Miliband faced the second round of audience questioning
The second round of BBC Question Time saw Ed Miliband heavily questionned by audience members.
The Labour leader was first asked: “How can we trust Labour with the UK economy?”
Miliband said: “It will be the mission of my government to cut the deficit and balance books.”
He stated that he would implement fair taxes for the rich, and protect health and education sectors.
After admitting to the previous Labour government’s failures, he said the real question is who “will get it right in the future”.
The Labour leader then came under fire by a business owner from Leeds, who asked how can she trust Ed Balls as Chancellor when she faced such financial troubles after Gordon Brown’s government.
Miliband answered by saying that as Prime Minister, he would cut business rates for small businesses like hers.
Feeling as though he dodged the question, the woman confronts him, saying: “That wasn’t the question I asked you”.
Miliband aimed to steer the topic towards the EU, reiterating his view that Labour want Britain to stay in Europe.
Turning back to the economy, one audience member asked: “If Labour were in power do you think you could ever reduce the gap between the rich and poor?”
Miliband simply replied: “I’m going to get rid of it. There should be one rule for all, not one rule for the rich and powerful.”
One “simple” question received a controversial answer.
When asked whether he thought Labour overspent when they were last in power, Miliband replied: “No, I don’t.”
Instead, he blamed the global financial crisis for the defecit rise.
This prompted one audience member to ask why the UK faced such a crisis when countries like Australia and Canada did not.
“The facts speak for themselves,” said the audience member, “during that 13 years of government, you spent and spent and spent.”
Miliband argued that Labour built more schools and health services, but failed on building a “modern industrial policy”.
Issues of trust in the economy kept arising, with Miliband stating that Cameron will double the cuts next year, counteracting that Labour are committed to “to a balanced plan without cutting public services”.
The debate then switched to discuss the chance of a coalition government with the Scottish National Party.
“We are not going to do a deal with the SNP,” said Miliband, “We are not going to have a coalition, and I’m not going to sacrifice the future of our country.”
He then simply said that the only way to get a Labour government was to vote Labour, stating that he would rather not have a Labour government than have a coalition.
At this, a member of the audience accused him of “sounding like the other guy” and that Miliband needed to be honest in that he “won’t get a majority”.
To this, Miliband replied: “I’m not going to start bartering away my manifesto to win a majority.”
“Do you comprehend the amount of respect you would get from the audience if you were honest?” asked one gentleman in the audience.
Miliband then relayed his statement on not bartering away his manifesto, stressing that he does not want to make “a false promise” after seeing “what happened to Nick Clegg”.
Zero hours contracts caught the attention of the audience, with Miliband denying that living on benefits is a valid lifestyle choice.
One audience member accused Labour’s proposal to end zero hour contracts as “putting business before gimmicks”.
Miliband fought back, explaining that contracts should “be in the hands of the employee”.
After a question arose on immigration, the Labour leader admitted that he has changed his stance.
He said how he wants to deny migrants of benefits for at least two years, stressing the importance of them learning English, as well as stopping employers bringing people into the country and exploiting them by “undercutting wages”.
A heckle then came from a woman in the audience: “Why won’t you set targets then?”
Miliband replied that he would not set a target as he does not want to break his promise, to which she accused him of losing his credibility.
Leave a Reply