Conference Special Daily Politics

Good afternoon. Welcome to this day the politics leader's speech

conference special. The leader in question of course Ed Miliband, the

labour leader walking through the rainy windswept streets of

Manchester. A lot hanging on the speech today, not only has he said

he will give a sense of direction as to where Labour is going, but he

will make us think more kindly about him. His personal poll

ratings not that high at the moment, so this is an attempt to connect

with the labour faithful and the British public. This will be geared

towards the voters as well as the people in Manchester. He had got to

get from the Midlands hotel across to this imposing conference centre

in the heart of Manchester itself. Labour speeches always on Tuesday

afternoon in modern times, that is when the highlight of a Labour

conference takes place. I am going to be out and about on the

conference floor finding out what delegates want to be hearing, and

whether they have heard it. That is coming up. We will be with you for

the next two hours. Keeping us company, John Reid. Why do you

think Ed Miliband is struggling to connect with the British people?

you are talking about the poll this morning, it was a telephone poll

and every time you ask in any poll who looks more like prime minister,

then people say the Prime Minister. The night before Thatcher won the

election, Callaghan was 24% ahead on the same question. Gordon Brown

was well ahead of David Cameron on the same question, and yet both of

those obviously lost. That is not the question. Appalled at the

weekend showed Labour only had a lead of 5%. One last week showed

they had a lead of 15%. question was about whether he would

make a good prime minister, 63% said no. Another one, do you think

Ed Miliband is doing well or badly? 28% said he was doing well. In

every poll under the sum they are saying the same thing so why it is

he struggling? You will know when you ask people who do you trust

most, Ed Miliband comes out ahead of the Prime Minister. Who is more

in touch with your feelings of local people's problems, Ed

Miliband comes out ahead. That is not to say he is where he would

want to be, and I declare an interest. I voted for David

Miliband two years ago, but give Ed Miliband his credit because people

predicted there would be a feud, we were going to decline and so on. He

stabilised the party, he unified the party, he has proved competent

enough position on big issues, we are 10% ahead on average on the

polls you mention. It may be getting lower. The trend is about

10%. Whether that is because we are very attractive or because the

government looks incompetent, and then of course there is a question

over that. Nevertheless, you have to give him credit. He has scaled

the foothills. Has he climbed the mountain? No, he hasn't. The said

the poll that asks the question who they trust and the polls show Ed

Miliband, but in the key issue of the economy, despite the current

state of the British economy, which is not exactly glowing, British

people still trust David Cameron and George Osborne more than Ed

Miliband or Ed Balls - don't you find that remarkable? 5% more, last

year it was 15% more so there has been a movement in that direction

as well. If you ask me why that is, I think to be truthful that we lost

the argument. I think we should have won the argument the year

after the election. When we were electing a new leader and so on,

there was an argument raging about why we were in this position in the

deficit, and the deficit was not the cause. It was not the cause of

a world recession. That is what the Conservatives implied. No, the

argument is that because the deficit was still high after 10

years of growth as it was at the time, that we weren't in a good

enough shape to deal with the financial crisis. That is incorrect.

Before 2008, the deficit in the UK was no higher than it had been when

the Conservatives left office. It had gone down initially, then came

up, but the deficit that we now face was the consequence of a world

recession, and in intentional decision to spend money during that

early terrible recession in order to stop unemployment spiralling out

of control. Having said that, we didn't win that argument in that

crucial 12 months after the election. The Conservatives

repeatedly implied that it was free-spending Labour who had caused

the world recession. Obviously a Labour government would not going

to cause a world recession, but they won the argument and therefore

Ed Miliband has to overcome that deficit, and in the last 12 months

the difference between confidence in the Conservative government's

economic policy and our policy has narrowed but they are still ahead.

Let me interrupt you because I think we have got Ed Miliband going

into the Conference Centre in Manchester. A lot of people are

waiting for him anyway. We have spotted him. He has gone down the

other way again. Where is he going? This is an excellent shot. You just

have to be patient, people at home, and wait. These people are waiting

to see if anything comes. It is like Spot the Ball competition. The

flashing lights could be at low. Good things are worth waiting for.

There he is with his wife, Justine. The speech has been written for

quite some time, and to give it a personal torch he has been using

her lifelong friend to help him on the personal parts where he wants

to get across Ed Miliband this human. That will be part of his

mission today. The couple ready for that big conference speech. If he

is on time, he will be speaking in about five minutes.

Let us get a sense of the mood in the build-up to the speech, and

speak to two journalists. This has been billed as a getting to know Ed

Miliband speech - he has a lot to do to persuade people they know

that he is a prime minister in waiting. It is true. I was

listening to John Reid wrangling about polling figures, but that

evidence does matter and it is worrying to Ed Miliband and his

team. We ran a poll at the weekend asking if people could imagine him

as Prime Minister and less than 30% people cord. It is what I call the

closing your eyes test. Voters have to imagine him standing on the

threshold of Number 10. It is always difficult for leaders of the

opposition, but one of his important tasks this afternoon is

that more people by the end of this afternoon could imagine Prime

Minister Ed Miliband. Does that mean that this speech has to be

less about Concepts, predators and producers, and more about straight

forward message to the people in the hall and out in the country?

The exactly, he can't do another sociology essay. He has got to

spring to life. The word is that he will spring to life, he will do the

walking and talking been showing he can move without any strings. The

drawback is that he will have to see if he can time his speech. If

not, we might be here until 6 o'clock, reminiscing how tough he

had it in his comprehensive. This is a big gamble. It is a difficult

thing to do if you are not trained as a stage actor. If he pulls it

off it will help. He you are right about the abstract concept. I hope

somebody went through that speech and whenever they found an abstract

noun, they took it out. I think it is refreshing that he is interested

in political ideas like responsible capitalism, but then you have to

turn it into language taking it out of the seminar room and taking it

into people's living rooms, which means talking in populist language.

Mrs Thatcher did not quote literature in speeches, instead she

told people she would sell their council houses. If you look at the

back row with the economy in the doldrums, coalition having a string

of difficulties since the Budget, it is a big opportunity for him.

Fraser Nelson talks about a gamble, he has got to seize it, hasn't he?

Sure, and we will see just here how he manages to connect. What will he

do to say we are on your side? I suspect there will be a lot of hits

that the Tories. We had Tom Watson gearing their more saying we are

ordinary people talking ordinary language, unlike these Etonians. I

think in this speech we will hear a lot of attacks at the Tories saying

they are out of touch. So are we going to hear a lot about the

Tories' or criticisms, but what will he say about Labour and where

they are going? Doesn't he need to build up the narrative for Labour?

I think he does. Some people laugh saying where are the policies? But

one of the advantages for Labour is they know where the finishing line

is for this Parliament, and it is still some time away in the spring

of 2015. If you have any good ideas in your manifesto, the coalition

we'll nick it, if they have any sense. You start to come forward

with some emblematic policies to illustrate your values and your

direction of travel. Thank you, enjoy the speech.

Shall we resume our Wrangle? They have civilised conversations, we

have wrangling. Let me come back to this position of Ed Miliband in

trying to connect with the country. Trying to portray him as an

ordinary comprehensive school chap, we know that is not true. He does

come from a different kind of elite from David Cameron, a different

kind of social elite, but it was a pretty elitist background. I'm sure

when you were a child you didn't have dinner with Tony Benn, or E P

Thompson. In the case of Tony, perhaps I am lucky. The idea of

showing somebody in terms of the personality and background is not

new. Sue Hodson produced the famous movie... John Major went back to

Brixton. In a chauffeur-driven car, passing the house he grow up in.

You are right, Ed Miliband came from a family, which in many ways

was disadvantaged because it was an immigrant family, book in some ways

was academically and intellectually separate from the mainstream of

people. That is not a bad idea. There is a degree of anti-

intellectualism goes on, I don't think it should be a prerequisite

of the Prime Minister that you are stupid and incapable of analysis.

The complaint is that he does come from, in his own way, different

from David Cameron, but he does come from a privileged background

in a different way, so why deny it? This is where I would agree with

what Andrew said, the keep in my experience, the keep in political

communication is the capacity to think in an intellectual complex

fashion, but to translate that into language with which people can

relate and respond to. Which Tony Blair was good at it.

was a master at it. Clinton was a master as well. Margaret Thatcher

was not bad either. And yet she was derided before she was Prime

Minister as being a stupid woman who spoke in over simplistic ways.

Nick Robinson is in Manchester for us. I guess what we have been told

- we have been told quite a lot about this Speech. We will get a

sense of direction about where Labour is going to go under Mr

Miliband. We are going to get a sense of Mr Miliband, the man and

where he comes from? And above all, we will get a slogan, a slogan that

has enormous historical resonance, not least in this city. 100 yards

that way is the site of what was Manchester's Free Trade Hall. Not

just the suffragettes, but Benjamin Disraeli, he declared he was in

favour of one nation values. Today, rather cheekily, Ed Miliband will

try and claim that historic Tory label of "one nation" and use it

for himself, claiming David Cameron and the coalition are dividing the

nation and only he and Labour can bring it together again. Why is he

doing that? I saw that in the draft exerts we got -- draft excerpts we

got? Why will that resonate for Labour in the country? Those two

words don't mean a whole lot to many people watching this programme.

Yet, they have got enormous political historical resonance.

They are a bit of symbolism. They were symbolic in the 1980s for

those Tories who opposed Mrs Thatcher. They were a code of

saying, "We are in favour of keeping the country together, not

dividing it by the economic policies of the time." More left-

wing than Mrs Thatcher. It was a bit of code borrowed by Tony Blair

in the 1990s who repeatedly described himself as "one nation"

as a way of saying it was not older, not the Labour Party that divided

the country between the bosses and the workers, between North and

South, he was saying a Labour Party that brought people together. Ed

Miliband is doing two things: One dealing with the suggestion that he

is Red Ed, he is a left-wing Leader of the Labour Party, by saying, "No,

I'm taking the language of the centre." Secondly, trying to occupy

territory that he senses David Cameron has vacated, by moving away

from, if you like, the hug a hoodie, or hug a husky early Cameron we saw

when he was focusing on modernising his party. I don't think Mr

Disraeli ever hugged a hoodie or a husky in the time. The Labour

analysis of moving on to one nation ground, Labour believes Mr Cameron,

he is a very right-wing Prime Minister. I'm not sure the rest of

the country - they may not like him, that is another matter - but I

don't think they don't regard him as Thatcherite. They probably do

see him as within the one nation tradition of Tory politicians?

think Ed Miliband will try and challenge that today. Yes. He will

argue the cuts programme is not only not working in its own right,

in other words you will hear the Labour Leader say repeatedly,

"Borrowing is going up this year rather than going down" but he will

claim that David Cameron has abandoned those one nation Tory

clothes. He used to talk about being a green Tory, now he isn't.

Now, of course, look, the difficulty with a phrase like "one

nation", it can mean virtually anything to anybody. If you are a

leader who has decided, as Ed Miliband has, not to spell out much

in the way of new policy, not to give your prospectus and because

you haven't a clue what the economy will look like by the next general

election, then you have to go for some sort of narrative. That is

what he is doing. He is giving us a narrative about himself. Will we

get more of a sense - we are not looking for fast and firm policies.

The election is two-and-a-half years away. Will we get a sense of

the direction that a Labour Government under Mr Miliband would

take? Only in the broadest terms, I think. There is a bit of a debate

going on in the margins of this Conference about whether Ed

Miliband and the Labour Party have given us quite a lot of a sense of

that direction, or not. The argument in their favour is to say

by saying you will take on the banks, which he will say again

today, or the energy companies, or the pension companies, you are

giving people an impression of the way you will go. You are above all

saying, "This is how you can make a difference to people's lives as a

centre-left party without relying on turning on the top of public

spending." The counter is one that will say, "No Government to the

left of the centre-left has had to deal with so little public money.

There are extraordinarily dramatic choices that have to be made in

public spending." If you don't spell that out, the public will

have no real idea what you will do in office. Ed Miliband doesn't need

to do that. He needs to highlight where the Government has gone wrong.

He needs to resell himself and his personal story to the public. He

needs to give a broad sense of direction. We may have to jump into

the Hall quite soon - it is getting close to the start of the speech.

There was a poll that showed the Labour lead was down to five points.

Another one today showing it down to three points. Are they

dismissing these polls as rogues? Is there some concern about a

dwindling Labour lead? I'm sorry, I will have to - hold that question.

I will come back and get you. We will have to go into the Hall. They

are giving him a standing ovation. There he is. A nice blue background

- I suppose that goes with the one nation theme of his speech. That is

Mrs Miliband there. We will see if Fraser Nelson has got it right. It

looks like he is going to walk around the lectern. APPLAUSE

Andy Burnham applauding him. The Shadow Health Secretary. A packed

hall. It's in an historic part of Manchester, this. Here is the

Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband.

It is great to be in Labour Manchester. APPLAUSE You know,

Manchester has special memories for me. Two years ago, I was elected

the leader of this party. I'm older - I feel a lot older actually!

LAUGHTER I hope I'm a bit wiser. I am prouder than ever to be the

leader of the Labour Party. APPLAUSE

You may have noticed that doing this job you get called some names.

Some of them nice. Some of them not so nice. Let me tell you my

favourite. It was when Mitt Romney came to Britain and called me "Mr

Leader". LAUGHTER I don't know about you, but I think it has a

certain ring to it myself. It's sort of half-way to North Korea.

Mitt, thanks a lot for that(!) Look, let me tell you a little insight

into Conference. I always look forward to Conference. But the

leader's speech, as previous leaders will attest, can be a bit

of a trial. You get all kinds of advice from people. Say this, don't

say that, smile here, don't smile there, stand there, don't stand

there. Thanks, Tony, Gordon and Neil for that! LAUGHTER But

sometimes you get a bit fed up with it as a leader. So the other day -

and this is a true story - I decided that to get away from it

all, the speech-writing - I would go for a walk with my three-year-

old son, Daniel. It was a gorgeous late summer day. So we went out, I

wanted to go to the park. Here's the first thing he said to me.

"Daddy, I can help you with your speech." I was like, "Not you as

well!" Look, he is a Miliband after all. LAUGHTER He said to me, "Daddy,

you can't do it on your own." This is true. I said, "That is a good

Labour insight. You can't do it on your own. Daniel, what do you want

in my speech?" He said, "I want dinosaurs!" LAUGHTER He said, "I

want dinosaurs. I want flying dinosaurs. I want dinosaurs that

eat people, daddy." I said, "No, Daniel, we tried predators last

year!" APPLAUSE Look, only one problem - where's my speech? I want

to do something different today. I want to tell you my story. I want

to tell you who I am, what I believe and why I have a deep

conviction that together we can change this country. My conviction

is rooted in my family's story. A story that started 1,000 miles from

here. The Milibands haven't sat under the same oak tree for the

last 500 years. Both of my parents came to Britain as immigrants.

Jewish refugees from the Nazis. I know I would not be standing on

this stage today without the compassion and tolerance of our

great country, Great Britain. APPLAUSE

You know, my parents saw Britain rebuilt after the Second World War.

I was born in my local National Health Service hospital. The same

hospital my two sons would later be born in. As you saw in the film, I

went to my local school, I went to my local comprehensive with people

from all backgrounds. I still teaching I got at that school. And

one of my teachers, my English teacher, Chris Dunn, is here with

us today. Thank you, Chris, and to all of the teachers. APPLAUSE It

was a really tough school. But order was kept by one of the

scariest head mistresses you could possibly imagine, Mrs Jenkins. You

know what, I learnt at my school about a lot more than how to pass

exams. I learnt how to get on with people from all backgrounds,

whoever they were. I wouldn't be standing on this stage today

without my comprehensive school education. APPLAUSE

So, Britain gave me, gave my family, a great gift that my parents never

had, a safe and secure childhood. You know, my parents didn't talk

much about their early lives. It was too painful. It hurt too much.

The pain of those they lost, the guilt of survivors. But I believe

that their experience meant they brought up both David and myself

differently as a result. Having struggled for life itself, they

instilled in us a sense of duty to ease the struggles of others. And

this came not just from my parents' wartime experience, it came from

the daily fabric of our childhood. There were toys and games, rows

about homework. I was a Dallas fan, believe it or not, which didn't go

down well with my Dad, as you can imagine! LAUGHTER So of course

there were the normal things. But every upbringing is special. And

mine was special because of the place of politics within it. When I

was 12 years old, I met a South African friend of my parents. Her

name was Ruth First. The image I remember is of somebody full of

life, full of laughter, and then I remember a few months later coming

down to breakfast and seeing my Mum in tears. Ruth had been murdered by

a letter bomb from the South African Secret Police, murdered for

being part of the anti-apartheid movement. I didn't understand the

ins and outs of it. I was shocked, I was angry. I knew that wasn't the

way the world was meant to be. I knew I had a duty to do something

about it. It is this upbringing that has made me who I am. A person

of faith. Not a religious faith, but a faith none the less. A faith

that I believe many religious people would recognise. So here is

my faith. I believe we have a duty to leave the world a better place

than we found it. I believe we cannot shrug... APPLAUSE

I believe we cannot shrug our shoulders at injustice and say,

"That is the way the world is." I believe that we can overcome any

odds if we come together as people. That is how... You see, that is how

my Mum survived the war. The kindness of strangers. Nuns in a

convent who took her in and sheltered her from the Nazis. They

took in a Jewish girl at risk to themselves. It is what my Dad found

when he came to these shores and joined the Royal Navy and was part

of Britain winning the war. Now, of course, my parents didn't tell me

what career to go into. My late father, as some of you know,

wouldn't agree with many of the things I stand for. He would have

He would have been a little bit disappointed that it was untrue. My

mum probably doesn't agree with me either, but like most mothers is

too kind to say so. I wasn't certain I wanted to be a politician

but I believe the best way to be true to my faith and give back to

Britain is through politics. That is not a fashionable view today,

because millions of people have given up on politics. They think we

are all the same. I guess you could say I'm out to prove them wrong.

That is who I am. That is who I am, that is what I

believe, that is my faith. I know who Britain, who I need to serve in

Britain with my faith. It is the people I have met on my journey as

leader of the opposition, the people who come up to me on trains,

in the street, in shops, who ask me about what the Labour Party is

going to do for them and tell me the stories of their lives. It is

for them, the people I have met on my journey, that today's speech is

4. I think of a woman I met earlier this year, she was brimming with

hopes and ambitions for the future. She was full of life, she was fall-

off desire to get on and do the best for herself. Then she told me

her story. She had sent off her CV to 137 employers and she had not

had a reply from any of them. Many of you in this audience will know

people in the same position. Just think how that crushes the hopes of

a generation. I want to talk to her, to a generation of young people who

feel that Britain under this government is not offering them the

future. I think back to the small

businessman I met in July, a proud man called Alan Henderson, the

small businessman. Let me tell you his story. He spent 40 years

building up his sign making business. 40 years. He told me his

story. He went to see his bank manager in 1972 at his local high-

street bank. He got a loan and he started his business, but something

terrible happened to Alan Henderson and his family a few years back. He

was ripped off by the bank he had been with all that time and his

family have been living through a nightmare ever since. I want to

talk to him and the people of Britain who feel they are at the

mercy of forces beyond their control. I want to talk to the

people of this country who have always thought of themselves as

comfortably off, but now find themselves struggling to make ends

meet. They ask why is it that when the oil price goes up, the petrol

price goes up, but when the oil price comes down the petrol price

just stays the same? May ask why is it that the gas and electricity

bills just go off -- go up? An why can the privatised train companies

can make so much profit at the same time as the fares rising every year.

They ask why is it? They think the system just doesn't work for them.

And you know what? They are right, it doesn't. It doesn't work for

them because of cosy cartels and powerful interests that the

government have not cut down to size. I want to talk to them and

the millions of people across our country who feel they don't get a

fair crack of the whip. I want to say to them, yes our problems are

deep, but they can be overcome. The problems about whom Britain is won

4 and who prospers within it. One rule for those at the top, another

for everybody else. Two nations, not one. I want to say to them

today it is not the Britain you believe in, not the Britain I

believe in, not the Britain this party will ever be satisfied with.

Friends, we are going to change it, and here is how. My faith that we

can start with the inner strength of us as a country. The problem is

not the British people. Just think about the Olympics and the

Paralympic Games. It was a triumph for Britain. Why did we succeed? We

succeeded because of our outstanding athletes. From Zara

Phillips, the granddaughter of a parachuting Queen, to a boy born in

Somalia called Mo Farah. Mo Farah, a true Brit, a true hero to our

country. We succeeded because of the outstanding volunteers, the

game's makers who we are here with They put a mirror up to Britain and

showed the best of ourselves. We succeeded because of our

outstanding troops, many of whom were drafted in at the last minute,

and let's today pay tribute to their bravery, their courage and

sacrifice in Afghanistan and all round the world.

Let's say to them, just as you do our duty by us in the most

courageous way possible, so we will always do our duty by you, both in

military and civilian life. We succeeded because of our

outstanding police, and let us in this city of Manchester show our

appreciation for what the extraordinary policemen and women

of our country do for our country. And we succeeded, and this is a

real lesson, we succeeded because of a group of individuals who saw

the odds against London's bid and thought never mind the orchids. We

are going to pioneer the bidding for London. We are going to win the

bid for London, from Sebastian Coe to our very own game Tessa Jowell.

You know what, friends? We succeeded because of one reason

more than any other, we succeeded because of us. We succeeded because

of us. Us, the British people. Us, who welcome the athletes from

abroad, who cheer them on, who found ourselves talking to each

other every morning about what had happened in the Olympics the night

before in a way we hadn't spoken to each other before. We succeeded

because we came together as a country, we worked together as a

country. That is why we achieved more than we imagined possible. You

know, I will just tell you this. I can't remember a time like it in

the whole history of my lifetime. I can't remember a time like it. That

sense of a country united, that sense of a country that felt it was

together. That is the spirit this Labour Party believes in.

I may not remember that spirit, but that spirit has echoed through

British history. 140 years ago, to the year, another leader of the

opposition gave a speech. It was in the free trade war that used to

stand opposite this building. His name was Benjamin Disraeli, he was

a Tory, but don't let that put you off, just for a minute. His speech

took over three hours to deliver and he... Don't worry! And he drank

two whole bottles of brandy while delivering it. That is true! I want

to say I know a speech that long would kill you, and the brandy

would definitely kill me, but let's remember what he was celebrated for.

It was a vision of Britain, where patriotism, loyalty, dedication to

the common cause courses through the veins of everyone and nobody

feels left out. It was a vision of Britain coming together to overcome

the challenge as we face. Disraeli called it one nation. We heard that

phrase again as the country came together again to defeat fascism,

and again as the Labour government rebuilt Britain after the war.

Friends, I didn't become leader of the Labour Party to reinvent the

world of Disraeli, but I do believe in that spirit of one nation. One

nation, a country where everyone has a stake. One nation, a country

where prosperity is shared fairly, One nation where we have a shared

destiny, and a common life that we lead together. That is my vision of

one nation. That is my vision of Britain. That is the Britain we

must become. And here is the genius of one nation. It doesn't just tell

us the country we can be, it tells us how we can rebuild. We won the

war because we were one nation, we built the piece because the

Government understood we needed to be one nation. We have only come

through the storm because we were one nation, but too often

governments have forgotten that lesson. With 1 million young people

out of work, we just can't succeed as a country. With the gap between

rich and poor growing wider, we just can't succeed as a country.

With millions of people feeling that hard work and effort are not

rewarded, we just can't succeed as a contrary. And with so many people

having been told for so long that the only way to get on is to be on

your own, in it for yourself, we just can't succeed as a country.

Yes, friends... To come through the storm, to

overcome the challenges we face, we must rediscover that spirit. That

spirit that British people never forgot, that spirit of one nation.

One nation, a country where everyone plays their part, a

APPLAUSE So, here is the big question of

today. Who can make us one nation? Who can bring Britain together?

What about the Tories? LAUGHTER What about the Tories? I didn't

hear you! What about the Tories? AUDIENCE:

Let me explain why. I want to talk very directly to those who voted

for David Cameron at the last general election. I understand why

you voted for him. I understand why you turned away from the last

Labour Government. This Government took power in difficult economic

times. It was a country still coming to terms with the financial

crisis. A financial crisis that has afflicted every country around the

world. I understand why you were willing to give David Cameron the

benefit of the doubt. But I think we've had long enough to make a

judgment. Long enough to make a judgment because they have turned a

recovery into the longest double- dip recession since the war.

Because there are more people looking for work for longer than at

any time since the last time there was a Conservative Government.

APPLAUSE And here is the other thing. What about borrowing?

Borrowing. The thing they said was their number one priority. This

year, borrowing is rising, not falling. Let me say that again.

Borrowing, the thing they said was the most important priority, the

reason they were elected. It is rising, not falling. Not because

there hasn't been pain and tax rises and cuts affecting every

family in this country. Not because they didn't want to cut borrowing -

they did. Not because your services aren't getting worse - they are.

But because if you stop an economy growing, then it leaves more people

out of work claiming benefits, not paying taxes, businesses struggle,

so they are not paying taxes. As a result, borrowing goes up.

Borrowing - not to invest in schools and hospitals and transport

and education, but borrowing to keep people idle. So the next time

you hear a Conservative say to you, "Labour would increase borrowing"

just remember it is THIS Government that is increasing borrowing this

year. APPLAUSE So what have we seen? We have seen

recession, higher unemployment, higher borrowing. I don't think

that's what people were promised. Look, there will be some people who

say - and this is an important argument - some people will say,

"Well, there is short-term pain, but it's worth it for the long-term

gain." I'm afraid the opposite is true. You see, the longer you have

low growth in our country, the bigger the debt hole becomes for

the future and the bigger our problems will be in the future. The

longer a young person is out of work, that's not just bad for their

prospects now, it is bad for their prospects for the whole of the rest

of their lives. If a small business goes under during the recession, it

can't just get up and running again during the recovery. So when David

Cameron says to you, "Well, let's carry on as we are and wait for

something to turn up" don't believe him. Don't believe him. If the

medicine is not working, you change the medicine. I will tell you...

APPLAUSE And friends, I will tell you what else you change. You

change the doctor, too. That is Look around you, look around you.

You know, the problem is the British people are paying the price

of this Government's failure. You are going to the petrol station and

not filling up your tank because you can't afford it. Your tax

credits are being cut because the Government says it can't afford it.

Your frail Mum and Dad are not getting the care they need because

the Government says it can't afford it. But there are some things this

Government can afford. The wrong things. What do they think at this

most difficult economic time is going to get us out of our

difficulties? What do they choose as their priority? A tax cut for

millionaires. A tax cut for millionaires! Next April, David

Cameron will be writing a cheque for �40,000 to each and every

millionaire in Britain. Not just for one year, but each and every

year. That is more than the average person earns in a whole year. At

the same time as they are imposing a tax on pensioners next April.

Friends, we, the Labour Party, the country knows it is wrong, it is

wrong what they are doing. It shows their priorities. Here is the worst

part. David Cameron isn't just writing the cheques, he's receiving

one. LAUGHTER He is going to be getting the millionaires' tax cut!

APPLAUSE So next week, maybe Mr Cameron can tell us how much is he

awarding himself a tax cut? How much is that tax cut he's awarding

himself for a job I think he thinks is a job well done? How many of his

other Cabinet colleagues have cheques in the post from the

millionaires' tax cut? How can he justify this unfairness in Britain

2012? APPLAUSE Of course, let's not forget this

tax cut wouldn't be happening without Nick Clegg and the Liberal

Democrats. Isn't it shameful that the party that supported, that

implemented the People's Budget of 1909, is supporting the

millionaires' budget of 2012? That is the reality in Britain today. It

is a rebate for the top. It is a rip-off for everybody else. It is a

recovery for the top. It is a recession for everybody else. This

Prime Minister said, "We are all in it together." Don't let him ever

tell us again, "We are all in this together." Friends, I say this: You

can't be a one nation Prime Minister if you raise taxes on

ordinary families and cut taxes for millionaires. You can't be a one

nation Prime Minister if all you do is seek to divide the country,

divide the country between North and South, public and private,

those who can work and those who can't work. And you can't be a one

nation Prime Minister if your Chief Whip insults the great police

officers of our country by calling There's one thing that this

Government might have claimed to be good at. That's competence.

LAUGHTER After all, they think they are born to rule. So maybe they

would be good at it. Have you ever seen a more incompetent, hopeless,

out of touch, U-turning, pledge- breaking, make it up as you go

along, back of the envelope, miserable shower than this Prime

There's more. There's more. There's more. There's more. Not quite

Disraeli, but there's more! LAUGHTER What have we had? We've

had the caravan tax. We have had the churches tax. We have had the

pasty tax. We have had the granny tax. We have had panic at the pumps.

We have had dinner for donors. We have had Rebekah Brooks. He even

rode the horse! He sent the texts, remember, LOL. And now what do we

have? We have the Minister for Murdoch becoming the Minister for

the National Health Service. We have an International Development

Secretary. She says she doesn't believe in international

development. LAUGHTER And get this. We have a Party Chairman who writes

books about how to beat the recession under a false name.

Really, I'm not making this up. I am not making this up. I have to

say if I was chairman of the Conservative Party, I would have a

false name, too! LAUGHTER There it is. APPLAUSE But here is my

favourite one of all. There's one more. Here is my favourite one of

all. There's even a bloke - and I think they call him Lord Hill - he

went to see the Prime Minister, he made an appointment during the last

reshuffle in order to resign. But David Cameron was too incompetent

to notice that he wanted to resign, so Lord Hill is still in the

Government! LAUGHTER This lot are so useless they can't resign

properly! Look, they are not going to build one nation. So it is up to

us. Look, let me say to you one nation is not a way of avoiding the

difficult decisions, it is a way of making the difficult decisions. I

have to be very clear about this and about what faces the next

Labour Government. You see, I think it is incredibly important that to

be one nation we must show compassion and support for all

those who cannot work, particularly the disabled men and women of our

country. APPLAUSE But in order to do so, those who can work have a

responsibility to do so. We can't leave people languishing out of

work for one year, two years, three years. We have a responsibility to

help them and they have a responsibility to take the work

that is on offer. APPLAUSE To be one nation, to be one nation we've

got to give much greater dignity to our elderly population. You know,

we are going to have to tackle the care crisis that faces so many

families up-and-down this country. I mean, living longer should be one

of the great virtues of the 21st Century. But, friends, in order to

be able to afford to do that we are going to have to work longer, have

a later retirement age than we do now. To be one nation we've got to

live within our means. And because borrowing is getting worse, not

better, it means there will be many cuts that this Government made that

we just won't be able to reverse, even though we would like to. And

that's why we said in this Parliament that we would put jobs

in the next Parliament we will have tough settlements for the public

services. And that will make life harder for those who use them and

harder for those who work in them. But here's the big difference

between a one nation Government led by me and this current Government.

Those with the broadest shoulders will always bear the greatest

I would never cut taxes for millionaires and raise them on

ordinary families. That is wrong, that is not being one nation. Here

is the other thing, I would never accept an economy where the gap

between rich and poor just grows wider and wider. In one nation, in

my faith, inequality matters. It matters to our country. What does

it mean for the Labour Party to be one nation? It means we can't go

back to old Labour. We must be the party of the private sector just as

much as the party of the public sector, as much the party of the

small business struggling against the odds as the home help

We must be the party of the South just as much as the party of the

North. And we must be the party as much as the squeeze to middle as

those in poverty. There is no future for this party as the party

of one sectional interest of our country.

So, too, it is right to move on from New Labour because new Labour,

despite its achievements, was to silent about the responsibility of

those at the top, and too timid about the accountability of those

in power. In one nation, responsibility goes to the top of

society. The richest in society have responsibility to show

responsibility to the rest of our country. And I have got news for

the powerful interests in our country. In one nation, no interest

from Rupert Murdoch to the bank's is too powerful to be held to

account. So we must be a One nation party, to become one nation

government, to build a one nation Britain. Here is how we are going

to take some steps to do that. We need a One nation economy, and the

first big mission of the next Labour government is to sort out

our banks. Sort them out once and for all. Not just to prevent

another crisis, but to do what has not been done in decades. Necessary

to enable us to pay our way in the world. We need banks that serve the

country, not a country that serves its banks. Think about Alan

Henderson, the small businessman I talked about earlier on. He wanted

to be able to go into his bank, look his high-street manager in the

eye, and know that he was working for him. Instead he found a bank

more interested in playing the international money markets. That

is why he was ripped off. Of course this government promised change,

but things are not really changing so I have a message for the banks.

We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you fix it

yourselves between now and the election or the next Labour

government will make sure the high street bank is no longer the arm of

a casino operation and we will break you up by law.

There will be some people who say this is too radical, let's just

carry on as we are. I say we can't carry on as we are, we can't. Two

nations, not one. The banks and the rest of Britain. We must have a One

nation banking system as part of a One nation economy. Next, we need

an education system that works for all young people.

You see, to be a One nation economy, you have got to use the talents of

all our young people. It is not just that it is socially right, it

is essential for our economy in the future. I remember when Chris and

myself were at Haverstock School, my comprehensive. For kids who are

good at passing exams, they could go to university, and the world

would just open for them like it did for me. But think about those

kids who had talent and ability, great talent and ability, school

just didn't offer them enough. It was true twenty-five years ago and

it is even more true today. Just think in your minds eye about a 14

year-old today, not academic, already bored at school, may be

starting the process of truanting, not going to school. Of course,

they need to get back school and their parents need to get them back

to school. They can't drift through life with no qualifications, and

Britain can't afford for them to do it either, but we can't just say to

that 14 year-old "just put in that work" Because we have been failing

them as well. For a long time, our party has been focused about

getting 50% of young people into university. I believe that was

right but now it is time to put our focus on the forgotten 50% who do

not go to university. Here is the choice I want to offer

to that 14 year-old who was not academic. English and maths to 18

because rigour in the curriculum matters, but courses which are

relevant to them, work experience with employers, and culminating at

the age of 18 in a new gold standard qualification so they know

when they are taking that exam they have a gold standard Vocational

qualification, a new technical back up or a qualification to be proud

of. We have got to change the culture of this country, friends.

We can't be a country where vocational qualifications are seen

as second class. They are a real route to apprenticeships and jobs.

They can't be as valuable for young people as a university degree. We

need to make it so! We have got to change the culture in this country

and there needs to be that real route to apprenticeships. Let me

tell you there is another problem. Only one in three large employers

in Britain actually offers an apprenticeship. If anything, in the

public sector, the situation is far worse. That is about a culture of a

country. That is about a culture of the country which has not been

dealt with for decades. It is the task of the next Labour government

to do that. The public sector is going to have to step up to the

plate and understand that we can't be two nations. We can't be two

nations. When the public sector Office contract to the private

sector, the next Labour government will make sure that every private

sector contract will only be awarded to a company that trains

the next generation with apprenticeships.

Because when the public sector is having a contract with a private

sector company, it is not just buying goods and services, it must

be about building One nation together. Public and private

sectors joining together to do it. And weeny a new deal with British

business. -- we need. You set the standards, as you have long asked

for, but you have a responsibility to make sure the training happens.

In one nation, there is no place for free riding, free riding where

firms that don't train poach workers from firms that do. Think

about this vision of education. Education to the age of 18 with

proper vocational qualifications, and then think about the vision on

offer from the Conservatives. Michael Gove. Michael Gove. Michael

Gove, who wanted to bring back... I think I get the point! Michael Gove,

who wanted to bring back two-tier academic exams. I remember that

what that was like. O levels, a whole group of people written off.

We are not going back to those days. Michael Gove, who has contempt for

Vocational qualifications and has abolished some of the best

Vocational qualifications our country has. And Michael Gove who

has nothing to say about education to 18. In education, there really

is a choice of two futures. Education for a narrower elite with

the Conservatives or One nation still system as part of a One

nation economy with the next government.

To be a One nation economy, we have to make life just that bit easier

for the producers, and that bit harder for the predators. Predators

and producers. I think one year on people know what I was talking

about. You see, businesses tell me that the pressure for the fast buck

from City investors, they just can't take the long view. They want

a planned 10 years ahead but they have to publish their accounts in

Britain every three months in line with the wishes of the best of

British business. We will end that rule so British businesses can do

that. Companies in Britain are for more easily bought and sold than in

many other countries. Did you know that when a takeover is launched,

the speculators can swoop in for a quick profit. They are not acting

in the interests of firms or the nation, they are just in it for the

money and that is wrong. We will change it for the nation. Here is

that thing - I invite British business to work with us in advance

up the next Labour government. Let's have a One nation business

model as part of a One nation economy for our country. Friends,

in banks, in education, in the rules of the game for companies,

one nation gives an urgent call for change, but one nation is not just

about things we need to change, it is about things we need to conserve

as well. Saying that doesn't make me a Conservative. Our common way

of life matters. My vision of one nation is and out would looking

country, a country that engages with Europe and the rest of the

I'm incredibly proud to be the son of immigrant parents. I'm

incredibly proud of the multi- ethnic, diverse Britain which won

us the Olympic bid and the Olympic bid saw that kind of country here

in Britain. But to make that vision work, to make that vision work for

our country, immigration must work for all and not just for some.

Friends, too often in the past we've overlooked those concerns,

dismissed them too easily. Here is where my approach is going to be

different from the last Labour Government and this Conservative

Government. You see, we need secure management of our borders, we need

competent management of the system, but here's the big change. It is

about the way our economy works. You see, immigration has really

significant economic benefits, but not when it's used to undercut

workers already here and exploit people coming here. APPLAUSE Now,

the last Labour Government didn't do enough to address these concerns.

The Tories never will. So the next Labour Government will crackdown on

employers who don't pay the minimum wage. APPLAUSE We will stop

recruitment agencies just saying they are only going to hire people

from overseas. And we will end the shady practices in the construction

industry and else where of Gangmasters. APPLAUSE So we need a

system of immigration that works for the whole country and not just

for some. You know, there is no more important area of our common

life than the United Kingdom itself. One of our four countries, Scotland,

will be deciding in the next two years whether to stay or to go. I

want to be quite clear. Scotland could leave the United Kingdom. I

believe we will be far worse off as a result. Not just in pounds and

pence, but in the soul of our nation. APPLAUSE You see, I don't

believe that solidarity stops at the border. I care as much about a

young person unemployed in Motherwell as I do about a young

person unemployed here in Manchester. We have common bonds.

We have deep bonds with each other. The people of Scotland and the

people of the rest of the United Kingdom. By the way, if you think

about the people of Scotland and the Olympic Games, they weren't

cheering on just the Scottish athletes of Team GB, they were

cheering on all the athletes of Team GB. APPLAUSE That's what the

SNP don't understand. Why would a party that claims to be left of

centre turn its back on the redistribution, the solidarity, the

common bonds of the United Kingdom? Friends, it is up to us, it is up

to us. We, the Labour Party, must be the people who fight, defend and

win the battle for the United Kingdom. APPLAUSE After the United

Kingdom itself, there's no more important area of our common life

than the National Health Service. APPLAUSE The National Health

Service. The magic of the National Health Service for me is that you

don't leave your credit card at the door. The National Health Service

is based on a whole different set of values, a whole different set of

values that the people of Britain love. Not values of markets, money

and exchange. But values of competition, care and co-operation.

That is the magic of the National Health Service. That is why the

British people love the National Health Service. I'm afraid the

Tories have shown in Government that something they just don't

understand -- that is something they just don't understand.

Remember before the election? Remember those airbrushed posters?

"I'll protect the NHS" and there was that picture of David Cameron.

Remember those speeches, the three most important letters to me, he

said, were N-H-S. It was a solemn contract with the British people.

And then what did he do? He came along after the election and

proposed a top-down reorganisation that nobody voted for, that nobody

knew about and nobody wanted. This is the worst part. When it became

unpopular he paused - remember the pause? He said he wanted to listen.

What happened? The GPs said "no", the nurses said "no", the

paediatricians said "no", the radiologists said "no", the

patients said... AUDIENCE: No! And the British

people said? AUDIENCE: No! What did he do? He

ploughed on regardless. He broke his solemn contract with the

British people, a contract that can Let me tell you what I hate about

this reorganisation. Let me tell you what I hate. I hate the waste,

I hate the waste of billions of pounds at a time when the NHS has

its worst settlement, its most difficult settlement for a

generation. I hate the fact that there are 5,500 fewer nurses than

when David Cameron came to power. Think of what he could have done if

he hadn't spent billions of pounds on that top-down reorganisation and

had used the money to employ nurses rather than sacking them! APPLAUSE

But here's what I hate most of all. Here's what I hate most of all.

It's the whole way they designed this NHS reorganisation. It was

based on the model of competition that there was in the privatised

utility industry - gas, energy and water. What does that tell you

about these Tories? What does that tell you about the way they don't

understand the values of the NHS? The NHS isn't like the gas,

electricity and water industries. The NHS is the pride of Britain.

The NHS is based on a whole different set of values for our

country. Friends, it just shows that the old adage is truer now

than it ever was - you just can't trust the Tories on the National

So let me be clear, let me be clear. The next Labour Government will end

the free market experiment. It will put the right principles back at

the heart of the NHS and it will So, friends, this is where I stand.

This is who I am. This is what I believe. This is my faith. I was

talking to my Mum this morning, as you do before a big speech, and she

reminded me that her mother was born in a small Polish village in

1909. I went back to that village with my Mum about a decade ago.

2,000 people live there. It was quite an event having people from

England coming over. It feels a long way from that village and what

my parents experienced to this stage today. You see, Britain has

given my family everything. Britain has given my family everything.

Britain and the spirit, the determination, the courage of the

people who rebuilt Britain after the Second World War, and now the

question is asked again - who in this generation will rebuild

Britain for the future? Who can come up to the task of rebuilding

Britain? Friends, it falls to us. It falls to us, the Labour Party,

as it has fallen to previous generations of Labour Party

pioneers. To leave our country a better place than we found out.

Never to shrug our shoulders at injustice and to say that is the

way the world is. To come together, to join together as a country. It

is not some impossible dream. We have heard it. We have seen it. We

have felt it. That is my faith. One nation. A country for all with

everyone playing their part. A Britain we rebuild together. Thank

STUDIO: A confident Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband, he brings

his speech to an end. We spoke for more than an hour. He spoke without

notes. He didn't stumble once in that hour and five minutes. He was

confident throughout. He must have memorised huge chunks of it. And

other bits he probably ad libbed. They did not issue a speech in

advance to check against delivery, which suggests that not all of it

was memorised and that bits of it came to him as he went along, that

he had a structure. He began by talking about himself, about his

immigrant parents. He mentioned many times comprehensive education

- there's his wife joining him on the stage to take the applause. A

little kiss for him. The Labour Party will be happy with this

performance today. For many of them, it may have been above their

expectations. He came across better than he has at any time since he

became Leader of the Labour Party. He talked about his faith, not a

religious faith. But to leave the world a better place. There was, of

course, with all politicians these days, the lauding of the Olympics

and he talked about a country united. He invoked one Benjamin

Disraeli and his one nation Toryism as an example of bringing the

nation together. He got a standing ovation in the middle of his speech

for attacking the Tories as "a miserable shower". It was that line

which he built up to again, without any script notes, that brought the

Conference to its feet. A happy Ed Balls there. He applauds Mr

Miliband there. I suspect that Mr Miliband and the others around him

will be feeling very happy with the performance that he gave today. It

was short on policy. There were no new policies outlined. He did make

it clear that another Labour Government would take on the banks,

they would split the banks from their investment banking and the

retail banks that you and I use on the High Street. He would split

them. If they hadn't done it themselves by the time the next

Labour Government came to power, he would split them. He outlined - it

was briefed in the papers this morning - his plan for a technical

qualification, a vocational qualification of huge status on a

par with the academic qualifications that we used to have.

Out he comes, walking through - there's our BBC crew. They are

behind him! There's no escaping from the BBC on days like this! You

can see he is looking pretty happy with himself. He knows that he

pulled it off. It takes a lot of guts. Mr Cameron has done it, too.

Takes a lot of guts to stand up in front of a huge hall with the

nation's cameras on you without a note in your hand and deliver a

speech of overan hour. -- over an Firstly, let's get reaction from

you. What were the e-mails? The was general praise for his delivery.

There was a divided over the substance. One person said Ed

Miliband is really coming across as the most trustworthy, ethically

capable of leaders. Sarah in Surrey said what the uniting speech so far,

with a lot of humour as well. Roddy said Ed Miliband's training in

speeches and connecting to the public is showing through. The

problem is what he is saying looks instructed, and his stories appear

cringe worthy. One good point on his speaking - practice has

persisted, but whereas the substance? This one says 45 minutes

into the speech from Ed Miliband and there is not much in it.

Congratulating police, soldiers and the Olympics, most people would

agree with that, we want to know what he would do in the future.

Let's speak to Nick Robinson. Give me your initial impressions.

think this is a speech that will be remembered for its performance

double-fault. It was a feat of memory. He has been dismissed

before, but he wowed the hall, and I felt a sense of relief around me.

It was also memorable for the theme of one nation. It is audacious, it

has been done before by Tony Blair, but stealing this is an audacious

way of trying to fill the space Ed Miliband believes David Cameron has

vacated in the centre of British politics. In the end people will

say what is the substance? What you got is a direction of travel. He

would say you do know what he cares about, you know what he called his

faith and the detail will come later. After all, there is another

two of these to deliver before the next general election. He had to

speak to the party faithful and the wider country - I suspect those

around him think he has pulled off both. The air is no doubt about it,

in the hall there was the real sense they were sharing this with

him, willing him on. The fact he got two standing ovations during

the speech, one attacking the Tories, one about the NHS, told the

story. They laughed with him, they felt emotional with him when he

spoke about his parents. They took him into their bosom today, and he

gave the sort of performance that would make them think we could see

him fighting a general election. The last person to pull off that

sort of trick was David Cameron, the man who spoke with no notes

about British politics. Compare where Ed Miliband is now compared

with where he might have been. There was a danger after that

pretty dire defeat in 2010 that the Labour Party turned on itself, but

they haven't. There is an argument they might have done that even more

if the leader was David Miliband, someone's seen as a Blairite right-

wing person. There is another danger Ed Miliband has managed to

avoid which the Labour Party didn't avoid in the 80s, the wilderness

years, it is this - they are not being shrill. There was a sense

that they felt we could not believe they have been thrown out of power.

Ed Miliband today said I understand why people gave Conservative Party

a chance, they have just been found wanting. I think he will consider

this the case of job done. One more question, should we be encouraged

to see this in strategic terms as Ed Miliband placing his tanks

firmly on the centre ground, and even a slap in the face for the

union militants? He did talk about splitting the banks, the Governor

of the Bank of England is in favour of that, not particularly left-wing

policy. Widespread support in business across the country for

other things he said, is this a bid for the centre? It was certainly

meant to be, and he wouldn't mind if a couple of trade union leaders

said it was positively Blairite and they didn't like it. That is where

he wants to be positioned, and you can't really judge that positioning

until we know that policy detail. We have had a couple of aspirations

today, an aspiration to sort out the banks, to sort out the fact

there should be a better system of education and more apprenticeships.

Until we know exactly how that would be done, and we only got

hints of that today, it would be impossible to say whether he was

left or right, but what is clear is that Ed Miliband wanted to say as

loud as he could in the phrase that he knows people will understand, I

am in the centre, that is what the one nation code means. A lot of

people watching might say what does that phrase mean? It means he tells

you where he wants to be seen to be going, but yes of course the Tories

as early as next week in their conference will say no doubt hollow

words, he is not really committed to getting the deficit down. What

we may be seeing - I will leave you with this slightly horrendous

thought - I think we have just seen the beginning of the longest

election campaign in British history. I put on the facial

expression of horror. You can't see it now on the monitor. Nick

Robinson, thank you for that analysis. The no freeze frames on

you true. Your initial reaction to the speech? I have been listening

to and sometimes writing speeches for leaders of the Labour Party

since 1983 and that is up there with the best of them. I don't

think just because people were lowering their expectations in the

press, but it answered two big questions which were being asked

this morning. Ed Miliband didn't choose the questions, but they were

is he really a leader who can communicate with the country? And

he answered that today. It was a super speech in those terms. He

took a big risk because to try to ad-lib for one hour, yes he will

have rehearsed, but a lot of that obviously came from what he truly

believes. He took the complexity of his thinking and communicated it

simply in anecdotes. First question answered. Second question is,

whereas the Ed Miliband Labour Party positioned? I thought in

terms of his positioning, the one nation argument that the centre

identifying with aspirations and so on, I thought he was in the correct

political position. He probably won't like me saying this, but in

terms of his ability to communicate with an audience, I was asked

yesterday by a correspondent from the BBC as a final question - how

does he compare with Tony Blair? I said that is an unfair question,

there are very few politicians in Europe who can communicate the way

Tony Blair did. There were large sections of this today which

approximated an approach towards the ability in terms of his

presentation of Tony Blair to communicate and in politics to

reach out to everybody in terms of his one nation theme. There were

questions this morning for Ed Miliband to answer. He has answered

them with that speech. The did you say a BBC interviewer have tried to

trip you up? I asked me a forensic question, let me put it that way.

Let me go straight to shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander.

Welcome. How long has Benjamin Disraeli been Ed Miliband's

political hero? I think he answered that question today by saying his

mission was to build a one nation Britain. He was generous enough to

attribute the phrase to Benjamin Disraeli. It was issued several

decades ago, and he said even the speech would not convince your

viewers Ed Miliband is a conservative but he was making a

statement about what he believes, that we are at our best as British

people when they come together and the challenge of building a one

nation country is the defining mission of the next Labour

government. There is nothing new about it. Tony Blair in 1997, I

believe in Britain, one nation reborn. Tony Blair, 2004, New

Labour now wears the one nation mantle. Ed Miliband in February

this year, we need what you might call one nation banking. David

Cameron, we need one nation deficit reduction. Boris Johnson, I am a

one nation Tory. What's new? Firstly the ridiculousness of the

Conservatives are trying to claim the one nation went every day their

policies are dividing the nation. I make no apology for the continuity

that you suggested between the politics that we stood for in the

mid- 1990s when we won a majority together with the task of bringing

the country together after that election victory. Our job as the

Labour Party representing not just people in England, but in Scotland,

Wales and Northern Ireland, our job is to come up with policies that

bring people together. We have got more than a million of our young

people without work. You can have no credible claim to be a one

nation Conservative it you are overseeing one in five young people

in our country condemned to the scrapheap. Today what we heard from

Ed Miliband was the authentic Ed Miliband voice. This is his mission,

and I feel there are many people across the country who have been

waiting to hear that voice and that vision. The Tories have taken off

their one nation clothes, left them, and you have picked them up and run

away with them? They gave up any claim to be in this together when

they decided to write cheques for every millionaire in the country

for �40,000 next April whilst increasing taxes for pensioners. Ed

Miliband made it clear there will be tough decisions, but week as the

Labour Party believe those with the broadest shoulders should bear the

heaviest burden. That is a message to the country has been waiting to

here. Can I pick up on a line from the speech - you are saying to me

now that every millionaire in this country is going to get a cheque

for �40,000? If you look at the changes that were announced at the

last Budget in terms of the tax cut given to 45%, there will be

benefits of �40,000 for individual millionaires across the country.

what Ed Miliband will be getting a cheque for �40,000 as well? Income

tax is based on income. So why it are you talking about wealth? The

income tax... You have surfaced again and again. You know enough

about economics to know that this is not true. Income tax is on

income, so if you get paid a million, you will get �40,000, but

if you are simply were the million, you will not be - correct? I am

happy any other day of the week to have this conversation, but the

truth is there are many people who will be benefiting by �40,000 next

April. How many? I don't have the red book in front of me. There are

6000 people in this country earning over �1 million the year. Let me

finish the point, then I will come back to you because facts do matter

in politics. There are 310,000 millionaires in this country. It is

only the 6000 earning over �1 million who will be getting the

Facts matter. It is Mr Cameron's �40,000. He's made a conscious

decision... If you think, or if people watching this programme

think it is justifiable for those thousands of people to be getting

�40,000 tax cut while pensioners are paying more tax, I disagree.

You may well be right, you well know that wasn't my point. Let me

finish up with you on this. Do you see this as a move by a man who

says he isn't Red Ed at all to the centre ground? Listen, I have known

Ed for more than 20 years. I have been discussing this speech with

him for months. This is not a tactical move. This is a judgment

by Ed Miliband about what the country needs. All I would say to

you on the basis of my friendship and knowledge of the man, this was

the authentic voice of Ed Miliband. I think that is a message that is

well received here in Manchester. I hope and believe it will be well

received across the country. speech seemed to go down very well

in the hall? I am delighted. This is what brought me into politics,

to bring people together. I welcome and celebrate the speech that we

heard from Ed Miliband. I believe we are a bit closer to Downing

Street at the end of that speech than we were at the beginning.

Maybe one - if you are going to quote Conservative history, you

need to get it right. My understanding is Benjamin Disraeli

did not use the "one nation" phrase in his speech. He also said, "Keep

an eye on Paisley." You are right - that wasn't Disraeli. Go and do

your homework! Read Civil - good to see you. All right. We better end

this before everyone switches off! Thank you. Thank you.

Remember not to have a fight with you over what Disraeli said or

didn't say. The question the nation is asking how he managed to finish

two bottles of brandy and finish his speech? That is water?!

Hope so. There was a warm reception for Ed

Miliband today in the hall. Adam has some delegates with him.

Afternoon. We are taking a leaf out of Ed Miliband's book and doing

this unplanned. We are going to grab people randomly. I will go

this way. Hello. You are live on the Daily Politics. What did you

think of the speech? Marks out of ten? 11. That is not possible!

least ten. What was the highlight? I thought the highlight was towards

the end of the speech where he made the commitment about the NHS. That

was absolutely brilliant. I think the whole thing was good in that

the one nation message was very firmly put down, and we knew

exactly where he was going. That was the speech of the next Prime

Minister. Guys, what was it like hearing about his background?

Apparently, he went to a comprehensive school? So did we!

Brilliant. His personality came through. He did really well. Just -

it wasn't set out as structured, but he went off the mark,

especially with the NHS and his message to the banks, which was

important. They are happy with the Tory-bashing. Hello there. What

would you give the speech out of ten? Very uplifting. He gave his

vision. His message to the country - he will bring this country back

to where it should be. What does "one nation" mean? Practice? Well,

we are all - like Cameron said, we are all in it together - we aren't.

There are them and us. Ed will bring this nation like we were

after the war, we came back from nothing and we will come back after

this lot have gone. Good stuff. How about you? What is your definition

of what "one nation" means? means everyone moving in the same

direction, with the same aims and targets in life. That's what it

means to me. I thought it was quite interesting that he introduced

something that was devised by a Conservative Prime Minister,

Disraeli, in Manchester, as he said. It was a very good speech. I would

give it nine out of ten. Nobody makes a perfect speech, do they?

The audience lapped it up. I did enjoy it. Thank you. Thank you. I

have spotted somebody I spoke to doing the Daily Politics Mood Box

the other day. You are a former Tory. Now Ed Miliband is quoting

Disraeli? I know. I fought the last election against Michael Howard in

2005. I fought because I was so horrified at what had happened to

the Conservative Party. Disraeli would have been horrified. Ted

Heath, John Major, they would have been horrified at what happened to

that party. It was no longer a party of one nation. It was a party

which divided the whole country. Now, we've got a party of one

nation. We are all fighting, should be fighting, for the same things.

OK. Are you looking forward to selling the one nation concept on

the doorstep, delivering leaflets? Definitely. We want a nation as a

Labour Party that are fighting altogether, equal opportunities in

law, and this is why I joined the Labour Party. This is the attitude

and I am really excited to be fighting for Ed Miliband to be

Prime Minister, fighting for the one nation Government under his

leadership. We are gathering quite a crowd here. Who wanted to say

something about the delivery of the speech? The delivery was great. He

didn't say anything of substance. He threw out a load of buzzwords -

one nation this, and rebuilding that, blah blah. We are having an

argument here now! No, don't interrupt. Some real ideas for...

It is called debate! They have got on to this infrastructure bandwagon.

What would you say? This Government is trying to divide the South from

the North. We have regional pay on the table. People who aren't

working are being made to be demonised, or if you are disabled.

It is not right to divide people. don't disagree with that. I love

the idea... Why don't you two carry on. I will talk to one more person.

What you got today was a very happy, a very confident, a very relaxed Ed.

An Ed that would take people forward and was confident. That is

the difference. It might have been missing in years before. It wasn't

today. How do you think he learnt the speech? I think because he's

passionate, he is able to connect with with with people and he has

very good people skills. Good skills of memory! And good skills

of memory also. And I think he positioned the party very well.

Right. We have run out of time. Thank you very much. It was very

hot in that hall. These fans have lasers built into them! I need to

bring the heat down! You were keeping cool under

pressure. That is all the BBC can afford for

air-conditioning! Thank you very much. John, is that

the sort of speech or were there parts of that speech that Tony

Blair could have made? Yes. Could he have made all of it?

and Clinton and people like that have been great communicators. They

have been accessible. They have been able to speak in a language

that others have been able to identify with. Ed Miliband has

never been seen like that. That is why today was a bit of a revelation.

That was the question that many in the media had placed over his

speech. A good speech should educate, it should inspire and it

should point direction - leadership. I think there were substantial

elements of all of that today. The education part was actually about

Ed Miliband himself. That was the questions that were being asked -

what is this guy like? Can he communicate? Is he a geek? He

answered that. It was inspiring. Yes, it is an old theme. But the

one nation is of particular relevance in times of adversity.

It's caught on. It has caught on because people know the country is

in adversity at the moment. There's a long recession in front of us.

Many difficult choices. I think the contrast of his approach today and

some of the actions of the present Coalition Government I think is

pretty obvious. The final... What about aspiration? Was there enough

aspirational politics in there to speak to the country and not just

the Labour Party? Yes. That is important. The key thing that

changed with Labour in the '90s was to stop being identified as only

the party of the disadvantaged. And to look towards and relate to

working people who were ambitious for themselves and the kids. There

was a large section today that said half of our population doesn't go

to university. It doesn't mean to say they are worthless or without

ambition. I thought the material he had on education, the proposals on

that, for the other 50% of the population were right on the button

with the aspirations and the ambitions of many families in this

country who don't see their children going to university, but

they think they can make a huge contribution. Incidentally...

Making it more worthwhile in terms of technical qualifications? Giving

them a status because incidentally this is of a huge benefit to the

country as well. I think we grossly undervalue apprenticeships, we did

a lot during the last Government, we don't do enough. Education for

non-university students. Even at universities, engineering, science

subjects and things like that. That is why I am so pleased with the

speech. You were surprised? You didn't think it would be as good as

that? It is not that I didn't think it would be add good - well, to be

truthful, I didn't think his presentation would be add -- would

be as good - well, to be truthful, I didn't think his presentation

would be as good. I was more pleased about the positioning of

the Labour Party. I have always been worried that in the last few

years of the last Government and the early stages of opposition that

we could move to the left. To see him identifying with ordinary

people who want to see their ambitions for their children

fulfilled, as well as protecting the disadvantaged, that was very

encouraging. Not good news for these militant union leaders?

it isn't. I think that he has carried - he's managed to combine

two things. He's managed to combine change with continuity from New

Labour. I'm happy with that. The essence of New Labour was continual

renewal. I think he's managed to renew ourselves in the context of

today rather than in the 1990s when people like myself were formulating

policy, but to do so by keeping himself in a central position to

appeal right across society and across the regions and nations of

the country. What has he got to do with the unions now? That is the

challenge for him, isn't it? It's how to on the one hand keep them on

side when they are saying, "Get rid of all the New Labour cuckoos out

of the nest" and talking about strike action because they are the

backers, they are the big Labour Party backers and this aspirational

Labour Party? He has to do what every successful Leader of the

Labour Party has done. He has to talk to the trade unionship and...

There's a difference. People in this country, whatever they are

working in, or even if they are out of work, they understand we have

borrowed a lot of money to prevent unemployment scaling out of control

during the recession. They also recognise it has to be paid off.

You will not persuade them to do so unless they think that everyone is

making a sacrifice and as he said, the one with the broadest shoulders

are wearing the burden. That is the key. We have to put our viewers out

of their misery and give them the answer to Guess The Conference Year

competition. It was 1981. John, if you thump that red button, the

winner will come up. Go! There we go. John Robertson from Paisley.