Ed Miliband can’t make up his mind

Ed Miliband can’t make up his mind he now calls for 'more responsible' capitalism in attack on bankers' pay, yet supported the takeover of Northern Rock which has lost England’s taxpayers millions of pounds, and paid out millions in bonuses to top bosses? , now he saying capitalism should have more responsibility we wonder what he really thinks because he can’t seem to make up his mind?

Ed Miliband, has called for a “more responsible” capitalism in a fresh attack on the “vested interests” in financial services that he claims have undermined the moral fabric of society, he’s left it a bit late with the poor getting poorer each week and the rich getting richer each day?, the poor are discriminated at every corner, low incomes means no mortgages, bad credit ratings and the banks computer saying no?

(You have been paying your rent on the dot every month, which has been going up steadily each year, your now paying an average of around £750 to £900 pm, but no lender or bank will give you a mortgage for two reasons, “none of which are your fault, “one is you’re on a low income, and “two is because you pay so much in rent you can’t afford the massive deposits now needed, even though you could afford to pay it, as you been paying £700 to £900 a month for years so have a good track record and probably better than some with mortgages, as there no time out in paying rent when your hard up for cash, or want to buy a new car, or go on holiday like there is with some mortgages?)

Ed just waking up from a deep sleep somewhere in Neverland? Condemned “unjustified” pay rises for city executives and suggested new laws may be necessary to stop “predatory” businesses operating for “short term” profit. (But that’s the British way of life isn’t it? are some within the British government now becoming English in the ways of thinking)

He called on the government to “change course” by spending more on public services to foster growth and joining a cross party movement to reform the way capitalist markets operate.

Ed's speech, to a think-tank in London, follows results showing the number of unemployed young people reached one million for the first time.

On Wednesday, the Bank of England warned of an increased threat of a double-dip recession and cut its official growth forecasts to 1% for both 2011 and 2012 something the English first minister predicted and said was going to be the case some 18 months ago? And he didn’t need a think tank?

Speaking to the Social Market Foundation, Miliband said the figures marked a “black day for Britain” and accused David Cameron and George Osborne of “hiding away” from the news something also the English first minister has said for months.

His speech returned to the theme of “predatory” versus “producer” capitalism, which he had set out in his address to the Labour Party Conference in September.

“Our argument for a new, more responsible, productive capitalism is hard-headed - not soft-hearted,” he said.

“It is about putting the values of the “British” not English people back at the heart of the way we run our/their country. This about a different way of living together… where we reward contribution and respect talent, not privilege,” he said. (But isn’t that the typically British way of life?)

Labour’s policy review is examining plans for a UK investment bank to support small businesses that want to expand, and considering reforms to the voting rights of shareholders to stop investors seeking “short term” profit.

Miliband admitted that Labour had failed to regulate financial services effectively and suggested state intervention could be required to “break up” vested businesses interests.

“Beyond the banks, it doesn’t make economic sense to allow large concentrations of unaccountable private power which do not work in the interests of the country,” he said.

“Vested interests, predators that do long term damage, are bad for our business and our economy. They raise prices, exploit consumers, and lead to inefficiency.

“Government has a responsibility, on hard-headed economic grounds, to use its power to break up vested interests.”

He called for action on “unjustified” executive pay and suggested that a worker should sit on every major company’s remuneration board to keep salaries in check.

“The system isn’t working well enough when top pay seems to have become disconnected from the value created,” he said.

“Beyond the individuals involved, if people see those at the top making unjustified rewards it corrodes the sense that our society rewards those who do the right thing.”

One the need to promote economic growth, he rejected the “myth” that his policy of spending more on public services would condemn Britain to the same fate as Greece which of course he was correct on that note, but the only thing that has saved England from that fate is we kept our pound and didn’t go to having the Euro because if we did, we would be in the same boat as Greece and like many others in the EU Euro .

He claimed ministers would fail to eliminate the budget deficit over the course of the current Parliament because of falling tax receipts, low growth and a rising welfare bill resulting from higher unemployment. (And of course selling of a bank at a loss of over £700 million really helps the deficit?)

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat president, said: “If Ed Miliband is so determined to make capitalism responsible, why did he let the banks run wild on his watch and let the gap between executive pay and workers' wages grow into a chasm?

“We do need a more responsible capitalism. That's what the Liberal Democrats proposed months ago, the Lib-Dems only proposed what the English first minister said over two years ago.