0:00:00 > 0:00:00PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST NNP A595B/01 BRD000000
7:07:45 > 7:07:52.
7:08:05 > 7:08:09'The cost of living crisis goes deep into people's lives,
7:08:09 > 7:08:12'deep into the way our country is run,
7:08:12 > 7:08:16'deep into who our country is run for.
7:08:16 > 7:08:18'And because the problems are deep,
7:08:18 > 7:08:21'the solutions need to be deep as well.'
7:08:21 > 7:08:23I opened a pub six years ago in Hackney,
7:08:23 > 7:08:25about ten minutes' walk from my house.
7:08:25 > 7:08:27One of the things that really struck me was that
7:08:27 > 7:08:30most of the beers that we sold weren't London beers.
7:08:30 > 7:08:33They were international beers, UK beers, but from further afield.
7:08:33 > 7:08:34The seed was sowed -
7:08:34 > 7:08:36"Wouldn't it be really great to open our own community brewery
7:08:36 > 7:08:38"right here in the heart of London, in Hackney?"
7:08:38 > 7:08:40And that was really, I suppose,
7:08:40 > 7:08:42the genesis of the idea of The Five Points Brewing Company.
7:08:45 > 7:08:47In my speech in the Labour Party Conference,
7:08:47 > 7:08:50I talked about the broken energy market, and it was controversial -
7:08:50 > 7:08:52the firms didn't like it.
7:08:52 > 7:08:55But it was the right thing to do...
7:08:55 > 7:08:56APPLAUSE
7:08:56 > 7:08:59..and we're going to do the same when it comes to our banking system.
7:08:59 > 7:09:04There can be no more important test of whether we're serious
7:09:04 > 7:09:06about building the new economy of the future.
7:09:06 > 7:09:09I turned it over with friends, family, staff...
7:09:09 > 7:09:12I think we just reached that point, "Well, you know, what's to stop us?"
7:09:12 > 7:09:15You know, you have to have faith in your own business idea,
7:09:15 > 7:09:17you have to have faith that customers will want to buy your product.
7:09:17 > 7:09:21We wanted the banks to take a leap of faith along with us.
7:09:21 > 7:09:23One of the reasons why Britain relies too much
7:09:23 > 7:09:25on low-paying, insecure jobs,
7:09:25 > 7:09:28not the high-paying, secure jobs we need,
7:09:28 > 7:09:30is that the small and medium-sized firms
7:09:30 > 7:09:32that could be creating those jobs
7:09:32 > 7:09:35just don't get the finance they need from our banking system.
7:09:35 > 7:09:37We had an existing relationship with a bank.
7:09:37 > 7:09:39They were happy to open a bank account for us.
7:09:39 > 7:09:41My manager at the bank approached their asset finance division.
7:09:41 > 7:09:47You know, in Britain, 85% of the small business lending market
7:09:47 > 7:09:50is controlled by just four banks.
7:09:50 > 7:09:54That is one of the most concentrated patterns of ownership in the world.
7:09:54 > 7:09:55We were really confident.
7:09:55 > 7:10:00I wasn't simply going to the bank and asking for a blank cheque - there was a credible business plan,
7:10:00 > 7:10:02we'd found premises, the clock is ticking down
7:10:02 > 7:10:04because as soon as you take a premises you're paying rent,
7:10:04 > 7:10:07you're paying business rates, you're paying insurance.
7:10:07 > 7:10:08Of course it's an anxious time.
7:10:08 > 7:10:11We submitted the business plan and the figures
7:10:11 > 7:10:12to our contact at the bank.
7:10:12 > 7:10:15You know, we hit send, the documents disappeared off,
7:10:15 > 7:10:17and we sat back and waited for an answer.
7:10:17 > 7:10:20Of course financial services is an important industry in itself.
7:10:20 > 7:10:23But for an industry that's supposed to be a service,
7:10:23 > 7:10:26it's been a pretty poor servant,
7:10:26 > 7:10:29a pretty poor servant of the real economy.
7:10:29 > 7:10:32And let's be honest, it's been a problem for decades.
7:10:32 > 7:10:35When the phone call came and they said the finance had not been approved,
7:10:35 > 7:10:37the message was very much, "This is a final decision.
7:10:37 > 7:10:39"We're not prepared to lend to your business,
7:10:39 > 7:10:42"we're not prepared to support this start-up."
7:10:43 > 7:10:47We need an end to the culture of the fast buck.
7:10:47 > 7:10:51We need a reckoning with our banks, not for retribution,
7:10:51 > 7:10:56but for reform, to tackle the cost of living crisis in this country.
7:10:56 > 7:10:58APPLAUSE
7:10:58 > 7:11:02So, on day one of the next Labour Government,
7:11:02 > 7:11:04we will ask the Competition and Markets Authority
7:11:04 > 7:11:07to report to us within six months
7:11:07 > 7:11:13on how we create at least two new sizeable and competitive banks
7:11:13 > 7:11:17to challenge the existing banks on our high street.
7:11:17 > 7:11:19But the banks won't like it,
7:11:19 > 7:11:21just like the energy companies didn't like it
7:11:21 > 7:11:23when we said we wanted to freeze energy prices.
7:11:23 > 7:11:25But that's tough, I'm afraid,
7:11:25 > 7:11:28because we've got to make the big changes our country needs.
7:11:28 > 7:11:31You know, the inability to get bank finance or bank lending
7:11:31 > 7:11:35means the difference between starting a new business that employs people
7:11:35 > 7:11:37or not starting that business.
7:11:37 > 7:11:40I was just fortunate that enough people
7:11:40 > 7:11:42that had some money for a rainy day
7:11:42 > 7:11:45were willing to come on board and support the new business.
7:11:45 > 7:11:48It seems to me that, fundamentally, our system is broken.
7:11:48 > 7:11:50It's certainly not working as it should do.
7:11:50 > 7:11:53I think we need a generation of banks that are willing
7:11:53 > 7:11:56to take that leap of faith with small businesspeople and share
7:11:56 > 7:11:59some of that belief, some of that passion, some of that enthusiasm.
7:11:59 > 7:12:01We don't want an economy
7:12:01 > 7:12:04where we compete on the basis of low-paid, insecure jobs.
7:12:04 > 7:12:06That's not the future for Britain.
7:12:06 > 7:12:09We want an economy with high-paying, high-skilled jobs.
7:12:09 > 7:12:11That's the future we're talking about.
7:12:11 > 7:12:13But if we're going to create that future,
7:12:13 > 7:12:16we need small and medium-sized firms that can make it happen,
7:12:16 > 7:12:18and that's what our banking reforms are about.
7:12:18 > 7:12:21And this IS the test - from energy to banking,
7:12:21 > 7:12:24are you willing to take on the vested interests?
7:12:24 > 7:12:25To make the big changes?
7:12:25 > 7:12:28To tackle the cost of living crisis?
7:12:28 > 7:12:29To build the new economy?
7:12:29 > 7:12:32I am. This Government is not.
7:12:32 > 7:12:35That is one of the big differences at the next general election.
7:12:35 > 7:12:37APPLAUSE
7:12:37 > 7:12:40- Thank you. - APPLAUSE