Ed Miliband the Labour leader has stated that "David Cameron is squeezing the living standards of ordinary families, he wants to make it easier to sack workers and he is letting the banks off the hook."
Dealing first, with the Banks this is total poppycock because the man who ruined the British banks by taking the power of regulation away from the Bank of England was none other than the ex Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street as the Bank is known clearly knew a touch more about banking regulation than Ed Milband's predecessor the previous leader of Labour ,Gordon Brown.
Dealing with the point about sacking workers all that has been suggested is a simple return to where legislation originally stood. It was for many years that an employee could only bring a claim for unfair dismissal if they had worked for an employer for over two years as opposed to one year which it is now. Many employers are put off employing people due to the high incidence of what are often less than genuine cases of unfair dismissal. What is wrong with a two year period?
Dealing with the squeeze on living standards I assume he is referring to the recent VAT increase. The last Labour chancellor Alistair Darling had not ruled out an increase in Value Added Tax. One of the biggest increases is that on fuel and the fuel multiplier was introduced by the Labour goverment yet another of their stealth taxes.
I think it is about time that Ed Miliband faced the truth that his party made many errors in dealing with the UK economy:
When in power Labour sold 400 Metric Tonnes of Gold at US $275 an oz compared to a market price today in excess of US $1,375. This represents a loss at todays value of just under 10 Billion pounds. That is the cost of keeping the British army in Afghanistan for some 2 years.Guess whose initials appear on the memos relating to this sale none other than Ed Miliband's!
Gordon Brown at his first budget in 1998 removed the ability of pension funds to be able to reclaim the tax on investment income. In so doing he struck a massive blow at the ordinary working person. When Labour came to power the UK pension industry was one of the strongest but it is now one of the weakest.
The Labour government sent the British Army to war in Afgahnistan with out providing the proper armoured patrol vehicles.
Gordon Brown the ex Prime Minister has to down in history as the only PM to give incorrect information to a Government enquiry (The Chillcot Enquiry). He was forced into a very harmful retreat after he finally admitted that he had misled the Iraq Inquiry and Parliament about the funds handed to the armed forces. Senior military figures complained bitterly after the Prime Minster told Sir John Chilcot's inquiry that the budget for British troops had risen above the rate of inflation every year for the last decade. Mr Brown later repeated the claim in the Commons. He was wrong and had to admit that figures increased only in cash terms. An even bigger criticism is that no war budget was set.
This problem over figures seems a common failing in the Labour party as only last week, Mr Johnson, Ed Miliband's shadow chancellor said the VAT rise will impact on food prices where as that tax is not applied on most foods. What an elementary mistake to make!
On Sky he said that National Insurance was 20% where as it is actually 12.8%!
Johnson when appearing on Sky News asking for the employer contribution of NI to be raised from 20 to 21 per cent as he did not know what the correct rate was!
He had to be corrected by the interviewer that it is in fact 12.8 per cent.
Ed Miliband is the leader of a failed labour party having brought the economy of the UK to the worst recession in living memory to have them involved in the future economy would be like asking the Captain of the Titanic to organise the rescue.
In conclusion I ask Is Ed Miliband a leader of Today? No it is clear that he is very much history.