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Ed Miliband vows more vocational training Ed Miliband unveils 'predistribution' plan to fix economy
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Labour leader Ed Miliband has set out plans for greater vocational training in schools as part of a wider effort to remodel the British economy. A Labour government would attempt to cut the welfare bill by ensuring poorer workers are paid better, Ed Miliband has said.
A Labour government would seek to boost the prospects of youngsters who do not go to university, he said. Instead of redistributing wealth through the tax and benefit system, there should be more "predistribution", the Labour leader said in a speech.
The plan is part of a series of measures to improve what Mr Miliband calls the "pre-distribution" of wealth. That meant better vocational training in schools - but also a change in attitude from business.
He wants to raise the incomes of poorer families without relying on handouts through the tax and benefits system. He called for more "responsible" firms that focused on the long-term.
In a speech in the City of London, Mr Miliband said: "We cannot allow ourselves to be stuck with permanently being a low-wage economy. In a speech in the City of London, Mr Miliband said as big a shift in thinking on the economy was needed now as had happened after World War II and in the late 1970s and it could take longer than a Parliament to achieve.
"It is neither just, nor does it enable us to pay our way in the world. It would also require a major change in philosophy from the Labour Party.
"Our aim must be to transform our economy so it is a much higher skill, higher wage economy. "The redistribution of the last Labour government relied on revenue, at least in part, which the next Labour government will not enjoy," said Mr Miliband.
"The option of simply increasing tax credits, for example, in the way we did before will not be open to us. Of course, redistribution will always remain necessary and I continue to believe that, but we have learned we have got to do more.
"And fiscal circumstances will make it harder not easier."
'Higher wage economy'
What was needed, he said, was more "predistribution" - a phrase he has borrowed from an American academic.
"Predistribution is about saying, 'We cannot allow ourselves to be stuck with permanently being a low-wage economy and hope that through taxes and benefits we can make up the shortfall.'
"It's not just, nor does it enable us to pay our way in the world.
"Our aim must be to transform our economy so it is a much higher skill, much higher wage economy.
"Think about somebody working in a call centre, a supermarket, or in an old peoples' home."Think about somebody working in a call centre, a supermarket, or in an old peoples' home.
"Redistribution offers a top-up to their wages. Predistribution seeks to go further - higher skills with higher wages.""Redistribution offers a top-up to their wages. Predistribution seeks to go further - higher skills with higher wages."
He said the Labour Party was working with schools and universities to come up with new ideas to boost skills training for children who did not go into higher education. We have all heard of redistribution - to coin a phrase, taking from the rich to give to the poor.
In a wide-ranging speech on economic policy, Mr Miliband said British business needed to take a longer term, more socially responsible approach to growth. But what in heaven's name is pre-distribution?
Well, the phrase was popularised - if that's the right word - by the American academic Jacob Hacker, who is close to the Democrats.
It's designed to answer, at least in part, the question of how centre-left parties can differ from their right-wing opponents in austere times when there is very little public money to spend.
In the British context, Labour will say that if re-elected, they could spend less on tax credits and welfare by ensuring people were better paid in the first place.
That means more investment in education and skills by the state.
But - and this is the bit Labour aren't saying too much about at the moment - it is also means putting more pressure on employers to pay higher wages.
For example by making government contracts dependent on a bidder's willingness to pay a "living wage", higher than the current national minimum.
That's pre-distribution - and while it's designed to save government money, economically it's not cost free.
Mr Miliband said the Labour Party was working with schools, universities and business to come up with new ideas to boost skills training for the 50% of young people who did not go on to higher education, but who still deserved the chance to build a career.
He also revealed he was in contact with Business Secretary Vince Cable, via text message, and was keen to work with the Lib Dems to change the government's economic direction.
Asked about how he could work with a party that spurned Labour in favour of a coalition with the Conservatives, he said: "They made a tragic mistake, but I welcome all people who recant."
The Labour leader was sharing a platform with shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who repeated his offer of cross-party talks on a "mansion tax" - the Lib Dem proposal to slap a levy on high-value properties.
But Mr Balls derided the government's latest plan to kick-start the British economy, by loosening planning regulations.
He told reporters: "It is a mouse when we need a lion to roar. We have got to get this economy moving.
"They should not be changing the planning rules on conservatories. They should have a cut in VAT of 5% done immediately, for 12 months."
He also called for "another bank bonus tax" to fund 25,000 new low-cost homes.