PM calls for bulldog spirit to end 'sogginess'

Attempting to allay fears that he is out of touch with ordinary people, David Cameron trumpeted his credentials as a "one-nation Conservative" and said the "spirit of Britain" would see the nation through its debt crisis.

In his closing speech to the Tory conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister also promised to tear up the rules which restrict the number of children being adopted; urged private schools to sponsor and set up academy schools for state-educated pupils, and extolled the virtues of gay marriage and Britain's overseas aid spending.

But his drive to tackle the perception that the Tories are "for the rich" suffered a setback when he had to rewrite a section of his speech which implied he would urge people to pay off their store-card and credit-card debts. That raised eyebrows because such action would dampen consumer spending and could plunge Britain back into recession. It also risked making Mr Cameron look out of touch with families struggling to survive the squeeze.

The section of the speech released early to yesterday's newspapers said the debt crisis "means households paying off the credit-card and store-card bills". In his actual speech he said "that's why households are paying down their credit and store-card bills".

Mr Cameron acknowledged the debt crisis was now "as serious as it was in 2008". But he erred on the side of optimism. Recalling that Britain had fought back when it was seen as the sick man of Europe, he declared: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog... Let's turn this time of challenge into a time of opportunity."

The Prime Minister continued: "Frankly there's too much 'can't-do' sogginess around. We need a sharp, focused, 'can-do' country." He said: "I don't for one minute underestimate how worried people feel. But the truth is, right now we need to be energised, not paralysed by gloom and fear."

Vowing to build a "new economy" in which no one was left behind, the Prime Minister argued that the Government's cuts programme would mean the richest would bear the biggest burden. "This is a one-nation deficit plan from a one-nation party," he said. He promised that the Tories would always remain "the party of the NHS" and pledged to sweep away an education culture that too often made excuses for failure.