Tory Party Conference 2007

There has been much talk about the conference this year, with the impending election our unelected Prime Minister Brown will not call. Our leader David Cameron gave a speech from the heart which comes as a breath of fresh air in these days of carefully spun and read scripted speeches by the other political leaders.

However, for me the speech of the conference belongs to George Osborne - a pure stroke of genius and a speech that teaches us that keeping to some of the central core values of conservatism strikes a cord with the Britain. We must not stray from being the party that cuts and reduces taxation. The brilliance of the Inheritance tax adjustment to £1 million and abolishing stamp duty for most first time buyers - funded by charging non domiciles (foreigners working and benefiting from living here without contributing a penny) is beautiful in its financial simplicity and sense of justice. Red faced Labour ministers desperate to cast aspersions on the calculations by trying to suggest fewer non domiciles than the 150,000 applied by the conservatives has only made their faces more crimson, as it turns out George Osborne took a very cautious figure as the number suggested by some experts was about 200,000. He was also astute enough to suggest the figure charged would be "about" £25,000, which also gives him flexibility.

Somehow I just do not trust Labour Ministers when they try and give us accurate figures for foreign residents. Much like asking a dodgy second hand car salesman for an accurate mileage on one of his cars.

That brings me to other core values we need to remember. Protecting our borders, supporting business, encouraging self reliance, being hard on crime. I hope the shadow front bench will follow the lead of George Osborne and come up with fresh new ideas of modernising these too. I am sure David Davis our Shadow Home Secretary will rise to the challenge and with William Hague our Shadow Foreign Secretary, we are not short of intellect and imagination to come up with the killer punches that will ensure the party does not just benefit from Labours failures but becomes a party that reflects the heart and aspirations of Britain.