David Cameron speech to the Young Adult Trust



David Cameron speech to the Young Adult Trust

 

Speaking to the Young Adult Trust today, Conservative Party Leader, David Cameron will say:

(Check against delivery)

[pic]“I usually start my speeches along the lines: “I am delighted to be here today…”

Well right now I am more than delighted.

I am proud to be here today.

And I am delivering on a promise.

Last summer, I said that we needed to find a way of promoting among young people

“those personal, emotional connections that are at the heart of civilised relationships and a sense of community.”

When I became the leader of my party I set out to do this.

So I held a meeting in January with youth leaders and said to them: here’s the challenge. 

I want to see a programme which engages young people and gives them a sense of purpose, optimism and belonging. 

Something like National Service. 

[pic]Not military. 

Not compulsory. 

But in the same spirit. 

Mixing up classes and backgrounds. 

A residential programme, so young people have real time to live together, work together, get to know each other.

And most of all, for them to develop as a person.

That meeting in January conceived the organisation that is being born today.

Community cohesion

I first suggested the project in the wake of the July 7 bombings.

The whole country was shocked at the level of social segregation in our country.

[pic]And of course, in recent weeks public discussion about community cohesion has reached a new pitch.

But I don’t believe that the debate about community cohesion should be reduced to a controversy about what a small number of Muslim women wear.

I want to go, as it were, beyond the veil – and look at how we can learn to live together in a national community.

I think of myself as a practical politician.

I ask myself what we can actually do about community cohesion.

And I think that the Young Adult Trust is part of the answer.  An important part of the answer.

I suggested it because I was appalled that in dozens of towns and cities in our country, whole communities seemed to be living separate lives.

The Trust is designed to bring young people together, from all backgrounds, to engage constructively in our society.

To give them the opportunities, and the encouragement, to fulfil the basic condition of human fellowship: social responsibility.[pic]

That phrase, social responsibility, sums up my political worldview.

And the Young Adult Trust expresses social responsibility in a tangible form.

Walk-on-by society

In too many ways we’ve become the walk-on-by society.

Walk-on-by suffering.

Walk-on-by an opportunity, and an obligation, to help.

I want us, as a society, to be far firmer about what we expect of ourselves – and of our fellow citizens.

It’s not enough just to pay your taxes and obey the law.

More, much more than this is expected.

Our whole society – our peace and our wealth – rests on values which we all have a responsibility to uphold.[pic]

Trust.

Treating others as you wish to be treated.

Compassion.

The sense that we’re all in this together.

These are the underpinnings of a successful economy and a healthy society.

We simply cannot continue to allow young people to grow up with so little knowledge of, and respect for, the values of citizenship.

We need to change the culture of the country.

What’s it got to do with you?

And that means ensuring we all know two things.

First, the fact that we’re all in this together.

[pic]That we are more than solitary individuals, pursuing our private ambitions without a thought for the society we form part of.

That there is such a thing as society.

And second, the fact that the government is not the only collective institution in our lives.

That society is not the same thing as the state.

I believe that these two facts urgently need greater emphasis.

Because too many people believe the opposite.

They believe we’re isolated individuals – free to do what we like, when we like, how we like.

And they believe that “society” means “the state” – that only the police, the law, the government have any power or any legitimacy.

You see these attitudes everywhere.

[pic]The “what’s it got to do with you?” culture.

Everyone who has ever tried to uphold social responsibility, to make clear the expectations we have of each other – has heard that phrase.

Someone drops litter in the street.

You object.

And you get an earful.

Because they think it’s the government’s responsibility to keep the streets clean and pick up litter.

They seem genuinely outraged that their behaviour could be questioned by a mere fellow member of the public – as if one slave had just told another what to do.

“What’s it got to do with you?”, they say – usually with the F-word thrown in for good measure.

[pic]And they might add, “it’s a free country”.

Well, it is free.

But it is also a country.

Meaning we inhabit the same space.

We share the culture.

We are all neighbours.

After all, citizenship is not about structures.

It’s not about understanding the workings of Parliament, or knowing the law.

It’s about relationships.

The quality of relationships is what defines a country, what makes it happy or unhappy.

[pic]Of course, if Gordon Brown had this insight he’d set a target for a million more healthy relationships by 2015.

Just imagine it.

The Healthy Relationships Unit.

The Relationships Improvement Task Force.

And of course Regional Relationship Development Agencies.

That’s not the way I think, and it’s not the way I’d govern.  It’s certainly not the way that the Young Adult Trust works.

England expects

We’ve been hearing from some of the young adults who’ve taken part in the Trust’s pilot projects.

I want to congratulate them for what they’ve done.

And to explain why I think it’s so important.

[pic]You all know the famous signal sent by Nelson to the fleet before the Battle of Trafalgar.

“England expects that every man will do his duty”.

Those words may seem dated.

But it’s exactly the signal I think we need to send today – slightly updated.

Britain expects that every man and every woman will do their duty.

Because “Expectation” and “Duty” are as relevant, and as necessary, now as they have ever been.

After all, ultimately it is social expectation, not state enforcement, which makes us do what we do – good or bad.

For instance, we usually talk about peer pressure among young people as a bad thing.[pic]

In fact it has an enormous potential for good.

Yes: in some places, it’s peer pressure which explains drug abuse, truancy, teenage pregnancy.

But in other places, it’s peer pressure which explains the absence of those things.

In most places, peer pressure is a good thing.

Just look at the some of the social attitudes revealed in the research the Young Adult Trust is publishing today.

Over 90 per cent of young people want to be home owners.

80 per cent want to get married.

I said last week that it’s often older people who give most time and commitment to their community.

[pic]The other group which volunteers the most is young adults.

In fact according to a Home Office survey, 16-24 year-olds are the age group most likely to volunteer.

It may not be a word they often use, but I’m convinced that young people are just as receptive to the concept of “duty” as everyone else.

War generation

And there’s another generation that really knows what duty means.

The people in their eighties and nineties today.

When they were young adults, they rallied to the defence of this country.

Many of their brothers, sisters and friends died.

All of them worked, hard – in the forces, on farms, in factories.

[pic]But if you ask this generation now, “when was the happiest time of your life?”, many of them say: “the war”.

How can that be?

Because they were all in it together.

They were part of something bigger than themselves.

They did their duty.

And that’s what I hope this programme will help today’s generation of young people to do.

I don’t believe we’ll create responsible citizens by launching some government initiative. 

We’ll do it by trusting in the idea of social responsibility – the idea that is at the heart of the modern Conservative Party.

I haven’t tried to control the Young Adult Trust.

[pic]I wanted to trust the experts, those with the experience of working with and inspiring young people. 

Rite of passage

One thing they have pointed out is that almost every society in the world…

…except modern Western ones…

…have what’s known as a “rite of passage”, to mark the transition from childhood to adulthood.

In our society, the closest thing to a rite of passage is probably going out and getting completely hammered on your eighteenth birthday.

I think programmes like this could provide a positive alternative.

So over time why not see if we can develop a common reference point, a nationally recognised ‘transition to adulthood’? 

 

It could become a recognised ‘stamp’ of adulthood in Britain.

[pic] 

In fact, the Young Adult Trust is looking at ways to make this explicit. 

 

In Britain today, there’s a wide and confusing range of ages at which the law gives you the right to do certain things.

 

You can get married at sixteen, but you can’t drive until you’re seventeen. 

 

You can buy a gun when you’re seventeen but you can’t buy fireworks until you’re eighteen. 

 

There’s a strong case for clearing up some of the confusion and moving towards greater uniformity in age-related legislation. 

 

But the Young Adult Trust will be investigating a more interesting idea: formally linking rights to responsibilities. 

[pic] 

The idea is that you can achieve “early adult status” if you have shown, through completing a programme like the Young Adult Trust, that you’re a responsible adult citizen.

 

I believe this is a debate worth having. 

 

For the last nine years, we’ve seen the consequences of a government that believes only in punishing irresponsible behaviour…

 

…and has nothing creative to say about encouraging and rewarding responsible behaviour. 

 

Of course punishment is vital when young people do the wrong thing. 

 

But shouldn’t we also be doing everything we can to encourage them to do the right thing?[pic]

 

To become responsible adult citizens, to fulfil their duties to themselves, their families and their communities, and to play a positive part in national life? 

 

Of course there are some things – like the right to vote, or the age of criminal responsibility – which have to be fixed by age. 

 

But in most things, it’s not about age. 

 

It’s about responsibility.

 

And that’s the real reason we need to change the way we hand out rights and duties.

Because we need to do far more to promote responsibility.

[pic]YAT is independent

Last week I went to Warrington to meet the young people who had taken part in the pilot. 

I was struck by their enthusiasm and desire to see the programme made available to every young person in the country. 

It was clearly an incredible success

One of the main reasons that I believe the Young Adult Trust has such great potential is the man who’s leading it.

Paul Oginsky has got a fantastic track record.

He and Simon Weston have inspired a generation of young people to live lives of purpose and achievement.

Paul told me, pretty plainly, that where he comes from in Liverpool, Conservatives are not well-regarded.

And he certainly doesn’t call himself a Conservative.

So I’m grateful to him for swallowing his pride and helping us.[pic]

In fact he even offered to protect me.

We went to a community centre in Moss Side the other day.

As we walked down the street he must have seen me looking nervous.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a black belt in karate”, he told me.

Which was reassuring.

Anyway, he and I agree on this.

Change doesn’t happen from above.

It happens from below.

And change doesn’t have to involve the Government.

Today’s Conservative Party is not just about talking, it is about doing.

[pic]We don’t want to wait until we’re in government to start changing our country for the better, we are starting now. 

So I am delighted that the Young Adult Trust is already up and running

But I want to make it clear that while it is inspired by the Conservative Party, it is not owned by the Conservative Party.

I am launching it today, and will continue to champion it – but it will fly, or fall, on its own.

I first put forward the idea of a national programme for school leavers because I want to do something practical and tangible about the fact that in many of our towns and cities, whole communities seem to be living separate lives. 

I want to do something practical and tangible about the growing problems of crime and anti-social behaviour that ruin the lives of so many people, young and old. 

And I want to do something practical and tangible about the devastating impact of family breakdown on our society. 

The Young Adult Trust will make a constructive difference on all these issues and more by teaching young people about their responsibilities as adult citizens[pic]

But the question we are asking when we talk about community cohesion, about crime and about family breakdown is as old as politics itself.

It is, quite simply, “how can we live together?”

Over time, we have developed an answer to this question.

We live together best in a system of freedom under the rule of law.

We must pay our taxes, obey the law, and pursue profit within the rules – rules set equally and impartially for all.

But the answer to the question “how can we live together?” goes deeper than this – much deeper.

Being a citizen, being an adult, means more than fulfilling our functions as a political animal and an economic agent.

Our social responsibility does not begin and end with our tax return.

[pic]Our liberty is not limited to maximising private profit.

We are equal – but we are not identical.

We are free – but we are not separate.

We are related, each to all, through the myriad associations of society itself.

The Young Adult Trust is just the latest addition to these associations.

But I hope it marks a turning point in the way politics approaches society.

I am proud of it.

Proud of you.

And I wish you every good fortune in the incredibly important work that you are doing.”

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