A young woman who stood up to ask Ed Miliband a question at his after-speech Q&A hit the nail on the head. “We’re puzzled and uncertain”, she said; “Do you believe in austerity or not?” This prompted immediate acclaim, and she promptly got a standing ovation. “No”, replied Ed, “but we do have to control spending”. Ed Miliband is not only a very decent man, honest and with integrity, but also effective. He has actually been more effective than any previous Leader of the Opposition, though this seems to be little recognised and certainly he hasn’t received the credit he deserves. He has taken on very powerful adversaries, and won. He defeated Murdoch over BskyB, may well succeed in facing down the press over Leveson, and over Syria it can plausibly be argued that he changed global policy. Those are very remarkable achievements for a Leader of the Opposition, lacking any executive authority. But at the same time, within his own party his boldness gives way to seeking unity above all else. His inner instinct is to be transformational, but his politician’s caution trumps that while he has no direct power. It is said his team are constantly warning him against any premature revelation of manifesto commitments for fear that they will be subjected to endless battering by an unreconstructed Tory press. Thus it’s clever tactics to stay mum. But that way runs into despairing unbelief among his own committed supporters, as we saw today. Yet it is not impossible to square this circle. Not disclosing all your best cards until the chosen moment obviously makes sense, but it doesn’t rule out gradually revealing a few of them, enough to convey to patiently waiting activists that the leader gets it. - Michael Meacher. Heres 43 so far: 1. Labour pledge to build a million new homes by 2020 - 200,000 a year, focusing on social housing. 2. Labour pledged to create a State-Owned Rail Company that would compete and win back Rail Franchises. 3. Labour vow to cut business rates for small firms. 4. Labour vowed to introduce an increased Bankers’ Bonus Tax if they win in 2015. 5. Labour promised Free Childcare worth £5,000 a year for working parents who had children aged 3+4. 6. Labour committed to Sacking ATOS, Serco and G4S if they win the election. 7. Ed Miliband promised to repeal the Bedroom Tax. 8. Ed Balls pledged to reverse the Pension Tax relief that the Tories gifted to millionaires. 9. Labour promised to reverse the Tory Tax cut for Hedge Funds. 10. Labour said they would create 200,000 Apprenticeships 11. Ed Miliband vowed to increase the fine levied on firms not paying the Minimum Wage by 1000% to £50,000. 12. Labour are to introduce a new Disability Hate Crime Prevention Law. 13. Labour would freeze gas and electricity bills for every home and business in the UK for at least 20 months, the big energy firms would be split up and governed by a new tougher regulator to end overcharging. 14. Voting age to be lowered to 16. 15. NHS to be re-nationalised. 16. Miliband also said that any private company that does not meet the needs of the public will be brought under state control. 17. Labour will scrap zero hour contracts. 18. Labour have pledged to introduce a living wage. 19. Labour have pledged to reverse the £107,000 tax break that the Tories have given to the millionaires. 20. Labour will reintroduce the 50p tax. 21. Labour will repeal clause 119. 22. Labour will introduce a law making Private Companies subject to the Freedom of Information Act. 23. Labour will introduce a Mansion Tax on properties worth more than £2 million 24. Labour will make up the difference to the value in the minimum wage is restored, reversing the Tory cut of 5%. 25. Labour will halt Michael Gove’s Free School Expansion Programme. 26. Labour will abolish the Tory ban on Local Education Authorities opening State Schools once more. 27. Labour will scrap George Osborne’s “Shares for Rights” scheme that has opened up a tax loophole of £1 billion . 28. Labour will launch a full public inquiry into blacklisting. 29. Labour will ensure Water Companies place the poorest households on a Social Tariff that makes it easier for them to pay their Water Bills. 30. Labour will double the tax duty on Pay Day Lenders and will use the additional £13,000,000 that raises to help foster more Credit Unions. 31. Labour will impose a cap on the cost of credit, setting a limit at which Pay Day Lenders can charge borrowers. 32. Labour will regulate food labelling to simplify pricing so that Supermarkets cannot con customers. 33. Labour plan to introduce a Bill that would ban Recruitment Consultancy firms from only hiring abroad & ban firms from paying temporary workers less than permanent staff. 34. Labour would set up a Financial Crime Unit, with increased staffing, in the Serious Fraud Office to enable the SFO to pursue bankers who break the law. 35. Labour will break up the banks, separating retail banking from investment banking. 36. Labour will scrap Police Commissioners. 37. Labour will introduce a Forces & Veterans Bill of Rights to build upon the Military Covenant. 38. As a minimum measure, Labour will at least cut Tuition Fees by 33%. 39. Labour will introduce measures to prevent corporate tax avoidance. 40. Labour will also increase the Bank Levy by £800m a year. 41. Labour will scrap the Profit Tax Cut (Corporation Tax) that George Osborne has already announced for 2015. 42. Labour will scrap Cameron’s “Gagging” Act. 43. Labour will ensure all MPs will be banned from receiving any income from corporations after 2015.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 04:43:17 +0000
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