Perhaps David Cameron should talk about moral rearmament more often. The force of his post-riot speech at the beginning of the week was welcomed by most members of his party and by many others. Nor did his words smack of insincerity – a point he was anxious to convey. “I’ve been saying this for years,” he said, “since before… I was leader of the Conservative Party.” I believe him. Raised in an old rectory, an occasional cricketer, a liberal Anglican and the son of a magistrate to boot, the Prime Minister is at heart a One Nation Conservative in the Harold Macmillan tradition. (A picture of the old actor-manager decorated his Opposition office.)
One of his first pledges, when standing for the party leadership in 2005, was tax breaks for married couples, a promise crafted to wed his own instincts to the votes of the party’s Right. For the next five years, he championed the Big Society which that smallest of institutions – the family – helps to support. He blasted shops that fuel obesity by offering cut-price chocolate and firms that sexualised children by selling bras for under-10s. He backed voluntary national service, a theme he returned to in his speech. He even championed a national happiness index (the Office of National Statistics has been asking people how content they are with life since April).
