Ed said
Living wage
"I did not just talk the talk - I was the one and only Cabinet minister to introduce the Living Wage within my own government department for all staff and contracted staff.”
The Tory-Lib Dem government
All of us recognise the deficit must be brought down steadily, so we must not oppose every cut. But the Tory-Liberal government’s plans to cut the deficit faster with spending cuts this year is a return to the austerity of the 1930s Treasury view and is completely out of step with international opinion. This is a new neo-liberalism for the 21st century - a merger of Thatcherite neo-Conservatism and Orange Book Liberals which believes that getting the state out of the way is the road to a stronger economy and fairer society.
Young Labour
“It’s astonishing that at Head Office there is no dedicated full-time member of staff for Young Labour. I think that is now too much of a missed opportunity. So as leader one of my priorities for rebuilding our party will be to ensure we secure the funding to employ at least one full time youth officer again.”
Crime and anti-social behaviour
“‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ was not simply a good soundbite, it was the right approach to policy too. But sometimes we forgot the second half of that mantra. That’s why as children’s secretary I was determined to make sure we did much more to prevent young people going down the wrong track by investing more in things for young people to so after school in the evenings and weekend.”
Tuition fees
“We were right to bring back grants and abolish up-front tuition fees. But for many families on modest incomes in seats like mine, the fear of taking on debt through top-up fees was still a deterrent. That’s why I think we need to move to a graduate tax – with no upfront costs and no assumed debt. It’s a fair system in which graduates pay a contribution to the cost of their university education, but only once they are in work and based on their ability to pay.”
Migration
“There have been real economic gains from the arrival of young, hard-working migrants from eastern Europe over the past six years. But there has also been a direct impact on the wages, terms and conditions of too many people – in communities ill-prepared to deal with the reality of globalisation, including the one I represent.”
The Euro
“We were right to draw up the five economic tests which determined that Britain should not join the euro. A romantic pro-European might have believed that the "political" case for joining the euro might trump the economic pitfalls... But to a hard-headed pro-European, the economic risks were too great to be politically sustained and would have set back the pro-European cause for a generation. The stark differences between our economy and the rest in housing, finance and trade were too much for Britain to bear with no interest rate or exchange rate flexibility. History has proved this view to be right.”
The trade union link
I passionately believe in the union link and when it comes under attack – whether from this Tory-Liberal coalition or even from minority voices on our own side - I will fight to keep it
Markets and the role of the state
“Our challenge is to strike a careful balance: recognising that markets should be servants not our masters and that there is a vital role for government in delivering long-term economic strength and social justice; but also recognising the state can sometimes be part of the problem as well as part of the solution. But we did not always get this balance right. Who can now doubt that, despite the tougher measures we brought in, financial regulation was not tough enough?”
New Labour
“… to me, new Labour was 1994 to 1997, us translating from being a party of opposition to a party of government, understanding that our radicalism had to be based on credible foundations, that no one would trust you on public services unless you were trusted on interest rates and inflation.”
Labour’s legacy
I am very proud of what Labour achieved in government. Labour's legacy is every child who is sitting in a brand new school. Every pensioner who is not afraid to stick the heating on in the winter thanks to the winter fuel payment. Our new hospitals, our Sure Start children's centres, tax credits and the national minimum wage… I will fight with every ounce of my spirit and every one of my MP colleagues in Parliament to make sure this legacy is not destroyed by David Cameron and his new best friend Nick Clegg.
Why Ed is Labour
All the opportunities my family and I have had in life were only made possible by the achievements of the Labour Party in government. My grandfather, a lorry driver, died from cancer soon after the war, when my father, the youngest of three boys, was only 10. My father - from a widowed family in a working-class community in Norwich - was able to stay on at school at 16 and get a scholarship to university. All the opportunities that he and we have been able to enjoy were only made possible because of the welfare state the Labour Government created in 1945, reflecting our core belief that opportunity should be available for all, not just for the privileged few.
Ed Balls
The Tories
“I think if the Conservative Party was so keen to see me as leader of the Labour Party, I don’t think they would have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to stop me being elected as a new MP for Morley & Outwood. They threw money at the seat and visits from senior politicians over a number of weeks, including two from David Cameron, and they also, to be honest, colluded in some pretty unsavoury stuff – but they lost and I won and maybe that’s what upsets them.”
Labour Uncut
Iraq
It was a mistake. On the information we had, we shouldn’t have prosecuted the war. We shouldn’t have changed our argument from international law to regime change in a non-transparent way. It was an error for which we as a country paid a heavy price, and for which many people paid with their lives. Saddam Hussein was a horrible man, and I am pleased he is no longer running Iraq. But the war was wrong.
The Telegraph
Mrs Duffy
It is so frustrating. I have spoken to thousands of Mrs Duffys over the last 18 months. What she was saying I have heard so many times. If I’d been there, I would have known she was Labour.
The Guardian
