The age of irresponsibility is giving way to the age of austerity

David Cameron stressed Britain needs “a complete change of direction” to deal with the new “age of austerity” in his 2009 Spring Forum speech.

He said the “age of irresponsibility” was coming to an end and we need to take “incredibly tough decisions” on taxation, spending and borrowing to tackle Labour’s Debt Crisis.

“The alternative to dealing with the Debt Crisis now is mounting debt, higher interest rates and a weaker economy. Unless we deal with the debt crisis, we risk becoming once again the sick man of Europe.”

David made clear that the age of austerity means “delivering more for less” – and that requires four big changes for Government:

• A return to traditional public spending control
• A new culture of thrift in government, including a contractual obligation on all senior civil servants to save the taxpayer money
• Curing our big social problems not just treating them, with our plans for school reform, welfare reform and strengthening families
• Using technology to transform the way public services are delivered

David announced a new ‘People’s right to know’ plan, whereby every item of government spending over £25,000, and all public sector salaries over £150,000, will have to be published online.

And he promised to stand up for “responsibility and thrift”:

“Yes, if we win the next election, we may not see the full fruits of our labours in the lifetime of our government. But if we stick together and tackle this crisis our children and grandchildren will thanks us for what we did for them and for our country.”

Read David's 2009 Spring Forum speech