Michael Howard sets out his vision of a Conservative Britain.

My hopes for Britain are rooted in the values of the hard working families who make our country the best in the world: rewarding enterprise; encouraging individual responsibility; and a pride - no matter what our colour, creed or religion - in being British.

The Britain I believe in will reward people who work hard, pay their way and bring their children up to respect others. All our plans have this central value: if you do the right thing, we will do the right thing by you.

So Conservatives are the only party at this election to offer lower taxes. If you vote for the others, you know your taxes will rise even further. Our tax cuts are aimed at hard-working families across the generations.

If you’re working hard and saving for a pension, you know how Labour have robbed long-term savers.

We, by contrast, will reward long-term savers. If you are on the basic rate of tax, then for every £100 you put aside for your pension the taxman will add £10.

If you’re a pensioner, you know how Labour has forgotten those on fixed incomes.

We, by contrast, will increase the basic state pension in line with earnings, making a pensioner couple up to £11 a week better off after four years. By increasing the basic pension, we will free many pensioners from means testing, restoring dignity, independence and self-respect.

We will give every home where adults are 65 or more a 50 per cent Council Tax discount, up to a maximum of five hundred pounds. This will cut Council Tax bills for five million pensioners. Taken together these proposals mean pensioner households will be up to a thousand pounds a year better off.

Our tax cuts show that if you do the right thing we’ll do the right thing by you.

Britain deserves a government that cuts waste and bureaucracy so taxpayers get value for their money; restores discipline in every school so children get the start in life they deserve; and delivers cleaner hospitals so patients go in for treatment secure in the knowledge they'll get better not worse. These are core issues that Labour neglected.

We will cull Labour’s forest of targets. We don’t think Ministers know better than professionals the right thing to do. Government should trust and support teachers in their mission to pass on the best to the next generation. Government should give doctors, nurses and matrons freedom to exercise their professional judgment. Government should ensure proper control of our national borders. And allow the police to fight crime by freeing them from the shackles of political correctness and paperwork.

Britain's hard-working families and businessmen and women need a government solidly on their side - one that recognises and rewards their efforts.

The Britain I believe in would put a premium on fair play and decency.

That's why we should never tolerate abuse, whether by those who enter our country illegally, the people-smugglers who trample over our borders, or the violent criminals and thugs who too often get away with it in today’s Britain.

Too many people in Britain today feel let down. Too many feel the government is never accountable, all too often downright dishonest and does what it pleases, even if it’s the opposite of what it once promised. Trust has been destroyed – trust, above all, is what the next government must restore.

So we will strengthen our parliament, put it back at the heart of the nation’s business and insist every minister is accountable to parliament and people for the job that is done. 

I want to see a Britain where the prosperity earned through hard work creates wealth for all; a Britain where everyone can climb the ladder of opportunity; where families are rewarded; where justice is done and wrongdoers punished.

I want a country with schools and hospitals that compare with the best in Europe, a country which has put the "something-for-nothing culture" behind it and recognises personal responsibility as the bedrock of a healthy society.

That is the Britain that I and tens of millions of others believe in. It is time for a government that believes in that Britain.

This article first appeared in The House Magazine.