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
writes: Ed Sheeran dedicates song to David Cameron, external. Ed Sheeran has admitted dedicating a song to the prime minister at a private house party this summer. Read more, external
The conference is officially under way. Steve Bell, vice-president of the National Conservative Convention, is opening proceedings.
Conservative MP and former Welsh Secretary John Redwood proposes a way to tackle the deficit on his blog, external: "Total borrowing in the next Parliament could be reduced substantially by selling all the remaining shares in banks. This would be a good idea for a variety of reasons and would be the single biggest way of reducing the loan mountain."
The Daily Telegraph
Peter Oborne, chief political commentator, says, external (video) that David Cameron must navigate three major points of controversy: projecting himself as a "war leader" after the recent Commons authorisation of action against Islamic State; scrapping the Human Rights Act; and, the "most dangerous" potential pitfall, drawing a line under the recent defections to UKIP.
Michael Deacon, in his sketch, external of yesterday's conference activity, describes Boris Johnson as "the politician who reduces the sketch writer's role to mere transcription", but says that despite the theatrics Boris's great strength is that he makes the party "believe they can win, and deserve to win".
David Cameron appears at 11:15 BST. In the meantime, here's our main story about his speech.
Just over 10 minutes until we get going again. The first of the big-name speakers will be International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
tweets:, external #Cameron=austerity forever; #Miliband=austerity-lite. If you're fed up with their policies join us. Please RT #CPC14
Image source, The Green Party
The Guardian
Theresa May's speech is described as "both highly accomplished and highly disturbing", external, saying that for a Conservative home secretary to open by issuing a "frank challenge" to the police "felt like a kind of cultural revolution". She now proposes, however, a range of powers which "in classic abuse-of-civil liberty mode, could be misused", not least the so-called "snoopers' charter" which was "rightly blocked by the Liberal Democrats two years ago".
Looking forward to David Cameron's speech today, Denis Campbell, the paper's health correspondent, notes, external that Labour has been outflanked by the Conservative leader on NHS spending, and says that unless Ed Miliband "outbids the Tories yet again he risks being accused of not matching his fine words about saving the NHS with the cash needed".
Adam Rees: Labour keep banging on about the Tories privatising the NHS. I've been hearing it for as long as I remember. It's still free at the point of use. There are some NHS services provided by private companies for sure but who introduced it for the very first time? Labour!
tweets:, external ComRes/ITV News poll helps explain Tory struggles - immigration & NHS are 2 of top 3 voter concerns but rate as worst policies
tweets:, external And so far all the defections to UKIP have been men. Serious diversity problem. May require quotas.
As Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon prepare to address the conference a little later, the Ministry of Defence has announced that RAF jets fired four missiles at Islamic State (IS) vehicles in Iraq overnight. The MoD says the strikes - aimed at an armed pick-up truck and a transport vehicle west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad - were "successful". Parliament approved UK military action against IS in Iraq last Friday.
The Daily Mail
Quentin Letts, at the Daily Mail, sketches, external yesterday's "duel of two would-be leaders". Theresa May, "fervid and Thatcherish", gave the "speech that deserves to be remembered". The home secretary attacked Islamist extremism from a "defiantly centrist position", quoting the Koran and opening with a condemnation of racial bias in the exercise of police stop-and-search powers, perhaps seeing that "there are votes in centrism", he adds. Boris Johnson, meanwhile, was "full of jokes", entertaining the Tory faithful but "the closing passages of the speech - the serious bits - sagged".
Douglas Carswell, the former Conservative MP who has defected to UKIP, has some fond words for Tory chairman Grant Shapps. Writing on his blog, external, Mr Carswell says: "I like him, and I've made no secret of my admiration of him in the past. If he has had to say some fairly strong things as Conservative Party chairman over the past few days, he is doing it because he is Conservative Party chairman. I know Grant is a thoroughly decent person and have always enjoyed his company. I might have changed parties, but I'm not going start pretending that everyone that wears a blue rosette is bad. Grant is one of the good guys." Mr Carswell also says he gave up going to Conservative conferences long ago, because: "There never seemed to be many Conservatives. The lobbyists outnumber the activists. The fringe debates seemed so sterile."
Image source, PAtweets:, external As JeremyHunt said ystdy: unlocking potential of #NHS R+D in Genetics+DiseaseData is DNA of NHS: pooling our resources to prevent disease.
Richard Heath responds to Andy Burnham, Labour MP's tweet at 09:16: Is he honestly trying to accuse the TORIES of making promises without saying where the money is going to come from? Did he not see any of the speeches by Balls and Miliband?
Bob, Cambridge: It never ceases to amaze me when the general election is close by how the Tories send out sweeteners to get voters to stay. No chance Mr Cameron we all know what your party is about and always has been and that is to persecute the poor for the mistakes of the rich.
Henry Francis Naudi in London: Whatever the main political parties may say about the NHS and their determination to improve it, the fact of the matter is that the main reasons for a 'distressed' NHS are (1) massive wastage in bureaucracy and admin; and (2) leeching of the NHS by people who are either not entitled to it for free or who manage to get round it by not paying their dues.
writes: David Cameron: Can he draw a line under his month to forget?, external Ahead of his Conservative Party conference curtain call, the prime minister has endured the most painful of Septembers. Read more, external
A bizarre scene as David Cameron prepares his speech apparently watched by... himself.
Image source, Getty Images