Shamik Das looks ahead to Ed Miliband's speech to the TUC "A Future That Works" march in London today.
Shamik Das looks ahead to Ed Miliband’s speech to the TUC “A Future That Works” march and rally in London today
“You don’t build a successful country with sink or swim; you do it by building One Nation,” Ed Miliband will tell thousands of marchers at a rally in Hyde Park this afternoon, following the TUC “A Future That Works” march through the streets of the capital.
Miliband will once more attack the Tory government’s failed austerity agenda, “the cuts, the pain, the tax rises”, returning to his conference theme of “One Nation”, a country where “those with the broadest shoulders always bear the greatest burden” – and do not have their taxes slashed while the many have theirs increased.
The Labour leader is expected to say:
“What did the government say? They told us austerity would help our economy grow. But our economy has not grown. It has flatlined.
“They told us ‘we’re all in this together’. But now they are cutting taxes for millionaires, as they raise taxes on everybody else, including our pensioners.
“They told us the gain would be worth the pain. But even after the cuts, the pain, the tax rises, borrowing is not falling – it’s rising. They are even failing the one test they set themselves.
“And the reason they are failing is that they’ve got old answers. The old answers that just don’t work. They really believe that trickle-down economics and a sink or swim society is the way to get Britain working.
“They really believe that everybody else has got too many rights at work and if we make it easier to fire them, our economy will succeed.”
Concluding:
“This government has shown us self-defeating austerity, by cutting too far and too fast, is not the answer.
“And let me tell you one cut I would never make: I would never cut taxes for millionaires while raising taxes for everybody else.
“You don’t build a successful country with sink or swim.
“You do it by building One Nation.
“One Nation is a country where we give hope to our young people again.
“One Nation is a country where those with the broadest shoulders always bear the greatest burden.
“And One Nation is a country where we defend our great institutions, like our National Health Service.”
For all the latest on today’s “A Future That Works” march and rally, follow @FutureThatWorks and #Oct20 & #O20.
See also:
• There is an alternative to these brutal cuts – let’s make our voices heard – Christine Blower, NUT
• Spreading privilege? The only thing Cameron’s spreading is ignorance – Sally Hunt, UCU
• When will this government of rabid cuts learn? Why tomorrow’s march is so important – Brendan Barber, TUC
• Joining A Future that Works – full details of Saturday’s march – Nigel Stanley, TUC
• A Future That Works – Official #O20 website
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3 Responses to “Miliband reiterates One Nation message with attack on “sink or swim” Tories”
daggsat
Can someone translate this ‘one nation’ mantra that keeps falling from Millibands mouth. All i can see is a (dis)United Kingdom where three parts have their own devolved administration and one part is excluded, ignored and left in a democratic defecit. Though if Milliband gets his way i’m sure he’ll want to revisit chopping England into nine bite-size Euro chunks just as Prescott tried to initiate previously.
wj
Regionalisation was John Major’s contribution to our subjugation under the EU.
Not that I absolve Prescott and Brown’s determination to bring the British people to their knees.
I happen to despise the lot of them.
Newsbot9
Still frosted that you can’t strip a lot of worker’s rights because of the EU I see.