ED Miliband yesterday assured the bankers that a Labour government would cut the current account deficit in each year of its office.
Launching his party’s election manifesto in Manchester, he stressed: ‘This is a plan to change our country.
‘And it is a manifesto which shows Labour is not only the party of change but the party of responsibility too.
‘So page 1, line 1, sets out Labour’s Budget Responsibility Commitment. A clear vow to protect our nation’s finances. A triple lock of responsibility.
‘First, we are the only party at this election which can show how every policy in our manifesto will be paid for.
‘No commitments requiring additional borrowing. Not a single one. That is the first lock.
‘Second, our manifesto writes the first line of Labour’s first Budget: “This Budget cuts the deficit every year.”
‘And that Budget will only be presented when that has been verified by the Office of Budget Responsibility. That is the second lock.
‘Third, the next Labour government will meet our fiscal rules: with the national debt falling and a surplus on the current budget. A triple lock.
‘My vow to you the British people. Everything in this manifesto is funded.
‘The deficit will be cut every year. The books will be balanced and the national debt will be falling.’
He pledged an £8 Minimum Wage, no increases in National Insurance or VAT and that ‘exploitative zero hours contracts’ will be banned but did not pledge to ban all zero-hours contracts.
He added: ‘The next Labour government will help create the conditions for wealth creation in everything we do.
‘’That means being pro-business but not pro-business-as-usual. . . And not have businesses serving our banks but have banks serving our businesses once again.’
He said: ‘We need an NHS with time to care for us all.
‘That’s why it’s right to ask those who can to pay a little bit more. With a crackdown on tax avoidance, a levy on the tobacco companies and a mansion tax on the most expensive properties, worth over £2 million.
‘For a properly costed, fully funded, plan. For more doctors, nurses, midwives and homecare workers.
‘And that’s why too, it is right to call a halt to David Cameron’s privatisation of the NHS. With a cap on private profits in our health service.’
With this remark he signalled that under Labour there will be a place for big business inside the NHS.
