In his first year as Conservative Party leader, David Cameron has done his best to change the image of the Tories and is trying to convince the British public he is a statesman fit to lead the country.

Giles Sheldrick quizzed the Witney MP on a string of issues ranging from pensions to David Beckham.

Q. As an aspirant leader, Tony Blair suggested John Major's Government was "knee deep in dishonour" and promised his party would be whiter than white.

Is there anything you regret saying during your first year as leader, particularly "hug a hoody"?

A. I never said that. Go back through my speeches and you will not find those three words. I never used those words. The point I made was that if people commit crimes, they should be punished. We need to do more to divert people away from crime, but if they break the law, they should be punished.

I can't think of anything I particularly regret. I am sure there are a few things, but I am too much of a politician to tell you what they are.

Q. How confident are you that your 200 or so Tory MPs don't have any skeletons in their closets?

A. Look, we are all human. We all err and make mistakes and do things we shouldn't.

I have made a big song and dance about how important it is we should talk about strong families and support marriage.

But politicians are human, they make mistakes and their marriages break up - it's happened in the past and I am sure it will happen in the future, but that's not a reason not to talk about the importance of strong families.

Q. If you were Prime Minister, would you pledge to send more troops to Iraq?

A. What will happen is the number of British troops will come down - and this year.

I don't think we should set an artificial timetable. I don't think we should give the terrorists and insurgents something to shoot at.

Our role should be building up the Iraqi army, withdrawing troops from Iraq as we hand over to the Iraqi authorities.

If I was PM tomorrow, I would not artificially set a timetable nor would I pull out troops just like that.

But the direction is quite clear - build up the Iraqi army, hand over power to the Iraqi authorities and reduce British troop levels as and when appropriate.

Q. Could Mrs Cameron live on the woman's state pension of £50.71?

A. We need to link the state pension with the rise in average earnings rather than prices - the sooner that happens, the better.

But there is a problem with women's pensions so we need to find ways of helping women rebuild their pension rights, perhaps by buying extra years - there are lots of ways of doing it.

The decision (to abolish the link, taken by a previous Conservative Government) was taken then. That's not the right decision now. When it happened, prices were rising faster than earnings.

Soon half of all pensioners will be on the means test - the growth of means testing is really discouraging people from making any contributions themselves. Now that must be a mistake as a country.

Q. Is climate change really the biggest issue facing the UK? What about traditional Tory issues like tax cuts, immigration and law and order - when can we expect as much focus on them?

A. Climate change is the biggest issue facing the world. It's an enormous challenge and we have got to do something about it.

We are going to approach policy across a broad front. In the past, we were perhaps too focused on tax, crime and immigration.

What people want to hear from the Conservative Party is what we are going to do about improving the health service and standards in schools as well as keeping the cost of living and taxes down - and making sure we have secure borders.

I reject the accusation we haven't got any policies - we have said 'let's have border police' and we would share the proceeds of economic growth and cut some people's tax bills.

We have made good progress over the last year.

This year, you are going to see more detail and policy.

Q. How do you convince people you are a statesman fit to lead the country?

A. Certainly last year was about getting the Conservative Party into middle ground and showing people we are a reasonable, moderate, centre-right party which wants to do a good job for this country - now we must ensure we say things people find engaging, so yes, there will be more detail and more policy this year.

But I don't apologise at all - it was really necessary to get the party back into the mainstream, into the centre ground, and I am pleased about that.

Q. What is the Tories policy on road building in general - and what could you do specifically to improve the A34?

A. There are areas where we need additional road capacity and particularly in areas like ours where a lot of expansion goes in, but the infrastructure never seems to go along with it.

We need to put the 'I' of infrastructure before the 'E' of expansion and if we look at things like the A34 and A40, there is a real need to look at how we can stop these appalling traffic jams.

We should also look at road charging. There isn't an endless pot of money - so I think new roads may need be to paid for by tolls or some form of road pricing.

In general, roads are an area where we should look at completely separate charges so that we can make sure there is money there to build them when necessary.

Q. This week interest rates soared to 5.25 per cent as people continue struggle with debts and mortgage repayments. Meanwhile, David Beckham signed a five-year, £128m deal with LA Galaxy.

What's your take on that situation?

A. David Beckham's good luck is not anyone else's bad luck.

I don't believe in institutionalised jealously that says 'let's stop David Beckham earning a certain amount of money' because it would make all of us feel better - I don't buy that kind of politics at all.

There is a problem in this country with accumulative debt, both from the Government and the private sector, and it's a potential threat to the British economy.

Everyone has to get their house in order, Government included.