Interview With British Conservative Party Leader David Cameron
AMANPOUR: Welcome back. Haiti's plight is very much on the minds of world leaders who are meeting in Davos, Switzerland, including President Clinton, who made a plea for investment and to help reconstruct this place. One of the leaders there is also the head of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron. Britain will have an election this year and, for now, opinion polls give Cameron a big lead. In a moment, I'll speak to him. But first, we have the report by CNN's Max Foster in London.</s>MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): David Cameron was educated at the grandest of English private schools, Eton College, followed by Oxford University, a privileged education his opponents won't let him forget.</s>GORDON BROWN, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: Their inheritance tax policy seems to have been dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton.</s>FOSTER (on-screen): Cameron lives here in London's uber-trendy Notting Hill. He can often be seen riding around the area on his bike. (voice-over): He doesn't trade on his personal life, only occasionally letting cameras into his home. His son, Ivan, had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Ivan died last year at the age of 6. Cameron described him simply as wonderful. Cameron, though, does trade on the theme of personal responsibility.</s>CAMERON: Responsibility is central to my beliefs, my politics and the change I want to bring to this country.</s>FOSTER: That translates, for example, into automatic prison sentences for crimes committed with knives. His foreign policy, though, isn't so clear-cut. He seems more cautious about sending troops into battle, but doesn't say what changes he'd make.</s>CAMERON: We've also got to think much more carefully whether Britain should get involved in a foreign conflict and, if so, how to cope with the consequences.</s>FOSTER: A clear nod there to the chaos that followed the invasion of Iraq, although he says Britain is doing the right thing in Afghanistan. He seems to suggest that a Conservative government would focus more on domestic security. And on Britain's relationship with the United States, Cameron says the two nations should be best friends, but adds we should never be frightened of saying no to America. Cameron hasn't said how he would translate that view into action. And on Europe, a question that has divided his party, whether Britain should get closer to Europe or not, he hasn't taken sides between the pro- European wing and its passionate Euro-skeptics. The Tory leader comes across well on camera and is often ahead of his rival, Gordon Brown, in the polls. That's why he's the headline act for the Conservatives ahead of this year's general election. If he wins, though, will that mean Britain plays a different role on the world stage? Again, his performance is popular, but the script isn't yet clear. Max Foster, CNN, London.</s>AMANPOUR: I spoke with the British Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, about many of these issues. He was in a very snowy Davos.</s>AMANPOUR: David Cameron, thank you very much for joining us from Davos.</s>CAMERON: Pleasure.</s>AMANPOUR: One of the main issues that has come up in Davos is Haiti. Since we're here right now, and in the aftermath of this terrible earthquake, can I ask you what you think is the best route to reconstruction here?</s>CAMERON: I think what's happening in Davos is clearly people understand that we're still in the emergency phase of what's happening in Haiti. And there's still a desperate need to get food to people, to get water -- the shortage of tents. All these things people are very aware of, and the emergency phase goes on. But there is a sense here that, as we start to build back, we need to build back better. We've got to make sure that, as we start the reconstruction of Haiti, that we avoid the mistakes of the past, that we give these people a better future. I also think there's quite a lot of work here being done on learning the lessons of how we respond to emergencies like this, not least because in a world of climate change and growing populations, there will tragically be other events like this where we need to make sure the international response is as fast and as good as it can be.</s>AMANPOUR: So do you think then perhaps Haiti may be sort of a new paradigm, a new way to -- to rethink how to approach global poverty, how to bring something other than Band-Aids to places like this place?</s>CAMERON: Well, I think the first thing we'll have to learn is actually -- is think about, if you like the Band-Aid phase, we do have to think about those vital first 24, 48, 72 hours, when there's an earthquake situation like this, and work out how best the international community -- and individual countries have got to ask themselves, how can we better coordinate a response so it's clear who's going to do what in those vital first few hours? I think that's one of the lessons learned -- exercises that needs to be undertaken.</s>AMANPOUR: Let me ask you then about another conference that is going on in London. We've had the one-day Afghan conference. You met with President Karzai in London. And you know that obviously the -- Britain has the second-biggest fighting force there, after the United States. What do you think about, for instance, President Obama's surge, and then the idea of starting a withdrawal some 18 months later?</s>CAMERON: Well, let's start with the surge. I mean, I think finally in Afghanistan we've got the right strategy. It's a strategy that recognizes that we were short of troops and boots on the ground, and that needed to be increased. And I would pay tribute to what the American people are doing, in terms of putting those extra troops particularly into the side of the country where the British have done very good work, but have been quite difficult -- quite badly overstretched. That's making a huge difference. But alongside the military commitment, what's been necessary is more coordination of the civilian effort, of aid, and a proper political strategy so that there's a prospect of this country running itself, providing its own security. And I think what we see now is those elements coming together. That is very good news. And I think we all now need to get behind this strategy.</s>AMANPOUR: So if you were prime minister after the next general election, when would you start bringing troops home, in 2010, in 2011?</s>CAMERON: Well, the way I see it is the first thing -- if I become a prime minister after the election, the first thing is to get right behind this strategy, to give everything we can to make this work. That means a proper war cabinet in London. It means putting our Whitehall on a war footing. It means getting everything we need to the front line in the way that it should be done. As soon as we can hand over areas to lead Afghan control, we should do that, and that will enable us to reduce troop numbers. But as I say, I would not want to set an artificial deadline about that. I want to do it based on success. It's something we want to do rather than something we can endlessly set new deadlines for when we believe it can be done.</s>AMANPOUR: You've also spoken -- whether in regard to Afghanistan or the Iraq War, you've spoken about having the need to have a proper reconstruction process, a proper infrastructure for what happens after the war fighting. Do you think that that wasn't done in the Iraq and the Afghan campaigns?</s>CAMERON: I think we've got to learn the lessons. I mean, one of the points of the Iraq inquiry going on in London right now is we learn the lessons of what went wrong in Iraq and -- and what we can do better. And, again, in Afghanistan we've done some very good work, but there are again lessons to learn. I think one of the things for the British is that we have fantastically brave and courageous armed forces. We have considerable expertise in development assistance. But there are times we need to bring that together. It's in that golden period, after the military have actually done the hard work on the ground and provided some peace and stability, that you need development to go in straight away. And so we're looking at the idea of a -- of a reconstruction stabilization force that brings the military and civilian aid together rather more quickly. I think the Americans actually already do a lot of this work very effectively. I've seen it for myself in -- in Afghanistan, meeting with, for instance,</s>AMANPOUR: You called also -- you mentioned the Chilcot inquiry on Iraq going on in London. And today, Prime Minister Blair has been testifying. You've called it "an establishment stitch-up." Do you think that still holds after today's testifying?</s>CAMERON: You know, I always warned that there would be a danger of a stitch-up if we didn't have proper open meetings in front of the public with evidence taken in public. I also called repeatedly in the House of Commons for us to get this thing underway well in advance of the general election. Under pressure, Prime Minister Brown eventually allowed that to happen, and we have the inquiry underway, which is right. I think that it's doing -- it seems to be doing good work. The questioning seems to be robust. But what really matters is not one day's evidence or one person answering questions. It's whether we as a country and whether we with our allies learn the lessons of the mistakes that were made in Iraq, and that will be the real test of this inquiry.</s>AMANPOUR: So the Tories supported the -- the government going to war in Iraq. Would you still have taken that position?</s>CAMERON: Well, I voted in favor of going to war as a back-bench M.P., and I don't want to go back and try and wriggle out of how I voted. I think anyone who voted that way should face up to their responsibilities of what they did. And I would say, for all that's happened, that Iraq is definitely better off without Saddam Hussein and without his brutal regime. But do we need to learn the lessons? Yes, of course we do. Was accurate information at all times put in front of the House of Commons? With a dodgy dossier, I think we can say, no, it wasn't. Were big mistakes made after the invasion, with the disbanding of the Iraqi army and police force, and the -- the failure to get proper reconstruction in, in time, early on? Of course mistakes were made. And I think those are the lessons that I think we really need to learn.</s>AMANPOUR: All right, Mr. Cameron. Stand by. We're going to have more right after a break.