Ed Balls to unveil new campaign leaflet today – and new supporters

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

UPDATE: You can now see and download Ed’s leaflet via his website.

Ed Balls will unveil his new campaign literature today. The three panelled leaflet will include a raft of new supporters, details of his ideas and policies for the future of the party and the country, as well as details of a special £1 membership rate for affiliated trade union members joining Labour for the first time.

In the leaflet, Balls is newly endorsed by new Stretford & Urmston MP Kate Green, who had previously nominated Andy Burnham. Green says:

“Ed doesn’t just talk about his values – he does so with real passion and he fights for them too. Whether it’s getting more funding to tackle child poverty or being the first and only cabinet minister to pay the living wage in his department, Ed gets things done.”

Balls is also backed in the leaflet by fomer mayor of London and current mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone, shadow housing minister John Healey, vice chair of the National Policy Forum Simon Burgess, Dudley councillor Shaukat Ali and Stephanie Peacock, NEC youth rep.

Balls writes:

“I am very proud of what we achieved together. Labour’s legacy is every child who is sitting in a brand new school, the winter fuel payment, our new hospitals, our Sure Start children’s centres, tax credits, civil partnerships, the national minimum wage and devolution to Scotland and Wales.

But the budget shows that the Tories and Lib Dems want to tear all this up with savage cuts to vital public services and unfair tax rises, which will put jobs, growth and our economic recovery at risk.

So this is my pledge to you: I will work with party members, MPs, MEPs, trade unionists and councillors across the country to make sure our legacy is not destroyed. I am already leading national campaigns to stop the VAT bombshell announced in the budget and to save free school meals from Tory-Lib Dem cuts. All candidates and the whole Labour Party must unite to fight these unfair cuts.

I want to rebuild party membership, strengthen our links with the trade unions and the Co-op Party and give more support to councillors and party activists across the UK so we can win again – for the whole country.

Labour needs a leader who can make tough calls under pressure, as I did on the Euro and in the aftermath of the tragic death of Baby Peter in Haringey. And we need a leader who gets it and understands why too many people thought they couldn’t support us at the general election.

Leadership is about taking tough decisions. But it is also about building a consensus for change, about listening and hearing before you act. That’s why I’m visiting every region and nation of Britain in the next few months to hear from you.

My father, from a widowed family in a working-class community in Norwich, was able to go to university only because of the welfare state the Labour government created in 1945. I want that same chance for every child in every community. That’s why I’m standing for Labour leader.”

The new leaflet will also feature concrete policy proposals, most of which have already been spoken about at hustings, including:

* Investing in jobs and growth

* Defending public services

* Building more social housing

* Scrapping tuition fees

* A modern constitution

* A Labour Diversity Fund

* Stregnthening the trade union link

The leaflet will be available to download from Ed Balls’ campaign website later today.