Miliband: Labour will put “working people first”

Tomorrow Ed Miliband will lay out the choice for the electorate: between a Labour government that “puts working people first” or a Tory government that “works only for the privileged few”.

To illustrate this difference he will reiterate the party’s pledge to abolish the non-dom status. Miliband will say that the non-dom rule currently allows very rich people to avoid paying tax and he will also point out that the Conservatives, UKIP and the Lib Dems have all defended this two hundred-year-old rule.

He will explain why he believes it is so important that people vote for his party on Thursday:

“I’m not asking you to vote simply for Labour tomorrow.

“I’m asking you to vote for yourself and your family,

“To vote to reward hard work again for everyone in our country.

“To vote to build a future for all our young people.

“And to vote to rescue our NHS.

“Above all to vote for a country where we put working families first.

“That’s what’s on the ballot paper.

“And I’m not simply asking you to reject the Conservatives but to reject their plan to put the rich and powerful first.

“To reject a plan to double the cuts next year and devastate our NHS.

“To reject a plan for a recovery that only reaches the City of London.

“To reject a plan that leaves young people having a worse life than their parents.

“We can’t carry on as a country where there is one rule for a few and another rule for everyone else.

“There is huge risk to working families from a second term Tory government, including one propped up by the Lib Dems.

“They will raid your family budget, they will cut your NHS, but they will continue to protect the privileged few.

“There is no bigger symbol of their failure than the failure to deal with tax avoidance.

“The tax gap between the amount owed and the amount collected has gone up to £34 billion under this government.

“The scandal at HSBC has been brought to the heart of government, the hedge funds are given the green light to avoid paying their fair share.

“It’s one law for a few, another law for everybody else.

“This means higher taxes for working people and businesses, as well as starving money from our public services.

“Let me be clear: Any government I lead after this election will abolish the non-dom rule.  

“The next Labour government will do what no government has done for 200 years. We will replace the non-dom rule with a clear principle: anyone permanently resident in the UK will pay tax in the same way.

“And only Labour will do this. We have come to expect David Cameron and Nigel Farage defending the richest and most powerful.   But it is extraordinary that Nick Clegg is defending the non-dom rule too.

“This is the choice at the election: a Labour government that will put working people first or a government that will stand up only for a privileged few.”