29/01/2014 Party Political Broadcasts - Labour Party


29/01/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 29/01/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

PARTY POLITICAL BROADCAST NNP A595B/01 BRD000000

0:00:000:00:00

.

7:07:457:07:52

'The cost of living crisis goes deep into people's lives,

7:08:057:08:09

'deep into the way our country is run,

7:08:097:08:12

'deep into who our country is run for.

7:08:127:08:16

'And because the problems are deep,

7:08:167:08:18

'the solutions need to be deep as well.'

7:08:187:08:21

I opened a pub six years ago in Hackney,

7:08:217:08:23

about ten minutes' walk from my house.

7:08:237:08:25

One of the things that really struck me was that

7:08:257:08:27

most of the beers that we sold weren't London beers.

7:08:277:08:30

They were international beers, UK beers, but from further afield.

7:08:307:08:33

The seed was sowed -

7:08:337:08:34

"Wouldn't it be really great to open our own community brewery

7:08:347:08:36

"right here in the heart of London, in Hackney?"

7:08:367:08:38

And that was really, I suppose,

7:08:387:08:40

the genesis of the idea of The Five Points Brewing Company.

7:08:407:08:42

In my speech in the Labour Party Conference,

7:08:457:08:47

I talked about the broken energy market, and it was controversial -

7:08:477:08:50

the firms didn't like it.

7:08:507:08:52

But it was the right thing to do...

7:08:527:08:55

APPLAUSE

7:08:557:08:56

..and we're going to do the same when it comes to our banking system.

7:08:567:08:59

There can be no more important test of whether we're serious

7:08:597:09:04

about building the new economy of the future.

7:09:047:09:06

I turned it over with friends, family, staff...

7:09:067:09:09

I think we just reached that point, "Well, you know, what's to stop us?"

7:09:097:09:12

You know, you have to have faith in your own business idea,

7:09:127:09:15

you have to have faith that customers will want to buy your product.

7:09:157:09:17

We wanted the banks to take a leap of faith along with us.

7:09:177:09:21

One of the reasons why Britain relies too much

7:09:217:09:23

on low-paying, insecure jobs,

7:09:237:09:25

not the high-paying, secure jobs we need,

7:09:257:09:28

is that the small and medium-sized firms

7:09:287:09:30

that could be creating those jobs

7:09:307:09:32

just don't get the finance they need from our banking system.

7:09:327:09:35

We had an existing relationship with a bank.

7:09:357:09:37

They were happy to open a bank account for us.

7:09:377:09:39

My manager at the bank approached their asset finance division.

7:09:397:09:41

You know, in Britain, 85% of the small business lending market

7:09:417:09:47

is controlled by just four banks.

7:09:477:09:50

That is one of the most concentrated patterns of ownership in the world.

7:09:507:09:54

We were really confident.

7:09:547:09:55

I wasn't simply going to the bank and asking for a blank cheque - there was a credible business plan,

7:09:557:10:00

we'd found premises, the clock is ticking down

7:10:007:10:02

because as soon as you take a premises you're paying rent,

7:10:027:10:04

you're paying business rates, you're paying insurance.

7:10:047:10:07

Of course it's an anxious time.

7:10:077:10:08

We submitted the business plan and the figures

7:10:087:10:11

to our contact at the bank.

7:10:117:10:12

You know, we hit send, the documents disappeared off,

7:10:127:10:15

and we sat back and waited for an answer.

7:10:157:10:17

Of course financial services is an important industry in itself.

7:10:177:10:20

But for an industry that's supposed to be a service,

7:10:207:10:23

it's been a pretty poor servant,

7:10:237:10:26

a pretty poor servant of the real economy.

7:10:267:10:29

And let's be honest, it's been a problem for decades.

7:10:297:10:32

When the phone call came and they said the finance had not been approved,

7:10:327:10:35

the message was very much, "This is a final decision.

7:10:357:10:37

"We're not prepared to lend to your business,

7:10:377:10:39

"we're not prepared to support this start-up."

7:10:397:10:42

We need an end to the culture of the fast buck.

7:10:437:10:47

We need a reckoning with our banks, not for retribution,

7:10:477:10:51

but for reform, to tackle the cost of living crisis in this country.

7:10:517:10:56

APPLAUSE

7:10:567:10:58

So, on day one of the next Labour Government,

7:10:587:11:02

we will ask the Competition and Markets Authority

7:11:027:11:04

to report to us within six months

7:11:047:11:07

on how we create at least two new sizeable and competitive banks

7:11:077:11:13

to challenge the existing banks on our high street.

7:11:137:11:17

But the banks won't like it,

7:11:177:11:19

just like the energy companies didn't like it

7:11:197:11:21

when we said we wanted to freeze energy prices.

7:11:217:11:23

But that's tough, I'm afraid,

7:11:237:11:25

because we've got to make the big changes our country needs.

7:11:257:11:28

You know, the inability to get bank finance or bank lending

7:11:287:11:31

means the difference between starting a new business that employs people

7:11:317:11:35

or not starting that business.

7:11:357:11:37

I was just fortunate that enough people

7:11:377:11:40

that had some money for a rainy day

7:11:407:11:42

were willing to come on board and support the new business.

7:11:427:11:45

It seems to me that, fundamentally, our system is broken.

7:11:457:11:48

It's certainly not working as it should do.

7:11:487:11:50

I think we need a generation of banks that are willing

7:11:507:11:53

to take that leap of faith with small businesspeople and share

7:11:537:11:56

some of that belief, some of that passion, some of that enthusiasm.

7:11:567:11:59

We don't want an economy

7:11:597:12:01

where we compete on the basis of low-paid, insecure jobs.

7:12:017:12:04

That's not the future for Britain.

7:12:047:12:06

We want an economy with high-paying, high-skilled jobs.

7:12:067:12:09

That's the future we're talking about.

7:12:097:12:11

But if we're going to create that future,

7:12:117:12:13

we need small and medium-sized firms that can make it happen,

7:12:137:12:16

and that's what our banking reforms are about.

7:12:167:12:18

And this IS the test - from energy to banking,

7:12:187:12:21

are you willing to take on the vested interests?

7:12:217:12:24

To make the big changes?

7:12:247:12:25

To tackle the cost of living crisis?

7:12:257:12:28

To build the new economy?

7:12:287:12:29

I am. This Government is not.

7:12:297:12:32

That is one of the big differences at the next general election.

7:12:327:12:35

APPLAUSE

7:12:357:12:37

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

7:12:377:12:40

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS