Cameron to unveil 'big society' plans to tackle poverty in poorest communities

David Cameron will today set out plans to encourage a culture of responsibility and civic engagement to improve life in some of Britain's poorest communities, with a speech in which he claims that the Conservatives are now "best-placed to fight poverty in our country".

The Tory leader will accuse the Labour Government of failing the poor because of a "big government" approach which makes people dependent on the state and perpetuates poverty.

And he will say that a Tory administration will use state budgets to pay "social entrepreneurs" to deliver public services in place of Government agencies.

Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper accused the Tory leader of preparing the way for "a return to the Thatcherite approach that caused long-term unemployment to soar and child poverty to double".

But Mr Cameron insisted that Tories do not want the state to withdraw from society but to "use the state to remake society" by supporting activists and civic institutions and encouraging the broad mass of the population to become involved in making their own community better.

He will this evening accuse Gordon Brown's Government of a "moral failure" for creating a system in which it pays not to work and not to look after your children and where young women can more easily obtain a home and money by having a child alone than by waiting until they have a job and a loving relationship.

"Our alternative to big government is not no government," Mr Cameron will say in the annual Hugo Young lecture in London. "Our alternative to big government is the big society, but we understand that the big society is not just going to spring to life on its own: we need strong and concerted government action to make it happen. We need to use the state to remake society."

Twelve years of massive state spending on health, welfare and tax credits designed to improve the lot of the poor under Labour has produced only "a measure of success in lifting those just below the poverty line to just above it", Mr Cameron will say.

And he will argue that Labour's efforts to help the poor have led to an "atomisation" of society by breaking down natural bonds of duty and responsibility between individuals and replacing them with a reliance on the state.

Rather than encouraging social solidarity, Labour's state intervention has "squeezed out... human kindness, generosity and imagination" and promoted "selfishness and individualism".

"The result is that today, the character of our society - and indeed the character of some people themselves, as actors in society, is changing," the Tory leader will say.

"There is less expectation to take responsibility: to work, to stand by the mother of your child, to achieve, to engage with your local community, to keep your neighbourhood clean, to respect other people and their property, to use your own discretion and judgment.

"Why? Because today the state is ever-present: either doing it for you, or telling you how to do it, or making sure you're doing it their way."

And he will add: "This is where the moral failure of the big government approach is most evident.

"We hear the Prime Minister talking about his moral compass. But when you are paid more not to work than to work, when you are better off leaving your children than nurturing them, when our welfare system tells young girls that having children before finding the security of work and a loving relationship means a home and cash now, whereas doing the opposite means a long wait for a home and less cash later, when social care penalises those who have worked hard and saved hard by forcing them to sell their home, rather than rewarding them by giving them some dignity in old age, when your attempts at playing a role in society are met with inspection, investigation and interrogation, is it any wonder our society is broken?"

Mr Cameron will say that the role of the state should be "galvanising, catalysing, prompting, encouraging and agitating for community engagement and social renewal".

A Tory government will work with activists - like Debbie Scott of employment charity Tomorrow's People, who was last night nominated as a Conservative peer - to identify proven social programmes and "franchise" them for state-funded delivery by social entrepreneurs.

He will promise to strengthen existing civic institutions, like local shops, post offices and town halls, and create new ones, such as his planned National Citizens' Service for 16-year-olds to do community work.

"The era of big government has run its course," Mr Cameron will say. "Poverty and inequality have got worse, despite Labour's massive expansion of the state.

"We need new answers now, and they will only come from a bigger society, not bigger government. That's why it's now clear to me that the Conservatives, not Labour, are best placed to fight poverty in our country."

Ms Cooper said: "It is dishonest for David Cameron to pretend that the proposals in this speech would reduce poverty when, behind the rhetoric, this is simply a return to the Thatcherite approach that caused long-term unemployment to soar and child poverty to double.

"The reason child poverty has fallen over the last 12 years is because the Labour Government introduced tax credits to make work pay as well as new rights and responsibilities in the welfare system through the New Deal - policies the Conservatives oppose.

"The voluntary and community sector play a vital role in tackling poverty, often working with public services and with public funding, but they cannot do it alone. David Cameron is calling for the state to withdraw, leaving people to fend for themselves and charities and community groups to pick up the pieces.

"This is a return to Thatcherism, or even 19th century liberalism - cutting back on government action on poverty, yet still backing tax cuts for the wealthiest estates."

Ms Cooper later added: "The idea that things like Sure Start, the NHS or tax credits are killing kindness is a crazy sign of how Thatcherite David Cameron really is. It insults the millions of families, neighbours and community groups across the country engaged in daily acts of kindness, generosity and creativity - often supported by public services and public investment."

Fergus Drake, Save the Children's director of UK programmes, said: "Cameron's intended support for innovative partnerships with social entrepreneurs and others is welcome - indeed Save the Children is developing its own pioneering programmes to tackle the causes of child poverty.

"But the state must continue to guarantee essential services to poor families. We will be watching the development of Conservative policy closely to make sure that future proposals do not in any way mean cuts in assistance.

"Whilst there is much to support in today's speech, Save the Children issues a clear warning that the language our political leaders use must not further stigmatise those who have the least in our society.

"The reported suggestion that young girls have children as a way to get accommodation will only deepen society's discrimination against them. Instead all of us - politicians, media and public - need to cast prejudices aside and focus on tackling the barriers poor parents face so that no more childhoods and children's futures are wasted."