Some Thoughts on Cameron's Spring Conference Speech and the Coalition

I'm trying to understand David Cameron's speech. I'm sorry but I'm failing completely.

I cannot get the mindset that sale of arms is in any way justified no matter how much of an "entrepreneur" you are.

Lateral Application of Ideas

I think that the Conservatives are very good at cost-benefit analysis, but completely useless are applying this to any of the system outside of economic. One has to measure up the social responsibility and the social economics of selling arms.

As recently demonstrated in Libya, sale of arms without any thought to the consequences of doing so in a country that is dominated by a dictator is likely to come back to bite you.

The familiar joke during the great Iraq war was that Blair knew that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction because he'd sold them to him.

There is something very unsavoury about a political party that seems to function purely on economic is and with very little reflection on society, community or lateral applications as a whole.

I do hope of the coalition that the Liberal Democrats provide some elements of social responsibility to the financial cut and thrust of the Conservative party. One could argue that the insistence of a pupil premium within Michael Gove's great academy scheme demonstrates this.

One could also argue that the Liberal Democrat refusal to allow funding of more nuclear power stations utilising government and public funds is another strong example.

However, it seems that with arms sales and negotiations, the Liberal Democrats have influenced not a jot

Flawed Argument

Of course, there is great merit in enterprise, however, as the New statesman points out, David Cameron started his speech detailing the enemies of enterprise and declaring war on enterprise before actively promoting it in a "budget growth".

It is one thing to be narrowminded and blinkered when attempting to resolve the economic deficit without looking at the subsequent effects, but it is another thing entirely to be completely contradictory when you're running the country. Perhaps Cameron, in all his Thatcherite glory, misunderstood her quoting St Francis of Assisi and thought she stated "where there is harmony, let us bring discord"

The Mythical Beast

what amazes me is the presentation of ideas the provide great scope to social responsibility and socio-economic factors when applying policy. The Big Society and the Localism Bill could be understood to be empowering people, engaging the public in politics and providing a collective social responsibility for the development of society, community and culture within Britain.

However, it does seem that The Big Society is down to personal interpretation, and David Cameron must be completely sick of talking about it!