It was critical for David Cameron's government that he gave a solid performance today; one that shored up his party's support, but also reassured those voters starting to wonder whether the coalition is on the right track economically.

Between the gushing responses of delegates and the indignant ones of his political opponents, the general response to this speech was that it was a solid performance; Cameron did what he needed to do.

There was a clear statement on why the government's economic plan is still necessary, delivered convincingly despite some depressing data released in the last 48 hours.

The prime minister also attacked Labour's solutions to the country's economic woes and offered a neat rebuff to Ed Miliband's One Nation Labour, rebranding it One Notion Labour, the party of borrowing.

But the key theme of the speech was that Britain was a country that could not take its privileged place in the world for granted, it would have to fight and work to remain at the top table.

'Britain on the rise' was the stand out phrase. To see that happen it was the government's job to remove barriers. Cameron outlined three; the failing education system, a burgeoning welfare state and costly public pensions.

But at the heart of the speech was the idea that the nation's future lay in the collective effort and achievements of the people of Britain. That is a direct call to the kind of 'strivers' Cameron thinks he needs to reach out to in order to win in 2015.

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