Same old nasty party

Every prejudice, every "common sense" judgement and every attempt to impress through boastful exaggeration was there.

All in all, it amounted to a direct threat to deny people access to the law to question government policies.

The only ignorant outburst missing from his diatribe was "Protesters, I'd string 'em up. It's the only language they understand." He must have run short on speaking time.

According to Cameron, bureaucracy in the shape of consultations, impact assessments, complying with EU procurement rules and so on "is not how we became one of the most powerful, prosperous nations on Earth."

And he repeated the old canard that if Christopher Columbus had had an advisory committee he'd still be waiting to sail.

Leave aside the observation that it might have been better for the western hemisphere if Columbus's murderous, syphilitic crews had never landed in the new world, opening the way to colonial conquest, genocide and centuries of exploitation that is still in the early stages of replacement.

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Cameron's positive reference in this context to the need for a "buccaneering, deal-making, hungry spirit" exemplifies the idea of the rich and powerful riding roughshod over the interests of the weak.

Who does the Prime Minister think is likely to be affected by his priority of doing away with equality impact assessments?

Neither he nor his Liberal Democrat allies could have been elected if they had given notice that hard-fought progress towards equality on race, gender, sexual orintation and disabilities grounds would be disregarded at the first opportunity.

While those on the left never believed Cameron's spiel about a new touchy-feely Tory Party, many voters did indeed swallow his promises that he would bid farewell to the old-style "nasty" party described by Theresa May before she got into government.

The Prime Minister sneers that judicial reviews have become a "massive growth industry" in exactly the same way that setting up machinery to tackle racism was derided by Tory backwoodsmen and others addicted to prejudice as a "race relations industry."

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Rich people can buy their own justice, but those without wealth and power rely on state institutions, including tribunals, statutory bodies and equality impact assessments for a modicum of justice.

Cameron's efforts to persuade us that "smart people in Whitehall" can be relied upon to consider equalities issues while making the policy disregards the lessons of history.

His rewriting of second world war experiences as a bonfire of regulations and conventions to liberate the population so that the war could be won is a travesty.

Maximum efficiency was required for victory, which was why the state took complete control, mobilising underused private resources, commandeering property and issuing instructions to farmers about what crops to grow.

Yet the mantra of the conservative coalition is precisely the opposite - slimming down the state to allow the rich and powerful to decide economic direction and whether or not to pay taxes in Britain.

Cameron's plan to raise the cost of legal challenges to public policy, while giving less time for them to be processed, would restrict this democratic right to the very wealthy.

This conservative government has already assaulted jobs, benefits, pensions and essential services. It's now restricting democratic rights. It has to go.