 It was Mr Howard's first conference speech as party leader |
Michael Howard has accused Labour of "addiction" to taxation and regulation in his first conference speech. The Tory leader joked a clinic questionnaire showed Chancellor Gordon Brown was a tax and red tape "junkie".
Mr Howard said the Tories were an alternative to Labour's "tax and spend and failure to deliver".
Senior Tories have been bullish about their prospects of power but Labour ministers have condemned conservative policies as "extremist".
Mr Howard said voters would have to choose between big government under Labour and small government under the Conservatives.
 |  The British people will decide between these two visions of government  |
Referring to a possible general election next year, he told the conference: "It is a choice between top-down public services that are failing and a new approach that will give people more control.
"The British people will decide between these two visions of government - a Labour government that knows best or smaller government in a country where people are in the driving seat."
"These are the differences that will form the battle lines at the next election."
Mr Howard said it was a "historic choice" that would "determine our future for generations".
Britons should speak up and claim the right to decide "to let the sunshine of choice break through the clouds of state control".
Key issues
Although unspecific about tax cuts, he said bills would be lower under the Tories because they would not bring in further tax increases planned by Labour.
In his speech, Mr Howard also paid tribute to ousted Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith for his "brave leadership in difficult times".
He went on to concentrate on the domestic agenda and staked out the battleground for fighting the general election and European and council polls in June.
Health, education, crime and tax are the key issues which will determine the outcome of the general election, he believes.
He said: "To vote Labour next time is to vote for a government that has run out of steam, run out of ideas and reached a dead end."
Mr Howard's speech came as an ICM poll for the BBC's Politics Show found 20% of people were more likely to vote Tory under his leadership. On Sunday, co-chairman Liam Fox told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme the Conservatives had made "enormous strides forward in the last few months".
He said the party had been rejuvenated and said it was "starting to put some flesh onto the skeleton in terms of policies".
Dr Fox also criticised the government's policies on fox hunting, reform in the House of Lords and the European constitution.
He said: "All these are indicative of a government that doesn't understand our history or our traditions or our culture and is possibly the most un-British government we have actually ever had in this country."
'No details'
Speaking on the same programme Health Secretary John Reid said the only new idea from the conference was the extension of their voucher schemes for health and schools.
He said: "These plans would mean taking �2bn out of the NHS to subsidise the rich few jumping the queue on public money."
The scheme would lead to the dismantling of the NHS, he claimed.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "The British electorate can hardly be expected to find a Tory tax-cutting agenda credible when they refuse to spell out the consequences.
"When the Tories get specific, we will take them seriously. Warm words are no substitute for detail."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
