Summary

  • David Cameron pledged to raise the income tax threshold to £12,500 and raise the earnings point at which people pay the higher rate to £50,000

  • He promised to protect the NHS in England from spending cuts until 2020 and end exclusive zero-hours contracts

  • The speech came after former Conservative donor Arron Banks defected to UKIP

  • Other speakers included Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and International Development Secretary Justine Greening

  1. BBC experts' verdictpublished at 16:34 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    The BBC's correspondents have been digesting David Cameron's speech, working out what it means for people's lives and politics. Economics editor Robert Peston asks if the PM is going further than Margaret Thatcher in rolling back the state. Political correspondent Ben Wright looks at the messages Mr Cameron is trying to get across before next May's election. And health correspondent Nick Triggle wonders what pledges by Labour and the Conservatives over the NHS will mean in practice.

  2. Bye for nowpublished at 16:23 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    Our live text reporting on the Conservative Party conference finishes here. But that's not the end of the BBC's coverage by a long chalk. You can catch David Cameron's speech here in full. And Andrew Neil presents his round-up of events on BBC Two at 23:20 BST - you can catch it afterwards on the iPlayer and the Live Coverage tab above. And, of course, there'll be plenty of discussion on BBC 5 live, BBC Radio 4's PM and The World Tonight, as well as BBC Two's Newsnight. See you for the Liberal Democrat conference and thanks for joining us.

  3. Geoffrey Boycott, Cricket commentator and former Yorkshire and England cricketerpublished at 16:15 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    tweets:, external Cameron says @WilliamJHague is greatest living Yorkshireman. I have to disagree, what about Parky, Paul Sykes, Alan Bennett and me!?

  4. Lord Ashcroft, pollster and former Deputy Chairman of the Conservativespublished at 16:13 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    writes that "David Cameron has done a good day's work": "It was striking that many of his promises were intended to reach those who are not traditional Tory voters. Spelling out that under his plans most minimum wage earners would pay no income tax, his stirring passage on the NHS and the aim of abolishing youth unemployment will all help answer the charge that the Conservatives are exclusively on the side of the best off." Read more, external

  5. Conference highlightspublished at 16:12 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    It's been a busy week of speeches and policy announcements at Conservative Party conference. To name a few, there have been pledges on apprenticeships, house building, pre-paid benefits cards, a welfare benefits freeze, NHS investment, English votes for English laws, stronger counter-terrorism laws, and tax cuts. If you want to take a look back at how each day unfolded - just click on the links below:

    Sunday: BBC Parliament's recorded coverage of the day's proceedings, with speeches from party chairman Grant Shapps, and William Hague

    Monday: featuring Chancellor George Osborne setting out the Conservatives' economic plans, and speeches from Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith

    Tuesday: including keynote speeches from Home Secretary Theresa May on terrorism and extremism, and brick-brandishing Boris Johnson, the London mayor.

  6. Cameron's speechpublished at 16:11 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    In case you missed David Cameron's speech earlier today, you can catch it here in full. Other highlights from today can also be found on the Key Video tab above. Andrew Neil will bring us his round-up of events on BBC Two at 23:20 BST - but if you don't fancy staying up that late you can catch it on the Live Coverage tab above.

  7. Not over yetpublished at 16:08 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    The Conservatives' get-together doesn't spell the end of the conference season. Because of the Scottish referendum, the Liberal Democrat conference was put back by three weeks. It starts this weekend in Glasgow. Needless to say, we'll be covering it here on the BBC, on the website, radio and TV. Plaid Cymru's conference takes place later this month and the SNP's in November.

  8. The speech in six picturespublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    David Cameron got an enthusiastic response, with union jacks waved, as he took to the stage against a backdrop listing what the Conservatives argues are this government's success stories.

    David Cameron enters the stage at the 2014 conferenceImage source, Reuters

    Mr Cameron's opening remarks included a warm tribute to - and a brave attempt to mimic - William Hague, who is standing down at the next election. Mr Hague received a standing ovation from the crowd.

    William Hague gets an ovationImage source, Getty Images

    The major announcements of the PM's speech related to tax policy: Over the period of the next parliament, the threshold for the 40% rate would rise to £50,000, up from £41,500, while the personal allowance threshold for income tax would rise to £12,500, up from £10,500, meaning those on minimum-wage working 30 hours a week would pay no income tax - "zero, nothing, zilch".

    David Cameron promises to raise the income tax threshold

    How dare Labour accuse him of not caring about the NHS, Mr Cameron said as he told of the care he had got for his son Ivan, who died in 2009 aged six. Both he and his wife Samantha looked close to tears.

    Samantha Cameron watches her husband speak of the death of their son

    But it was an upbeat occasion and the couple - to the strains of Fleetwood Mac - were all smiles for the traditional embrace for the cameras at the end of the speech.

    David and Samanta Cameron

    A sense of relief? A Conservative conference that began under a cloud with an MP defecting to UKIP ended with the Tory faithful departing in good spirits, with, as Ben Wright says, an easy to understand middle class tax cut to take into the next election.

    David and Samantha CameronImage source, Reuters
  9. Keep talkingpublished at 16:04 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    There'll be more discussion of today's end-of-conference speech on BBC Radio 4's PM programme from 17:00 BST.

  10. Miliband on PM's speechpublished at 15:40 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    Labour leader Ed Miliband, campaigning in Clacton ahead of next week's by-election, tells the BBC: "What we heard from David Cameron and Conservatives this week is a clear decision to hit the incomes of working people by freezing their tax credits, hitting them by hundreds of pounds a year, and then vague, pie-in-the sky commitments... No one is going to be fooled by David Cameron giving with one hand and taking away far more with the other. And that is the reality of the prime minster's speech today, and the Conservative conference this week."

  11. Tax cut timingspublished at 15:37 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    Norman Smith
    BBC Assistant Political Editor

    Conservative sources say they could begin their planned tax cuts ahead of 2018 if they make faster progress on deficit reduction than expected. They hold out the possibility that they could therefore begin incremental steps towards towards raising both the lower and higher tax thresholds before 2018. They will decide on a Budget-by-Budget basis.

  12. 'Yorkshireman' still trending on Twitterpublished at 15:21 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    @paceless tweets:, external There are many Yorkshire ppl working at food banks who deserve the award more than any politician alive today. #yorkshireman. @SilverBackGriff tweets:, external PM calls Hague the 'greatest living Yorkshireman'. If that doesn't prove how totally out of touch he is, nothing will.

  13. Louise Stewart, BBCpublished at 15:11 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    tweets:, external And so the party conference circus moves on. Dismantling well underway. Next stop Glasgow for Lib Dems. See photo, external

  14. Paper reactionpublished at 15:10 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    The Daily Telegraph

    "David Cameron pledges tax cuts for millions," headlines the Daily Telegraph, external. The paper notes that the move "delighted" Tory activists. It argues that Mr Cameron sought to answer Ed Miliband's charge that Britain's lowest earners were still suffering a "cost of living crisis" by taking millions of low earners out of tax completely. The paper's Whitehall editor, Holly Watts, notes, external that Mr Cameron's vow to take on Brussels by scrapping the Human Rights Act and seeking to cut immigration from Europe also went down well with the party faithful.

  15. More paper reactionpublished at 15:10 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    The Guardian

    The Guardian, external describes David Cameron's announcements on raising the personal income tax allowance and the 40p tax rate threshold as an "audacious bid to woo middle and lower income earners in next year's general election". Chief political correspondent Nicholas Watt says the speech was designed by Tory strategists to lay the basis of a centre-ground Tory pitch to the nation - and to respond to threats from Labour and UKIP. He also picks up on the Tory leader's pledge to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, that would transform Britain's relationship with the European Court of Human Rights.

  16. Paper reactionpublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    The Daily Mail

    Unsurprisingly the majority of papers are leading on David Cameron's pledges to cut taxes if his party wins the election. David Cameron today put two major tax cuts at the heart of his bid for re-election, as he sought to see off the dual threats posed by Labour and UKIP with a patriotic plea for a Conservative majority government, writes the Daily Mail., external Mailonline's political editor, Matt Chorley, says Mr Cameron unveiled a "bold slate" of policies for the Conservatives' election manifesto and moved his wife Samantha to "tears" with a "passionate defence" of the NHS.

  17. Michael Savage, Times Chief Political Correspondentpublished at 15:06 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    tweets:, external Paul Johnson from the #IFS: It will be "very difficult" to see how the Tories' £7bn tax giveaway could be paid for.

  18. Jeremy Cliffe, The Economist's UK politics correspondentpublished at 14:56 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    tweets:, external Of course Cameron's announcements are profligate. But public trust him with finances. He gets to pledge things Labour currently could not.

  19. Sticking to the scriptpublished at 14:56 British Summer Time 1 October 2014

    David CameronImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Here's photographic proof David Cameron used a script, as promised, for his big speech