Chuka Umunna MP

Since his election as Labour’s leader in September 2010, Ed Miliband has set out the new direction in which he is taking the Labour Party.  In this video, he sets out his vision: Your Voice.  For all those interested and considering how to vote around the country this Thursday, here are the key speeches in which Ed has outlined his priorities as leader and the direction of travel in which the party is going:

A New Leader (Labour Party conference, 28th September 2010)

“This new generation that leads our party is humble about our past and idealistic about our future. It is a generation that will always stand up for the mainstream majority.”
http://edmiliband.org/speeches/leaders-speech-2010/

Ed’s first major speech as party leader defined Labour as the force for optimism in British politics, in contrast to a coalition government fundamentally pessimistic about the country. With this optimism, he said, a ‘new generation’ of Labour would renew the party, learning the lessons of the 2010 election and fighting for the centre ground.

Reform and Renewal (National Policy Forum, 27th November 2010)

“Our last big renewal was in 1994. That’s why this process of renewal is so important for our party. This is such an opportunity for us.”
http://www2.labour.org.uk/ed-milibands-speech-to-labours-npf

Ed launched a process of party reform and policy review in a speech to Labour’s National Policy Forum. The purpose of this process, he explained, was to enact five key principles: to root the Labour Party in the lives of ordinary people, to revise the party’s vision for the good economy, to become more wary of the dangers of an over-mighty state, to become more supportive of community life, and finally to revive faith in politics. He concluded: “I know that we have to change in order to win.”

The State and the Market (Fabian Society conference, 15th January 2011)

“[W]e need to draw on that tradition based on mutualism, localism and the common bonds of solidarity that captures the essence of our party at its best.”
http://edmiliband.org/speeches/fabian-society-progressive-majority/

Addressing the New Year’s conference of the Fabian Society, Ed argued that Labour can and must become the standard bearer for Britain’s progressive majority once more. To do this, he outlined three ways in which the party has to change: firstly by showing how it can build a fairer economy, secondly by reviving its commitment to the civic and social bonds, beyond both state and market, that bind communities together, and thirdly by reaching out to progressives of all stripes to renew its politics. The prize, he said, is not just a Labour government, but “a political movement that in every community up and down this country can shape the politics of the future.”

The British Promise (Gateshead, 4th February 2011)

“There is now a real fear that the British promise will be broken and the next generation will find it harder to get on than the last.”
http://edmiliband.org/speeches/british-promise-social-mobility/

Speaking in Gateshead, Ed said that the British promise – the promise that each generation will have greater opportunities, prosperity and well-being than the previous – is under threat. He argued that by cutting educational maintenance allowances, trebling tuition fees, scrapping apprenticeships, the child trust fund and the future jobs fund, the government is kicking away the ladder that allows those from lower and middle income families to enjoy this promise.

Squeezed Living Standards (Resolution Foundation, 28th February 2011)

“We were wrong not to focus more on the type of economy we were building and what that meant for the widening gulf between those at the very top and the rest.”
http://edmiliband.org/speeches/cost-of-living-crisis-280211/

Ed’s speech on the cost of living crisis warned that the growth in inequality over the past years, high inflation and the Conservative-led government’s deep spending cuts threaten a ‘crunch’ in living standards. The task, he said, is to “build a different sort of economy; with prosperity rooted in high-productivity, high skill industries, creating quality jobs and a better quality of life.”

The Duty to Protect (House of Commons debate on Libya, 21st March 2011)

“I believe that we should support the motion today and support our armed forces. I do so because I believe that the three key criteria for action exist: it is a just cause with a feasible mission and it has international support.”
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110321/debtext/110321-0001.htm#1103219000735

In his contribution to the Commons debate on Libya, Ed gave his support to UN resolution 1973 authorising a no-fly zone. He argued that it passed four key tests: the right intention – to protect the Libyan people -, as a last resort, with proportional means and reasonable prospects.

It’s hurting but it isn’t working (House of Commons Budget debate, 23rd March 2011)

“One fact says it all and he couldn’t bring himself to say it: growth down last year, this year and next year. It’s the same old Tories – it’s hurting but it isn’t working.”
http://www.labour.org.uk/a-budget-for-growth-that-downgrades-the-growth-forecast,2011-03-23

Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget speech, Ed stressed that the government is going £40 billion further and faster in tax rises and spending cuts than Labour’s plan. The result: high inflation, rising unemployment, and lower growth.

The Mainstream Majority (March for the Alternative, Hyde Park, 26th March 2011)

“David Cameron: this is the Big Society. The big society united against what your government is doing to our country. We stand today not as the minority, but as the voice of the mainstream majority in this country.”
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/03/ed-miliband-hyde-park-speech

Ed spoke to the crowds in Hyde Park protesting against the Conservative-led government’s deficit reduction strategy. He asked how the coalition could claim to be fair whilst cutting children’s centres and giving the bankers a tax cut. He said that the mainstream majority opposed to this unfairness are the “unifiers of our country”.

The Future of the NHS (RSA, 4th April 2011)

“I want my sons to be as proud of the NHS as I am. The question we face now as a country is not ‘change or no change’. To protect the NHS is to change it.”
http://www.labour.org.uk/the-future-of-the-nhs—ed-miliband,2011-04-04

Ed asserted that Labour is open to changing the health service, but criticised the shift to free-market healthcare under the coalition. He said that change to the NHS under Labour would be true to three key principles: analysis of future demands, accountablity to patients and protection of NHS values of collaboration and cohesion.

A Banking System that works for business and industry (British Chambers of Commerce, 6th April 2011)

“The financial services industry will always be important. But what we discovered at the end of the financial crisis is that we were too exposed as an economy to the instability of that industry. With Labour having been in Government I take our share of responsibility for that.”
http://www.labour.org.uk/speech-to-british-chamber-of-commerce—miliband

Speaking to the British Chambers of Commerce, Ed said that Labour would remain a pro-business party with a close relationship to enterprise. He called for better regulation of the financial sector to create a banking system that works for business and industry.

Chuka and his fellow Lambeth and Southwark Labour MPs issued this statement, which is in the current edition of the South London Press, in response to the recent shootings taking place in their respective constituencies.

Over the last few months local people will have digested various reports of shootings of young people in our communities with a mixture of shock, disbelief and, at times, weary resignation.

99% of London’s youth are not involved in serious youth violence but we have a problem in London. We have had for some years now. Our young people know this because too many of them are living with the fear that it will affect them, nevermind the other innocent bystanders who unwittingly find themselves caught in the middle of conflict.

The numbers of fatalities are not what they were in the watershed year of 2007 but one life lost to violence on our streets is one too many – it blights our community.

The last government introduced a range of measures designed to tackle these problems by, for example, introducing Safer Neighbourhood Teams in every ward and implementing a national Youth Crime Action Plan including street based teams of youth workers and ex-gang members working with young people. And, of course, each of us works hard with our constituents to reduce this aggressive behaviour in each of our constituencies.

The causes are complex and varied and the violence will not be solved over night: gangs becoming surrogate families for too many young people, family breakdown, adults working so many hours but deprived of time to spend with their children, the need for more youth provision and the easy circulation of firearms in the community are all contributing factors.

But let there be no doubt – people in Lambeth & Southwark are saying with one voice that this violence is unacceptable, we will not stand by and let it happen. The solutions for the future will be found in the partnership between the communities of Lambeth and Southwark, the Police and elected representatives. We pledge to work to that end.

Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP (Lab, Camberwell & Peckham)
Kate Hoey MP (Lab, Vauxhall)
Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP (Lab, Dulwich & West Norwood)
Chuka Umunna MP (Lab, Streatham)