David Cameron returned from holiday this week to launch major campaigns on the NHS and law and order. But the Tory leader also took the time out to answer questions from Shropshire Star readers on a range of everyday issues.

These varied from concerns about the state pension, immigration, terrorism, road pricing and the European Union to the cost of holidaying in Britain.

Here’s how Mr Cameron responded to their calls for action to improve the lives of people in the county.

Michael Pritchard, Collett Way, Priorslee, Telford

Q. Can you explain why politicians of all major parties think it is a good thing for Britain to be a part of a federal Europe and continue to say it is not necessary to have a referendum for the voters to give their opinion?

Here is your chance to convince us. If you set a firm date for a referendum as an election promise, you would become the next Prime Minister.

Mr Cameron replied: “I don’t agree Britain would be better off by leaving the European Union.

“Instead, we need to work within the EU to fight for change. But on the question of referendums, I do want to see one on the EU Treaty because that’s what everyone was promised.

“The Conservative Party is campaigning very hard on just this.

“Other European leaders say the latest EU Treaty is a return of the Constitution in all but name.

“So whether or not he keeps the promise to hold a referendum is a real test for Gordon Brown.

“It will show whether he means what he says when he talks about restoring trust in government, and involving people more in decisions.”

Roger Swift, Wrockwardine Wood, Telford

Q. The Government proposes a pay-per-mile scheme to try and take us off the road.

Given that if done it would cost some of us £100-plus a week to get to and from work, do you think this is going to be fair? And will you and your party support this?

Mr Cameron replied: “We have been very clear that the Conservatives do not support a grand national scheme of road pricing.

“However, in some areas where congestion is a problem we support the use of a local road pricing scheme if it is supported by the local community.

“Such schemes can only work if the government invests properly in local public transport, something it has failed to do over the last 10 years.

“Just recently, John Redwood’s report on Economic Competitiveness highlighted the desperate need we have in this country for more trains.”

David Lake, Stocking Lane, Astley Abbotts, Bridgnorth

Q. A week’s holiday in Barcelona costs less than a week in Blackpool. What should be done to make our prices, not just for holidays, more competitive?

Mr Cameron replied: “Tourism is the UK’s sixth largest industry. Yet only 18 people, that’s three per cent, of the staff at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport focus on tourism. And not one of them is an economist.

“The result of this lack of government interest is unsurprising – when it comes to policy making, the tourist industry gets squeezed.

“For example, the Licensing Act has increased the cost for B&Bs to be licensed to sell alcohol from £30 for three years to £300 a year.

“The Conservative Party recognises the importance of tourism and has established a task force, chaired by John Lewis OBE, which is conducting a wide-ranging review of the industry.

“This study is looking at ways of putting renewed emphasis on Britain’s £85bn tourism industry and will include plans for reinvigorating our destination resorts, reforming the structures and mechanisms involved in marketing Britain, harnessing tourism opportunities from the forthcoming Olympics, promoting family holidays and opportunities for green tourism.”

Kerry Hayward, Cherry Tree Drive, Oswestry.

Q. I am a 41-year-old working mother who has struggled and paid into a private pension for 10 years, whilst my working colleague has no pension and chooses to spend her money on going out every week and having two holidays a year.

What incentive will you give me to carry on saving for my retirement, when today’s pensioners who have worked and saved all their lives are taxed on their savings, have to pay full council tax, etc, and again someone the same age as they are, who spent their money, has their rent paid for them, no council tax to pay and their pension topped up with income support, often making in the majority of cases the pensioner who has saved and not squandered their money no better off?

Mr Cameron replied: “The Government has created a perverse system in which the growth of means testing in the pensions system has meant that some people could actually end up worse off if they save for their retirement.

“This is completely wrong. The acid test for yet more pension reforms from the Government is whether they restore the dwindling savings culture in this country.

“That’s why the Conservative Party has a long-term aspiration to reduce levels of means testing by increasing the Basic State Pension in line with earnings, not prices.

“But we must also look at the issue of simplicity in the system. The simple truth is that Gordon Brown has made the system so complicated that many are not claiming the help they deserve – up to 1.7 million pensioners are not claiming the Pension Credit they are entitled to and 2.2 million pensioners fail to claim council tax benefit.

“It is only right that people are made aware of what they are entitled to so we can end of the scandal of pensioner poverty.”

Philip Reddall, Vernon Drive, Market Drayton

Q. In the 1980s the security services warned the then Conservative government of a possible threat to Britain by Muslim extremists. Then, as now, the vast majority of politicians played down the dangers of immigration from the Middle East and Third World.

As you know, terrorists aren’t merely confined to London, as the recent arrest of an alleged Islamic extremist who had worked in a Shrewsbury hospital shows.

What measures would a Tory government take to reverse the destruction and decline of our nation, bearing in mind that failure to tackle this issue head on will increase the support of the British National Party and ultimately render the modern Tory party extinct?

Mr Cameron replied: “Your question is very important, but let me start by saying that the BNP have nothing useful to offer on this matter at all. Where they preach hate and discord, what we should be doing is promoting harmony and unity.

“This means, as a country, answering a question as old as humanity itself: how do we all live together? For years in Britain, there have been two major answers to this question.

“Some on the left said multiculturalism, which herded people into different pens, was the answer. But this served to only foster difference. Some on the right said nothing short of complete and utter assimilation was the answer. But in some cases this seemed little more than barking at minority ethnic groups to conform to British life.

“Both were wrong. Instead, it is about the ‘house we build together’. For example, many immigrants I speak to desperately wanted to integrate, but are not sure about what they were integrating into. Time after time I hear people talk about the uncivilised behaviour and values they see all around them.

“So we have to understand that integration is a two-way street. It is about more than immigrant communities, ‘their’ responsibilities and ‘their’ duties. It has to be about the majority population too – the quality of life we offer, our society and our values.

“The challenge now is to create a positive vision of a British society that really stands for something and makes people want to be a part of it.

“This means creating a framework of values in which all people in our country feel they are part of a shared national endeavour. We can do this by ensuring history is taught properly in schools and that immigrants can speak English.

“But building a positive society also means building a responsible society. After all, common values, common identity and a common purpose can never be derived from the state alone. They come from within society.

“For this to happen, we need a radical redistribution of power in our country from the centre to the local, giving people more power and more control over their lives, so that it doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, all that matters is that if you get involved in society, you really feel – and I mean really – that you are a part of it and that you can make a difference.”