Miliband makes speech in Thurrock to address UKIP success

Ed Miliband has gone to Thurrock today to make a speech outlining his offer to voters in an attempt to address the concerns of UKIP voters, following their gains in last week’s local and European elections.

The thinking behind choosing Thurrock for the speech is clear. Thurrock contains a hyper-marginal seat that Labour will expect to win in 2015, and yet the council went from Labour-run to No Overall Control after a huge UKIP surge.

The broad-reaching speech covers UKIP’s “false solutions”, immigration, Labour’s past mistakes and the fundamental changes to Britain over the past thirty years.

Much of today’s reaction to the election result has been on the topic of immigration, with Tony Blair weighing in this morning to warn against an anti-immigration tone. Miliband said:

“Labour would have controls when people arrive and leave here, we will tackle the undercutting of wages, we will ensure people in public services speak English and people need to earn their entitlements. But a Labour government won’t make false promises, or cut ourselves off from the rest of the world because it would be bad for Britain.”

On a broader theme of dealing with the UKIP threat, he said:

“Labour was founded on standing up for working people. But for too many that link was lost. That is what UKIP has sought to exploit. We know what their appeal is. They provide a simple explanation of the cause of our country’s problems: Europe and foreigners. And they have an apparently simple solution: to get out of the European Union. I have to say: this is not the answer for our country, this will never be Labour’s mission or policy under my leadership.”

As well as talking about the impact of decades of decline – including manufacturing – that have hit communities hard, Miliband, suggested these would be tackled by the party’s policy review in the coming weeks and months:

“We are in the final stages of our Policy Review over the coming months. And will be showing how we can create the wealth of the future, ensure decent jobs, raise wages and have a better start in life for our young people. Jon Cruddas who is a neighbouring MP in Barking and Dagenham is leading our Policy Review. He is here with me. We want to listen and learn from you about how we address the issues you face here in Thurrock, so that Thurrock works for working people again, and so the basic building blocks of the good life – work, family and community – can be part of Thurrock’s future once again.”

You can read the full speech here.