Labour Conference 2011: Miliband promises young people 'a new bargain'
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Young people are being given a false impression of the routes to success in life due to the influences of celebrity culture and gangs, Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.
Addressing the Labour party conference today (27 September), he praised the work of all the young people who helped in the clean-up operation in the wake of last month’s riots, but said many others are being influenced in the wrong way.
"As young people confront the choices they have in life, they see routes to success today based on a wrong set of values," he said. "The 'something for nothing' of celebrity culture. The 'take what you can' of the gangs. And in parts of some of our communities, a life on benefits."
Miliband said there needed to be a "new bargain", based on British values of "hard work, something for something" and "the long-term".
He went on to criticise the Tories for not creating such a vision. "Young people, doing the right thing, wanting to go on to higher education, are going to find that their hard work and ambition will be punished with tens of thousands of pounds of debt," he said. "And yet at the same time, George Osborne plans cuts in corporation tax for the banks. It’s the wrong choice."
Reiterating his commitment to capping university tuition fees at £6,000 a year rather than the current £9,000, he said the brightest children should not be priced out of higher education.
"To the young people who want to get on and contribute to our country, my message is simple," he said. "I won’t let you be priced out of your future. Labour is on your side.
"We can’t afford to go on with so many young people locked out of opportunity. Three thousand of our brightest young people, at state schools, get the grades to go to our most competitive universities. But they never go. That can’t be right."
Calling on schools and universities to "raise their game", he said the "new bargain" must demand responsibility from all.
Miliband also raised the issue of the welfare system, stating that it must be made to reward "the right people with the right values", but conceded that reforms to make work pay are necessary.
"Even after reforms of recent years, we still have a system where reward for work is not high enough, where benefits are too easy to come by for those who don’t deserve them and too low for those that do.
"So, if what you want is a welfare system that works for working people, then I’m prepared to take tough decisions to make that a reality."
"As young people confront the choices they have in life, they see routes to success today based on a wrong set of values," he said. "The 'something for nothing' of celebrity culture. The 'take what you can' of the gangs. And in parts of some of our communities, a life on benefits."
Miliband said there needed to be a "new bargain", based on British values of "hard work, something for something" and "the long-term".
He went on to criticise the Tories for not creating such a vision. "Young people, doing the right thing, wanting to go on to higher education, are going to find that their hard work and ambition will be punished with tens of thousands of pounds of debt," he said. "And yet at the same time, George Osborne plans cuts in corporation tax for the banks. It’s the wrong choice."
Reiterating his commitment to capping university tuition fees at £6,000 a year rather than the current £9,000, he said the brightest children should not be priced out of higher education.
"To the young people who want to get on and contribute to our country, my message is simple," he said. "I won’t let you be priced out of your future. Labour is on your side.
"We can’t afford to go on with so many young people locked out of opportunity. Three thousand of our brightest young people, at state schools, get the grades to go to our most competitive universities. But they never go. That can’t be right."
Calling on schools and universities to "raise their game", he said the "new bargain" must demand responsibility from all.
Miliband also raised the issue of the welfare system, stating that it must be made to reward "the right people with the right values", but conceded that reforms to make work pay are necessary.
"Even after reforms of recent years, we still have a system where reward for work is not high enough, where benefits are too easy to come by for those who don’t deserve them and too low for those that do.
"So, if what you want is a welfare system that works for working people, then I’m prepared to take tough decisions to make that a reality."