From Ed to Joseph with love (inhobbok)… Here’s a summary of the main parts of Ed Miliband‘s new vision for New New Labour. It is advisable to familiarise oneself with these visions and terminology for you can expect Joseph Muscat and his Merry Band of Progressives to pilfer them like there is no tomorrow. (A bit like GonziPN and Sarkozy’s slogans). Not that the borrowing of a good idea is wrong – if it is a good idea that is – but that JM and his Merry Men will have no idea of whether or not the vision will work for Malta. They will just be happy to find something that sounds serious, looks marketable and contains the kind of populist promises to win over the ever so enigmatic “middle class“.
From today’s Independent here is Ed Miliband’s vision all set out for Muscat and his idea banks to clone:
New leader’s policy vision
Spending cuts
“I am serious about reducing our deficit… I won’t oppose every cut the Coalition proposes… But what we should not do is make a bad situation worse by embarking on deficit reduction at a pace that endangers our economic recovery.” This formulation is designed to help win back Labour’s credibility on the economy while giving Mr Miliband some wriggle room to amend Alistair Darling’s policy to halve the deficit over four years. Critics will accuse him of trying to have it both ways.
Low pay
“I believe not just in a minimum wage but the foundation of our economy in future must be a living wage.” A future Labour government could force employers to pay a “living wage” of about £7.60 an hour, rather than the minimum wage of £5.80 an hour. The move would be opposed by employers, but Mr Miliband will point out that their warnings about huge job losses before the minimum wage was introduced proved unfounded.High pay
“The gap between rich and poor does matter. What does it say about the values of our society, what have we become, that a banker can earn in day what the care worker can earn in a year? Responsibility in this country shouldn’t just be about what you can get away with.” Mr Miliband supports a High Pay Commission to investigate the gap between top and bottom pay levels in the private and public sector.
Welfare
“There are those for whom the benefits system has become a trap.” Mr Miliband will oppose “arbitrary” benefit cuts proposed by the Coalition. But he is sympathetic to “tough and tender” reforms drawn up by James Purnell, the former work and pensions secretary, which were not supported by Gordon Brown.
Crime
“When Ken Clarke [the Justice Secretary] says we need to look at short sentences in prison because of high re-offending rates, I’m not going to say he’s soft on crime.” Mr Miliband’s support for Mr Clarke’s “prison isn’t working” approach marks a break with New Labour’s tough stance on crime.
So the living wage risks becoming a battleground for the next three years as Joseph Muscat will continue to harp on about the notion. Where will the money for the “living wage” adjustment come from Joseph? Will the taxpayer subsidise the employers to pay the employees? Or will the employers be expected to magicke the extra dosh out of thin air in order to pay for the years of abuse of the impoverished middle-class workers?
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