National Executive Committee, 28 January 2014

Ed Miliband opened the meeting. He said that at conference Labour had set out important policies on energy bills, childcare, housing and the bedroom tax, and was now moving on to bigger long-term changes, including banking systems which served business, not self-interest. The cost of living crisis was not just about prices rising faster than wages, but encompassed zero-hours contracts, insecure jobs and low pay, and people’s lives were a world away from the Tories’ rosy headlines. Ed Balls’ pledge to restore the 50p tax band had caused a predictable fuss, but he assumed, rightly, that he did not need to convince the NEC of its merits. The top 1% who receive more than £150,000 hardly belonged to the squeezed middle, and he noted that despite George Osborne’s noises about raising the minimum wage, the Tories and the LibDems recently voted against restoring its real value.

NEC members were also concerned about those earning just above the minimum. Public service workers were not mere pawns in the battle to balance the budget; after years of real-terms pay cuts they needed hope for a better future. Ed Miliband acknowledged this, but said that Labour must show fiscal credibility. Ken Livingstone said that tax evasion and avoidance amounted to 10% of GDP and tackling them could plug the gap; if people refused to pay, corporation tax should be replaced by a tax on turnover. His suggestions will be passed to Ed Balls. I asked about Tristram Hunt’s plans to license teachers every few years, which appeared out of the blue, but Ed Miliband said that teachers’ unions welcomed support for continuing professional development. Others were alarmed that for the first time in generations parents expected their children to do less well than they had, a sign of national failure. Continue reading →