This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21453444

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Ed Miliband sets out Budget battlelines Ed Miliband pledges 'mansion tax' to fund 10p tax rate return
(about 5 hours later)
Labour leader Ed Miliband is expected to set out his battlelines for the Budget in a speech on the economy. Labour will re-introduce the 10 pence starting rate of tax scrapped by Gordon Brown in 2009 if it is re-elected, Ed Miliband has announced.
Mr Miliband will criticise the government's economic policy as a "race to the bottom in wages and skills", rewarding those at the top while "squeezing" everyone else. Mr Miliband said it was a "mistake" to get rid of it and the move would send a "clear signal" his party was on the "side of working people".
Instead, as part of his One Nation Labour approach, he will say the economic recovery must be made "by the many, not just a few". The move would be paid for by a new "mansion tax" on £2m properties, he indicated in a speech in Bedford.
The Budget will take place on 20 March. Treasury sources said Labour had no "economic credibility".
Speaking in Bedford, where in 1957 Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said Britons had "never had it so good", the Labour leader is expected to say that falling wages and rising prices mean many now feel "they will never have it so good again". The decision to scrap the 10p tax band - first announced in the 2007 Budget - was highly controversial with Labour MPs at the time although Ed Miliband, who was a cabinet member under Mr Brown, supported it.
But the Labour leader said the party has rethought its position and would reinstate the 10p band if it is returned to power after the next election.
'Fairer taxes'
"We would put right a mistake made by Gordon Brown and the last Labour government," he said.
"We would use the money raised by a mansion tax to reintroduce a lower 10 pence starting rate of tax, with the size of the band depending on the amount raised. This would benefit 25 million basic rate taxpayers."
Labour has previously indicated it would only set out tax and spending commitments in the run-up to the next election - scheduled in 2015 - and that doing so earlier would not be sensible.
But Mr Miliband said the 10p pledge would send a clear message about Labour's commitment "to a fairer tax system and improving the living standards of working people" as well as showing the party is "moving on from the past".
The idea of a mansion tax was first proposed by the Lib Dems before the last election although the Conservatives oppose the move and the policy was not adopted by the coalition government.
In the speech, Mr Miliband also reiterated his support for a temporary cut to VAT to boost economic growth and call for action on train fares, "unfair" bank charges and capping interest on payday loans.
Criticising the government's economic policy as a "race to the bottom in wages and skills", he accused the Conservatives and Lib Dems of rewarding those at the top while "squeezing" everyone else.
Speaking in Bedford, where in 1957 Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said Britons had "never had it so good", the Labour leader said that falling wages and rising prices mean many now feel "they will never have it so good again".
'Building not squeezing''Building not squeezing'
Mr Miliband will say: "People in Britain are putting in the hours - doing the shifts - as never before. But something has changed in the last few years. Mr Miliband said: "People in Britain are putting in the hours - doing the shifts - as never before. But something has changed in the last few years.
"There's less chance of promotion, less chance of a pay rise, and at the same time, prices just go up and up and up: petrol for the car, tickets for the train, childcare for the kids, deposits for a first home."There's less chance of promotion, less chance of a pay rise, and at the same time, prices just go up and up and up: petrol for the car, tickets for the train, childcare for the kids, deposits for a first home.
"The 'squeezed middle' has never been so squeezed - and it looks like it will be that for years to come. It's no wonder our economy isn't growing when people can't afford to buy the things that British businesses try to sell.""The 'squeezed middle' has never been so squeezed - and it looks like it will be that for years to come. It's no wonder our economy isn't growing when people can't afford to buy the things that British businesses try to sell."
He is expected to say that Britain is at a "fork in the road" and needs to choose between "more of the same", with falling wages, low growth and a growing deficit, or a recovery made by "building not squeezing the middle": "A recovery made by all of us playing our part." He criticised the government's decision to scrap the 50p tax rate for those earning over £150,000 from April 2013.
He will criticise the government's decision to scrap the 50p tax rate for those earning over £150,000 from April 2013.
"We need very successful entrepreneurs in Britain, making profits, being rewarded," he will say. "But we can't succeed as a country just by hoping wealth will trickle down from those at the top to everyone else, our economy won't turn around that way.""We need very successful entrepreneurs in Britain, making profits, being rewarded," he will say. "But we can't succeed as a country just by hoping wealth will trickle down from those at the top to everyone else, our economy won't turn around that way."
And he is expected to challenge David Cameron's rhetoric of ensuring Britain is competing in the "global race". 'Labour's mess'
"The Condition of Britain" And he challenged David Cameron's rhetoric of ensuring Britain is competing in the "global race".
"It is essential that we can compete with China and India and others," he will say. "But I have to tell you, Britain won't win a race to the bottom by competing in the world as a low skill, low wage economy." "It is essential that we compete with China and India and others," he will say. "But I have to level with you, Britain won't win a race to the bottom by competing in the world as a low skill, low wage economy."
He is expected to back a temporary cut to VAT to boost economic growth and call for action on train fares, "unfair" bank charges and capping interest on payday loans. In response, Treasury sources said Labour "wrecked" the economy with excessive spending and borrowing - and their plans would result in a £200 billion increase in borrowing.
He will call for a "modern industrial policy" and says Labour will work with companies to encourage them to pay a living wage. "But we know how hard it is for hard-working people up and down the country," an aide to the Chancellor said. "That's why as we deal with Labour's mess we have also cut income tax, capped benefits, frozen fuel duty and frozen council tax."
In a separate development, Jon Cruddas, who is coordinating Labour's policy review, will launch an inquiry into "The Condition of Britain" to be led by the centre-left thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research.In a separate development, Jon Cruddas, who is coordinating Labour's policy review, will launch an inquiry into "The Condition of Britain" to be led by the centre-left thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Mr Cruddas will say the inquiry will look at "the major pressures facing the British people" and how to "harness" ambition and ingenuity to "create a better society".
He will emphasise the importance of communities, families and friends in people's lives, in public services and in institutions, arguing that "markets and financial transactions have been introduced into areas of life they do not belong".