PRIME Minister David Cameron promised to hand almost half the British population a tax cut if re-elected next year, a pledge he hopes will win over millions of voters and refocus debate away from a schism inside the Conservatives over Europe.
The promise, which will cost over £7 billion to fund, was a calculated gambit to try to shift the narrative from one which has focused on the damage the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) is doing to Cameron's re-election hopes by siphoning off voters and MPs.
In a speech which also touched on Scotland's decision to remain in the UK, the threat posed by Islamic State, and Britain's Second World War role, Cameron told activists he wanted and needed to be re-elected with an overall majority so he could govern alone and not in a coalition as is now the case.
"Believe me: coalition was not what I wanted to do; it's what I had to do," he said. "And I know what I want next. To be back here in October 2015 delivering Conservative policies."
In his speech he tried to strike a calm statesman-like posture as he sought to shore up his leadership, steady his party, and dangle some eye-catching promises before voters.
The centrepiece was a promise to lift one million workers out of tax if re-elected by allowing them to earn more before they pay any income tax, a pledge he said would also mean reduced tax bills for 30 million more people, or just under half the country's total population.
He also pledged to ease the burden on the middle class by raising the threshold for the country's 40 per cent rate of income tax.
"With the Conservatives, if you work hard and do the right thing we say you should keep more of your own money to spend as you choose," Cameron told delegates to applause.
In another pledge aimed at reassuring voters, Cameron said he'd increase spending on the National Health Service (NHS), an issue which voters list as a priority and perceive Labour to be ahead on.
"So Britain: what's it going to be?" Cameron, 47, asked supporters packed inside a concert hall at the party's annual conference in Birmingham. "I say: let's not go back to square one. Let's finish what we have begun."
Cameron has endured a tumultuous month taking Britain into battle with Islamist militants in Iraq, pondering his own demise if Scotland had voted to leave the United Kingdom, and watching as two of his MPs quit to join the anti-EU UKIP party.
"It doesn't matter whether parliament is hung, drawn or quartered, there is only one real choice. The Conservatives or Labour," said Cameron.
"Me in Downing Street, or Ed Miliband in Downing Street. If you vote UKIP that's really a vote for Labour. On 7th May (election day) you could go to bed with Nigel Farage, and wake up with Ed Miliband."
The leader of the Conservatives has promised to renegotiate Britain's EU ties if re-elected before holding an EU membership referendum in 2017, but has been coy about spelling out what he wants to change with some among the party sceptical about the strength of his resolve.
Cameron used his speech to try to calm those jitters, saying he was steadfastly committed to overhauling Britain's EU ties and would seek to alter the bloc's freedom of movement rules to curb intra-EU immigration.
"Britain, I know you want this sorted so I will go to Brussels, I will not take no for an answer and when it comes to free movement – I will get what Britain needs," he said.
"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this – judge me by my record."
Cameron also sought to appease the right wing of his party with a promise to scrap the Human Rights Act – domestic legislation which enshrines the international principles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into British law.
Senior Conservatives have been frustrated by rulings under the act which they say allow criminals to unfairly escape or delay punishment and often cite the deportation of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan which was stalled for years.
Cameron said he would introduce a new rights bill in its place – a move that would give the Conservatives freedom to pick and choose which principles from the ECHR were directly enforceable through British law.
Justice secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC today (October 3): "I think the people of this country believe that first of all there should not be a legal blank cheque to take human rights into areas were they have never applied before.
"We don't think those things should be decided in a European court. We think if they are to be addressed they should be discussed in this country, in our courts and in our parliament."
If Britain could not reach such a deal, it would pull out of the human rights convention, Grayling said.
An opinion poll today (October 3) showed the Conservatives edging ahead of Labour for the first time in more than two years. But support for UKIP stood at 14 per cent, underscoring the threat it poses to both parties.
