domingo, 16 de enero de 2011

Ed Miliband: Gordon Brown made mistakes but I listen to him - Telegraph.co.uk

"We should have acknowledged earlier, after the financial crisis happened, that eventually there would have to be cuts under Labour," Mr Miliband said.

"Our plans involved cuts and we should have acknowledged that. The problem we faced was that we sometimes looked like we were pretending there weren't going to be cuts under Labour, when there were."

The Labour leader also said that the party should "take our responsibility for not having regulated the banks sufficiently, along with governments around the world." The UK economy was over-reliant on the financial sector and "too exposed" the financial crisis, he said.

And in a clear reference to Mr Brown's most notorious claim, Mr Miliband added: "Clearly, we should not have said there would be no boom and bust. That was clearly a mistake."

Yet minutes after listing Mr Brown's errors, Mr Miliband named the former premier as a source of advice.

In a separate radio interview, Mr Miliband said: "This job is such a hard job that it is right that I keep in touch with the people who had done it, so I talk to Gordon Brown, I talk to Tony Blair, obviously I talk to Neil Kinnock as well."

"It's only when you have been in the job you start knowing what the job involves, you can really understand the pressure it involves, so I get advice from lots of people."

Mr Miliband has faced Conservative accusations that he is "Red Ed," his agenda set by the trade unions who help fund the Labour Party.

Trying to play down that image, Mr Miliband warned the unions he would not support industrial action targeting the Royal wedding or other public events.

Some union officials have suggested that London Underground workers could strike on April 29, the day of Prince William's marriage. Union leaders have also refused to rule out strikes around the time of the London Olympics next year.

"I am appalled at the idea of strikes to disrupt people going to the Royal Wedding and enjoying the Royal Wedding," Mr Miliband said. "Of course they should not strike to disrupt the Royal Wedding. It alienates the public, it is wrong and it is not the way to make the political argument that we need to make."

"That is absolutely the wrong thing for trade unions to do. I hope that is not the case, I hope it is not true, but I would totally condemn that - similarly in relation to the Olympics."

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