My vision for Britain

Today I launched our election pledge card — five promises to Britain about the kind of government I will lead if Labour wins the election.

All five pledges are founded on a single idea: the belief that Britain succeeds only when working people succeed.

This idea is at the heart of our campaign, the case we will make to the British people over the next eight weeks, and the way we will govern.

It offers a different vision for Britain’s future than the tired, failing plan of this government which believes only a few need to succeed.

If you agree that our country’s success must be shared among all of us, read on.

MY FIRST PLEDGE TO BRITAIN:
A STRONG ECONOMIC FOUNDATION

We must start with our economy. A Labour government will build sound economic foundations for Britain: we will cut the deficit every year and we will balance the books.

We will bring down the deficit, but we’ll do it in a fair way — including reversing David Cameron’s tax cut for millionaires — because we believe that those with the broadest shoulders must bear the greatest burden.

Every policy we have announced is fully costed — and none of our manifesto commitments rely on any additional borrowing. Not a single one.

MY SECOND PLEDGE TO BRITAIN:
HIGHER LIVING STANDARDS
FOR WORKING FAMILIES

While our economy may at last be growing again, the vital link between the wealth of our nation as a whole and the wealth of working people has been broken.

This is what I mean when I say that Britain succeeds only when working people succeed.

Because on this, the most important measure of our nation’s success, this government has overwhelmingly failed.

With a Labour government, improving the living standards of working people will be our priority. The test of my government will be whether it stands up for the working families of Britain against powerful interests. In the next five years:

• We will write the next chapter in the fight against low pay. The minimum wage has gone up by just 70p in the last five years. With Labour, it will increase to over £8 an hour.

• We will ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, legislating for a new principle: if you work regular hours you will get a regular contract.

• We will help parents balance work and family life with 25 hours of free childcare for working parents of three- and four-year-olds.

And finally, we will take action on energy bills.

For years now, families have been ripped off by the big six energy firms. That’s why we will freeze energy bills until 2017, which means they can only fall and cannot rise. But we will go further.

As soon as we take office we will give the energy regulator the power to ensure wholesale price reductions are passed on to Britain’s businesses and families — and we will insist that they act this winter so that falling wholesale prices will be passed on‎ in reduced prices to us, their customers.

MY THIRD PLEDGE TO BRITAIN:
AN NHS WITH THE TIME TO CARE

The NHS is the bedrock of security for working people in this country. You can trust us to protect it but we will do more than just protect it. We will improve the NHS, making it fit for the health and care needs of every person in this country — from cradle to grave, and from home to hospital too.

To do this, we must ease the burden on our brilliant but woefully under-resourced NHS staff. We will make sure the NHS gets more doctors, more nurses, more care workers and more midwives. A mansion tax will support a new “Time To Care” fund, so that those who look after us aren’t rushed off their feet.

We need to rescue the NHS from this government — and we will.

MY FOURTH PLEDGE TO BRITAIN:
CONTROLS ON IMMIGRATION

Our guiding mission is the interests of working people. Which is why we need controls on immigration — new rules in place that see that entitlements are earned and wages are not undercut. With a Labour government people that come here will have to wait at least two years until they can claim benefits and we will call time on employers who don’t pay the minimum wage, gangmasters that exploit migrant labour, and recruitment agencies that only advertise abroad.

With a Labour government no dodgy firm, no shady loopholes, no sharp practices will be allowed to exploit migrant labour and undercut the wages and conditions of working people.

The next Labour government will put in place the right rules on immigration. But we will never cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, and we will never sacrifice our tolerance or our openness, the values that define who we are as a country.

MY FINAL PLEDGE TO BRITAIN:
A COUNTRY WHERE THE NEXT GENERATION CAN DO BETTER THAN THE LAST

When our young people believe they’re going to have a worse life than their parents, our country is not succeeding.

So as we change our economy, we will give a better future to every young person in Britain.

We will cap class sizes at 30 for 5, 6, and 7 year olds. If you get the grades at 18, we will guarantee you an apprenticeship. If you choose university, we will cut your tuition fees — from £9,000 to £6,000.

With Labour, every young person will get the fair start in life they need and deserve.

This is the future I’m offering Britain: fairness, and a better standard of living for all.

MY VISION FOR BRITAIN

The last five years have been difficult for our country, but I’m urging the British people to choose optimism at this election. It is up to us to choose a country for the many, for the good of all.

If we are true to the idea that when working people succeed, Britain succeeds, nothing can stop us as a country. The future is ours if we seize this chance to change. Join us today: labour.org.uk/better-plan-better-future