladders they can climb through their own efforts". On education, this means pushing children hard not dumbing down; and, on welfare, not allowing adults to be stuck on benefits but "helping them stand on their own two feet".
Mr Cameron will argue the best way out of poverty is through work and will claim the Conservatives are the party of business.
"We know that profit, wealth creation, tax cuts, enterprise are not dirty, elitist words; they're not the problem, they really are the solution because it's not government that creates jobs, it's businesses. It's businesses that get wages into people's pockets, food on their tables, hope for their families and success for our country."
He will also say there is quick fix to creating a land of opportunity, and that it has to be built business by business, school by school, person by person.
Emphasising how the Conservatives believed in trusting people and in giving them the tools so they could succeed, Mr Cameron will declare that the Tories were about "big people, strong communities, responsible businesses, a bigger society not a bigger state".
The Tory leader will also insist that creating a stronger Britain will require a strong government with a clear mandate, which means when the 2015 election comes "we won't be campaigning for a coalition, we will be fighting heart and soul for a majority Conservative government, because that is what our country needs".
Mr Cameron, making clear his ambition was to serve a full five-year term if returned to power, said his decision to commit the Tories to running a surplus in the next parliament meant there would be no room for a "spending splurge" if they won the next election. But he denied that the self-imposed constraint, announced by Chancellor George Osborne, would mean more reductions in spending on public services, and hinted there could be more tax cuts to come.
"Would you want a government that is not targeting a surplus in the next parliament, that just said, 'No we are going to run overdrafts all the way through the next parliament?' I don't think that would be responsible," he insisted.
"So the other parties are going to have to answer the question: do you think it's right to have a surplus? I do," he added.
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