Tag: Ed Miliband

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 11 May 2021.

The Government claims to be serious about tackling insecurity at work. But this legislative programme fails the most basic test of introducing an Employment Bill to improve workers’ rights and tackle the appalling practice of fire and re-hire.

Once again we see the yawning chasm between government rhetoric which says that the epidemic of fire and re-hire is unacceptable and their deeds which is to fail the workers of this country.

The key workers in our country have often been paid the least and had the least security. But rather than learn the lessons of this crisis and answer the call to bring something better, the Government is letting down workers and failing to act to protect them.

Labour would strengthen employment protections including outlawing fire and re-hire, tackling exploitation in the gig economy, increasing the living wage, and transform our unequal, insecure economy. Only Labour will deliver the more secure, fairer economy our country needs.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, on 23 April 2021.

It’s time Ministers stood up for businesses in this country, even if they don’t have the Prime Minister’s mobile number. The path to recovery will be long and difficult for many businesses, and a big challenge facing these firms is the debt overhang built up to keep themselves afloat in the crisis.

The Government has refused to introduce the kind of flexibility these businesses need, yet Ministers have acted quickly and flexibly to address issues raised by their personal connections. Rather than fast-tracking the concerns of their friends, Ministers should be listening to businesses of all sizes across the country struggling to deal with debt.

Forcing businesses to repay debt while they are still in the red makes no economic sense. The Government must give our businesses the time to get back on their feet by linking repayments to profits, or risk businesses going to the wall and taking their debt with them – threatening many good businesses and inflicting further damage on our high streets.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 23 April 2021.

This is a huge victory in the fight for justice for the subpostmasters affected by this appalling decades-long scandal, in the face of inaction from government.

But there are so many other names to clear. For some who lost their homes and their reputations, it’s too late.

We’re pushing for a proper Inquiry with teeth to get the bottom of how this scandal can have happened – and who was responsible – to deliver the justice those impacted need and deserve. The Government’s inquiry risks being a whitewash.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 19 April 2021.

The character of this government on climate change is now clear: targets without delivery. So while any strengthening of our targets is the right thing to do, the Government can’t be trusted to match rhetoric with reality.

Ministers have failed to bring forward an ambitious green recovery, passing up three major fiscal events to do so. They are flirting with proposals for a new deep coal mine, axed the vital housing retrofit scheme, and are way off track for our net zero targets.

We need a government that treats the climate emergency as the emergency it is. That means greater ambition than this government matched with much more decisive action. This year, as hosts of COP26, the UK has a particular responsibility to lead the world and show the way forward for a greener future. This Government isn’t up to the task.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 19 April 2021.

To rebuild our economy, we need to harness the dynamism and creativity of our nation’s entrepreneurs. They need strategic and targeted investment, allocated based on the strengths and drive of potential business founders, not the favours or promises of former business contacts.

These business founders and small businesses across the country should be at the heart of our economic recovery, yet too many are being held back because of the unfair distribution of funding to help them start up and scale up.

There are hardworking and innovative business founders being left out in the cold by the Conservatives. With Labour, they will get the backing they need to succeed.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 11 March 2021.

After months of pressure, Ministers have finally been forced to act.

The truth is that this mine is terrible for our fight against climate change, won’t help our steel industry and won’t create secure jobs.

The saga of this mine is a symptom of a government that isn’t serious about its climate ambitions and refuses to invest at scale in a green future to provide the jobs that workers have a right to expect.

The Government must now block the mine and focus instead on real solutions to secure the long-term future of UK steel – and create low-carbon jobs in Cumbria and across the country with a proper green stimulus.

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 10 March 2021.

Any investment in the offshore wind industry in the Humber and Teesside is welcome. But the problem is that across our country government is not investing at nearly the scale that is required to deliver the level of employment in the offshore wind industry we need and workers have a right to expect.

We are way behind even the Government’s target of 60 per cent of offshore wind infrastructure being produced in the UK rather than overseas.

That’s why Labour has called for a green recovery plan, a £30bn investment in low-carbon sectors to create 400,000 jobs.