Coalition parties round on Miliband's "empty speech"

The Tories say that Ed Miliband has again denied that when in government Labour spent too much and borrowed too much. Instead of admitting their spending splurge almost bankrupt the country, Miliband offered up an empty welfare policy. They also pointed out that despite the words the Labour party in parliament have voted against three benefit caps worth £14 billion, and have opposed £83 billion of welfare savings. Now they want to ‘cap’ welfare spending. But Liam Byrne has been asked fifteen times  today to explain any detail at all about their so-called ‘cap’ and he has refused to answer the questions.

The Tories say that Ed Miliband and Liam Byrne cannot say:

• What the cap would cover
• What benefits they would cut
• What would happen if they hit the cap
• Whether they would stick to the £83 billion of welfare savings we have put through that they oppose.

Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, commented: “It is unbelievable that Ed Miliband still won’t admit Labour borrowed too much and spent too much. He is too weak even to apologise for the mess his Government made. Instead, we get empty rhetoric. They have repeatedly voted against capping benefits. Now they claim they want a ‘cap’ but can’t say what it would cover, what level it would be set at, what benefits they would cut – nothing that would make it credible. This is just the same old Labour: empty rhetoric smattered with more spending, more borrowing and more debt. Hardworking people would pay the price of the welfare party”.

Commenting on Ed Miliband's speech, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury Committee, Stephen Williams said: "There was nothing in this speech to demonstrate Labour have a plan on the economy. Labour left a record deficit, youth unemployment that had increased by 40% on their watch and a broken economy that had been focused on financial gamblers in the City of London for too long. Liberal Democrats are working in the Coalition Government to repair the damage done by Labour and build a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life. We are creating jobs across the country through the Regional Growth Fund and Vince Cable is overseeing a record rise in apprenticeships, helping 1.2m people gain the skills and experience necessary for a successful career. We have made the tax system fairer than it has ever been for the low-paid, with people on national minimum wage seeing their tax bill cut in half and 20m working people are paying £600 a year less than they were under Labour. Empty speeches dressed up as economic plans will not convince the British people to trust Labour again."

However, Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union came to Mr Miliband's defence saying: "Ed Miliband's speech offers hope that there is an alternative to George Osborne's punishing experiment with the national economy. Disgracefully, millions of people do not earn a wage that can keep them and their families, yet they work the longest hours in Europe. They are thoroughly fed up with the lack of decent, secure work in this country and detest the waste of talent that sees one million young people wasting their talents on the dole. They want a government that will roll up its sleeves and do something about this. So the jobs guarantee, action on demeaning, insecure work and a drive to embed the living wage are a good start. Labour now needs to firm these up, working with unions, as well as employers, because with our connection to millions of working people we can bring these promises to life, and address some of the real drains on people's incomes such as childcare and travel costs. 

Continuing Mr McCluskey said: "Ed Miliband is also right to recognise that decade upon decade of housing neglect has saddled this country with a chronic homelessness problem and a warped social security bill. Only by building enough affordable houses can we bring to an end this scandal. Contrast that with the Tory offer of state-subsidised mortgages for second homeowners and people will understand who is on their side. This is now about offering a distinctive choice in 2015 about the sort of nation we can be. If Ed Miliband continues in this vein, then he will win working people back to Labour."