Dominic Tobin, The Sunday Times
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The leaders of both main parties have fired the opening salvoes for the next general election campaign with each leaping onto the ‘change’ bandwagon that has inspired American politics.
Gordon Brown began his pitch for re-election and for Labour’s fourth consecutive term in office by outlining policies to build “the Britain of our dreams”.
The Prime Minister, addressing his party’s spring conference in Birmingham, vowed to step up the pace of change between now and 2010 - the latest date he could call a General Election.
He said the country needed to create a new economic policy, focusing on rewarding “talent, creativity and skills”.
However David Cameron fired back, claiming he was the only candidate offering “real change” and said the Conservatives would not just offer new policies, but “a whole new politics”.
Brown told delegates: “I want our children and their children to say that in the first decades of the 21st century there lived a generation that built a Britain where the talent you had mattered more than the title you held.”
He pledged to reform the welfare system, saying opportunity must come with responsibility. “We will insist that all who can work, must work, in fairness to all of us who do.”
In a speech littered with further references to change and promises to be “new”, he added: “Between now and 2010 we will give people new hope by helping another 100,000 people moved from to welfare to work.
He went on to promise a programme of new education reforms, new personalised public services and new foreign policies.
Brown rounded off with a pledge for “a whole new politics that places power and the opportunity to change things in the hands of people themselves.”
Cameron dismissed Brown’s comments as “spin” but his own speech contained many similar comments. Speaking at the Welsh Conservative conference in Llandudno, the Conservative leader said Britain needed: “Not just new policies, but a whole new politics, a new politics that will start to repair the political breakdown in our country.”
He said that the Government’s “broken promises” and culture of spin have led to a breakdown of faith between the public and the political system.
“As far as the public is concerned, politicians are all the same,” he said. “Let’s be clear what they think of us: ’You lie, you spin, you fiddle your expenses, you break your promises’.
Cameron proposed legislation enabling the public to force debates in Parliament, or table bills via petition, to restore trust in politics.
“We propose that the public, if backed by a petition of 1,000,000 electors, should also be able to table a Bill for Parliament to vote for, to vote against or to amend.”

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No kindergarten - beautiful and serious politics. The business unlike in Russia.
Olga, Kirov, Russia
well done obama, they'll be copying your speeches for the next two years now! thanks
matty, frankfurt, germany
Brown wants to speed up the change. Will someone please ask him what is so positive about the so-called change so far of which the consensus seems to be serial failure. Speeding up this kind of change will not just be failure but disaster!
Alan, Luton,
What we need is Evolution, moving on from what is working to better and improved things. This nonesense of scrapping one thing and starting afresh is a total waste of resources. I don't know if politicians are so stupid as not to see this or do they just prefer the glory of changing. I used to work in the civil service where these High Flying ex university bosses changed every three years or so. Everyone had to totally change the system of ops for the same project for brownie points, I pointed out to one of them that they only swap back and forth to the previous system and they both work so why not leave alone. Deaf ears.
Dave Madley, Alicante, Spain
So Gordon Brown wants change ...... can we please change our Prime Minister?
Donna Walker, Effingham, Surrey
well the only vote most people have nowadays is the 'status quo',
as it cant get no worse, whichever party is in, as a local politician, retired, due to ill health, and being on incapacity benefit, thx, to a nhs muck up, resulting in a stroke, which while not stopping me from working in fact i would like to work? but as an employee said to me because u have had 2 strokes, u put liability insurance up a thousand fold:-(
I will vote labour, as its better the rogue u know:)
jon rose, great torrington, devon uk
Somewhat ironic for Gordon Brown to be proposing change. From what? The results of his own policies and 11 years in government! Some change!
Time for the other lot to have a chance.
Bev, Bucks, UK
Yes, we need change, change of Prime Minister. Nick Griffin looks good.
Tessa, London,
My money is on 'same old same old'. Politicians only know how to do things one way, and thats badly. Labour, Tory, Lib Dem, it dont matter, they are all in it for themselves. If I see an MP pay cut or a referendum on europe coming our way, I'll agree there is change in the air.
Arthur, Newcastle,
The voters were promised a referendum on the Europan Union consitution and the promise was broken. We were promised an end to mixed sex wards, but they are being extended. The Speaker of the House of Commons is disgraced. Labour is composed of liars and promise breakers. Cameron has yet to convince me that the Conservatives are different. Rapping the knuckles of Lord Mancroft for speaking the truth does not help. The LIb Dems are not worth considering.
George, Bolton, England
I think Mr Browns got his words mixed up surely he means nightmares, he's the one that lives in a dream.
June Sumner, Retford, England
We do indeed need change - change to how things use to be before this lot got elected.
Neel, Oxford, UK
The principle change that most of us would like is that from the Tory / New Labour policies of boom and bust.
Paul, Coventry,
Unfortunately Brown's dreams have always turned out to be our nightmares.
David, Caerphilly,
Make no mistake about the last decade. Brown ran the UK throughout that time while TB just played smiley faces. That is why the UK is not in a position to move forward. If GB had said it is now time to pull in the belt and position the UK for the future adjustments to come he would gain respect.
It is all about him. Always was. The word legacy should be removed from Politics and especially from New Labour's dictionary! That way these self important people will realise that they are simply temporary and should pay much more respect for those that will follow in the leadership game.
Shame on you Gordan Brown for pushing the last decade of spend spend spend under the carpet.
The sad thing is many voters have short memories.
Paul, London, Canada