Better Plan, Better Future: Ed Miliband

ed milibandFollowing is the transcript of Labour leader Ed Miliband’s speech at Pendle 

Let me say directly to the British people, to all those people still making up their minds. I’m not asking you to simply vote for Labour tomorrow. I’m asking you to vote for yourself and your family.

I’m asking you to vote to reward hard work again for everyone in our country. I’m asking you to vote to build a future for all our young people. I’m asking you to vote to rescue our NHS.

Above all I’m asking you to vote for a country where we put working families first. That’s what’s on the ballot paper.

And I’m not simply asking you to reject the Conservatives but to reject their plan to put the rich and powerful first.

I’m asking you to reject a plan to double the cuts next year and devastate our NHS.

I’m asking you to reject a plan for a recovery that only reaches the City of London.

I’m asking you to reject a plan that leaves young people having a worse life than their parents.

This is the clearest choice that has been put before the British people for a generation.

Between a Tory government that works only for the privileged few or a Labour government that will put working families first. And that is why the stakes are so high.

We’ve run the biggest people-driven campaign in history. At the start of this campaign I said that we wanted to have 4 million conversations in 4 months.

Last week I upped that target to 5 million. And I am so proud that today, on the final day of campaigning, we will top 5 million conversations.

The Labour Party will have more members, more activists, more volunteers out on the streetstomorrow than all the main parties combined. And you know, I think this tells you all you need to know about where the energy lies in this election.

A negative campaign with nothing to say to working people. Nothing to offer for the future.Just desperate tactics.

People don’t want to knock on doors for the Tories. But people do want to knock on doors for Labour. They want to talk to their neighbours. They want to fight every second that remains.

Not for ourselves but for working families. Because we know that Britain only succeeds when working families succeed.

So with just a few hours to go until polls open, we’re going to be out there on the doorsteps of Britain setting out the choice facing working people.

That a vote for Labour tomorrow is a vote for a better future for working people. And so let me tell you what I will do as Prime Minister.

We believe we should reward the hard work of everyone in our country, not just those who get the six figure bonuses.

So we will raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour. We believe in security not insecurity at work, so we will ban exploitative zero hours contracts and legislate so that if you do regular hours, you get a regular contract.

We will give opportunities for all our young people, guaranteed apprenticeships if you get the grades and cutting tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000.

We will build homes again in our country, zero stamp duty for first time buyers and a fair deal for those who rent, because I believe every person should have the security of a home of their own.

We will bring fairness back to Britain and abolish this Government’s cruel, indefensible Bedroom Tax.

And we will rescue our NHS. With a funded plan for 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more doctors, 5,000 more careworkers and 3,000 more midwives.

And unlike other parties, I can tell you where every penny of what is needed to pay for it is coming from: a mansion tax on properties above £2m, money from the tobacco companies and cracking down on tax avoidance by the hedge funds.

And while we are about it, we’ll do something else. We’ll tackle tax avoidance right across our economy.

There is no bigger symbol of who the Tories stand for than their failure to deal with tax avoidance. We will have a different approach.

Under my government, there will be no hiding place for the hedge funds, no shelter in the tax havens, no green light for those who avoid paying their fair share.

And let me be clear: we will end the situation where you can live here, work here, be permanently settled here and not pay taxes here.

The next Labour government will do what no government has done for 200 years. We will abolish non-dom status.

We have come to expect David Cameron and Nigel Farage defending the richest and most powerful.

But don’t forget that Nick Clegg is defending the non-dom rule too. A Tory plan where there is one rule for a few and another rule for everyone else.

A second term Tory government,  propped up by the Lib Dems. They will raid your family budget, they will cut your NHS, but they will continue to protect the privileged few.

That is why we need Labour’s better plan for a better future. And all of this is underpinned by cutting the deficit every year and balancing the books.

We have only a few hours left. This race is going to be the closest we have ever seen.

It is going to go down to the wire. Tell your friends, your family, your neighbours how important this is.

Every single person in our country could make the difference. We have the better plan for working families.

We can build a better future for Britain.

All we need to do is to vote for it.