Conservative conference: UK faces 'hour of reckoning',

Conservative conference: UK faces 'hour of reckoning'
David Cameron is expected to strike a serious tone in his big speech

Prime Minister David Cameron will warn that the UK is facing an "hour of reckoning," in his big speech to the Conservative Party conference.

The PM will attempt to level with the nation about the scale of the economic challenges facing it.

"These are difficult times, we are being tested," he will tell activists.

But he will urge them to stick with his leadership, saying the country can weather the storm through "hard work" and "strong families".

The Conservatives' week in Birmingham has been overshadowed by further bad news on the economy, as the IMF downgraded its growth forecasts.

'Serious argument'
But the party leadership have attempted to contrast their approach, by being upfront about £10bn further welfare cuts and the need to increase taxes on the most wealthy, with what they claim is Labour's lack of a credible alternative.

Chancellor George Osborne and other ministers have stressed the government will not deviate from its austerity plan and while the economy is starting to "heal", further sacrifices will be needed beyond the next election.

Mr Cameron - like Ed Miliband last week - will eschew policy announcements in favour of stressing his own story and values in his keynote address to party members.

But aides are insisting that, unlike the Labour leader, Mr Cameron will make a "serious" argument about the future of the country.

"Unless we act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past.

"Because the truth is, we're in a global race today.

"And that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. Sink or swim. Do or decline."

'Family comes first'
In what is expected to be a highly personal speech, Mr Cameron will speak about his profoundly disabled son, Ivan, who died in 2009, saying his best moment of the summer was putting a gold medal around the neck of Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds.

"When I used to push my son Ivan around in his wheelchair, I always thought that some people saw the wheelchair, not the boy," he will tell activists.

"Today more people would see the boy and not the wheelchair - and that's because of what happened here this summer."

He will also speak about the values he took from his father, Ian, who died last year: "Work hard. Family comes first but put back into the community too."

Mr Cameron is not expected to respond directly to Ed Miliband's attempt in his speech last week to steal the moderate, One Nation mantle from the Conservative Party.

But he will stress his commitment to "compassionate Conservatism", saying his "mission" since he became Tory leader in 2005 was to "show the Conservative Party is for everyone: North and South, black or white, straight or gay.

"But above all - to show that Conservative methods are not just the way we grow a strong economy, but the way we build a Big Society."

Britain showed during the Olympics and Paralympics that is still the "greatest country on earth," the prime minister will say, and it can come through the economic storm through "hard work, strong families, taking responsibility and serving others".

The Conservatives have insisted they have made progress in cutting the deficit and creating the conditions for private sector growth but critics say borrowing is rising, the economy is flat and families are struggling.

The high-profile speech comes after a tough few weeks for Mr Cameron.

He has faced criticism for his backing for under-fire chief whip Andrew Mitchell, the government's mishandling of the West Coast train franchise and backbench concerns over the state of the economy, Europe and relations with their Lib Dem coalition partners.