Labour launches its Manifesto with the tag line, “We believe that Britain only succeeds when working families succeed”. In his speech at the launch, Ed Miliband further makes the point that the obverse, that just because it’s working for the few, be they rent takers, landlords, entrepreneurs or press barons doesn’t mean its working for everyone, in fact it’s a proof point that it isn’t. N.B. A leader of the Labour Party said that, although his words are better than mine. It’s the first time in a long while that the Tories are going to have to argue why it’s in the interests of the majority that the economy is structured in the interests iof the rich. It’s an end of consensus that “trickle down” works.

Sunny Hundal in Labour List wrote an article which confirmed what I thought, that despite its occasional disappointment, this may be the most radical Labour Manifesto for a generation, Earlier in the year, he convinced me that Miliband’s compromise on economics between the Labour’s Left & Right should be acceptable to the whole party. This leaves the arguments within Labour about economic policy  as one of nuance and language. We are united that we’ll reflate the economy and united that we’ll reduce the deficit, but for Hundal & me, the true, and pleasant, surprise is that by undertaking a series of reforms, the next Labour Government plans to transform the world of work to empower the workers and ensure that work and not just entrepreneurialism pays. The manifesto seems to have borrowed from the lessons of corporate strategic planning and these reforms are not put into little departmental compartments, the commitment is endemic throughout the planned programme for government.

Miliband’s speech at the Launch event is on youtube,

It’s worth the 30 minutes or so that it takes, and I particularly like this quote

And you have to ask: who do you want in power when it comes to these big decisions? When the knock on the door comes from the big six energy companies… Or when the phone call comes from Rupert Murdoch. Who do you want in Downing Street? Who do you think will stand up to those powerful interests? Who do you want standing up for you? The answer will never be David Cameron.

Because he’s strong at standing up to the weak, but always weak in standing up to the strong.

– Ed Miliband

Miliband points out that the NHS needs staff, which will be provided, Labour will prohibit profit in the NHS and repeal the Tory’s Health and Social Care bill which is also their platform for privatisation. No wonder the Tories offer to fund increases in the NHS; it’ll go straight into the pockets of the privateers and finance houses.

Some who abandoned Labour over the war in Iraq might want to see what Ed says, the lessons have been learned. We’ll not act alone again.

Earlier in the year, Ed Miliband write to me/us and the letter started with a direct quote, worth repeating

I believe that we have a duty to leave the world a better place than we found it – that we cannot shrug our shoulders at injustice. and that we can overcome terrible odds by working together

– Ed Miliband

As I said on Facebook, it’s a manifesto, but now as we know it….also as I said despite some disappointments this is a manifesto the left in this country, and Scotland can support.

ooOOOoo

For those who prefer a bulletted version of the manifesto, here is one I made,  http://bit.ly/labourpromises15. This has taken a while to publish and, as usual for those articles with a long incubation, backdated. For my earlier thoughts, see below,

What Ed said when launching the manifesto, the tag line is, “We believe that Britain only succeeds when working families succeed” but the obverse is that just because it’s working for the few, be they rent takers, landlords, entrepreneurs or press barons doesn’t mean its working for everyone, in fact it’s a proof point that it isn’t. NB A leader of the Labour Party said that, although his words are better than mine.

I also like the line that Cameron strongly stands against the weak, and also does the opposite.

Miliband points out that the NHS needs staff, which will be provided, Labour will prohibit profit in the NHS and repeal the Tory’s Health and Social Care bill which is also their platform for privatisation. No wonder the Tories offer to fund increases in the NHS; it’ll go straight into the pockets of the privateers and finance houses.

Some who abandoned Labour over the war in Iraq might want to see what Ed says, the lessons have been learned. We’ll not act alone again.

Britain succeeds
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2 thoughts on “Britain succeeds

  • 10th November 2019 at 1:17 pm
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    I made a storify abut the manifeto launch, but firstly the address failed and then the referenced content went away, so I removed the link to it today.

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