Cameron said his new plan to boost the voluntary sector was the key to heal wounds caused by the disturbances between Asians and African-Caribbeans last year.
The opposition leader made his comments after delivering a speech in Britain’s second city last Friday.
He told Blink his plan to pump cash into grassroots social enterprises would end the exclusion felt by the city’s African-Caribbean population.
‘If you ask yourself what lay behind the disturbances of last year, its because the black community feel they don’t have enough ownership of property and of businesses.
‘What’s the answer to that? Part of the answer is by empowering those people, making sure they feel part of civic society, that they have voluntary bodies and social enterprises, which are getting them involved.’
Gospel
Cameron denied that his plan amounted to a large-scale transfer of resources from the public sector to voluntary groups.
The opposition leader, currently riding high in the opinion polls, says he wants to create a new ‘municipal gospel’ where town halls devolve as much power and resources to the grassroots as possible.
This was his third visit to Birmingham in the last six months. He sees the new Conservative administration in the city as the ideal testing ground for his policies.
But the new regime has already got itself into hot water when Tory council leader Mike Whitby said Respect councillor Salma Yaqoob she would be ‘better off representing Burnley or Oldham’ after she asked a question about ‘glaring under-representation’ of BME communities in Birmingham’s public life.
Whitby is also facing criticism following moves to remove black Labour councillor Yvonne Mosquito from the West Midlands Police Authority.
Reprimand
Cameron told Blink that he would dish out ‘severe’ punishments to any party member, including MPs, who make racist comments.
He said: ‘I think they shouldn’t. And if they do they will be reprimanded very severely, and I think actually the Conservative Party is an open, tolerant party.’
Cameron has been busy promoting the new ‘A’ list, the top 100 preferred candidates, 10% of which are BME. Last month black farmer Wilfred Emmanual-Jones was selected to fight the Chippenham seat at the next election.
Although it is a newly-created constituency it should in theory be a safe Tory seat, with Emmanual-Jones odd-on to join MPs Adam Afriyie and Shailesh Vara who were elected in 2005.
Touted
Other potential candidates, such as lawyer Helen Grant and MEP Syed Kamall, are being tipped for Westminster success. Kamall has also been touted as a possible London mayoral candidate.
Cameron also hit back at grime star Lethal Bizzle for claiming the Tory leader was stereotyping a whole music genre. The row began when Cameron slammed radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood for playing music that glorified knife and gun violence.
Bizzle then launched a counter-blast claiming the politician was picking on a soft target and that economic policies were more to blame for crime than hip hop.
Cameron told Blink his original comments were misunderstood. ‘The point I was making was, I wasn’t trying to damn one type of music. Far from it, I was just saying we’re all responsible. We all have responsibility for these things.
‘And, you know, those responsible for popular culture have a responsibility themselves. Not that someone listens to one song and goes off and does something stupid – of course I’m not saying that. But, you know, we mustn’t’ create a culture in which it’s cool to carry a knife or a gun.’
The opposition leader, currently riding high in the opinion polls, says he wants to create a new ‘municipal gospel’ where town halls devolve as much power and resources to the grassroots as possible.
He said: ‘I think they shouldn’t. And if they do they will be reprimanded very severely, and I think actually the Conservative Party is an open, tolerant party.’
