Labour PPCs issue letter of endorsement for Ed Miliband

Update: 20/09/10 – Three further PPCs have now been added to the list of those supporting Ed Miliband.

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Twenty Labour PPCs have issued an open letter declaring support for Ed Miliband. The former candidates write:

“Ed Miliband is the only candidate who can give a voice to our authentic Labour values and offer a coherent policy programme that works. He is the change that we need to win the next election and transform Britain for good.”

The full text and signatories are reproduced below:

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As Parliamentary Candidates standing for Labour at the last General Election, it became clear to us as we talked to voters that those who previously supported us felt that the previous Labour Government didn’t listen enough and weren’t doing enough to address their concerns. This included the increasing income gap between them and those earning obscene amounts – notably in the banking sector whose frivolous excesses and irresponsibility had led to the worst peacetime economic crisis since the Great Depression. Coupled with that was the abolition of the 10p rate which meant overnight they were paying double the amount in taxation and taking a double cut in their earnings. This would explain that among all the different social groups, the skilled working class or C2s showed a drop of 18% support for Labour.

In order to win back our own supporters who deserted us at the last election and ultimately to win back the 5 million voters who backed us in 1997 we need to endorse the candidate who will address these concerns and do the best job for the people of this country.

Having listened and talked to all the Leadership candidates, we are convinced that the person who most effectively meets the challenge is Ed Miliband.

Ed is the candidate who can best offer the change our Party needs if we are to win back the support of people across the length and breadth of the country.

He wants to change Britain’s economy so that it encourages people to take responsibility. That means taking action at the top of the wage scale to ensure that the richest contribute their fair share. It means supporting those who can’t work, but encouraging those who can to do so. And it means recognising the contribution that middle-income earners make, so that they are supported if they fall on hard times.

As part of this change, Ed wants to tackle inequality in our society. That’s why he’s campaigning for a Living Wage to ensure fair pay for a fair day’s work. And that’s why he wants to establish a High Pay Commission, to close the gap in income inequality between the top and the bottom.

To build this new economy, local industries have to be supported and nurtured. Ed is furious, as we are, about the Coalition Government scrapping the Regional Development Agencies, which did so much to sustain local economies. As leader, he would support an active industrial policy that encourages more high-paid, high-skilled, and more sustainable jobs.

Ed knows we have to get the budget deficit down and is committed to making the tough decisions needed to help balance the books. However, he believes this must be done fairly and not at the expense of the most vulnerable in society, and in way that ensures growth to strengthen and entrench the recovery.

New Labour achieved a great deal in Government – the National Minimum Wage, crucial investment in public services, a windfall tax on utilities to pay for tackling youth unemployment, the introduction of civil partnerships and better paternity and maternity rights in the workplace. In addition, as former SoS at the Department of Energy and Climate Change Ed was the first government minister anywhere in the world to commit to cuts of 80% in greenhouse emissions by 2050. He also championed the new electric car being manufactured by Nissan in Sunderland. Finally the Equalities Act was one of the most powerful tools we have for empowering those disproportionately affected by Con Dem policies and Ed has taken the lead in this area by unequivocally recognising that we must embed equality in the Party itself at every level from cabinet down to branch. Overall Ed is proud of our record, and so he should be.

But at times we lost sight of what we hold dearest – our values – and how best to articulate and apply them to policy making, which is why we lost the election this year. In order to win back the trust of the public at large, Labour needs to return to its values, and rely on them as we set about building a better Britain.

Ed Miliband is the only candidate who can give a voice to our authentic Labour values and offer a coherent policy programme that works. He is the change that we need to win the next election and transform Britain for good. That is why we as Labour Parliamentary Candidates at the last election are supporting him. That is why we want Ed Miliband to be Leader of the Labour Party.

Jonathan Slater (Aldershot)

Lucy Powell (Manchester Withington)

Stuart King (Putney)

Nancy Platts (Brighton Pavilion)

Catharine Arakelian (Chingford and Woodford Green)

Graham Giles (Gosport)

Richard Scorer (Hazel Grove)

Tom Miller (Woking)

Luke Pollard (South West Devon)

Michael Sparling (South East Cornwall)

Sonia Klein (Ilford North)

Nicholas Milton (Kenilworth and Southam)

Tim Shand (Guildford)

Kevin Bonavia (Rochford and Southend East)

Eleanor Tunnicliffe (Richmond Park)

John MacKay (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and candidate for the Scottish elections in 2011 in Caithness, Sutherland & Ross)

Jane Innes (Nuneaton)

Gareth Gould (South Holland & The Deepings)

Andrew Judge (Wimbledon)

Cat Smith (Wyre and Preston North)

ADDITIONAL PPCS, SEPTEMBER 20th:

Hamish Sandison (Monmouth)

Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge)

Jenny Rathbone (Cardiff Central)