Ed Miliband: I want Conservative votes. That’s how we win

The Labour leader targets centre ground in a public Q&A and insists his plans for Britain are not anti-business Ed Miliband devoted the day after his setpiece speech to the Labour party conference to persuading business leaders that his new vision for the country was not anti-business. The Labour leader appeared upbeat, brushing off suggestions that he was “Red Ed”, and insisting that his was a pro-business agenda that placed him in the middle ground of British politics. Speaking at the end of a Q&A with members of the public – thought to be the first time a political party has opened its doors at an annual conference – he put in a far more assured performance than in his speech the day before. Miliband said the innovation was reinventing politics, and twice overruled the attempts of his compere, the comedian Eddie Izzard, to end the event. His message was consistent – as was the BBC, whose parliament feed failed during the event, after cutting out during Miliband’s speech on Tuesday. He was asked why he wasn’t taking the party to the left. Some in the party are concerned that his theme of “something for something” meant benefits such as housing should be withheld from those who cannot prove the contribution they make to society. He said: “Elections are won from the centre ground. And I think that’s a good thing. I want Conservatives voting for us – that’s how we win elections.” He faced down criticism from one audience member that he should not have extended his responsibility theme to include those who are disabled. In particular, she felt he was too hard on incapacity benefit claimants. Miliband was given a rough ride by the woman, who claimed he was “reinforcing the destructive rhetoric” of the coalition government on welfare by referring to someone he met who was on sickness benefits and who could have

Posted by on September 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.