Miliband fails to convince

IF the 2015 General Election comes down to a straight personality contest then the polls tell us Ed Miliband could be struggling. Earnest as it was, his speech at the Labour Party conference yesterday is unlikely to have won over anyone who doubts he has the dynamism to lead Britain at a time when it desperately needs a firm hand on the tiller.

That is not to say, however, that his chances of entering Downing Street can be written off. Even if his personal approval rating in the country at large remains somewhere near rock bottom, latest poll predictions give Labour a majority of 100.

For the first time in a long time, the Doncaster North MP also has some policies to work with. On paper, they sound decent enough. The pledge to cut taxes for small businesses could prove a useful tool for stimulating growth in a sector of industry that has fuelled economic success in countries such as Germany.

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The ambitious bid to build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020 would help to address the long-term shortage of quality, affordable housing in many parts of the country. Working parents with small children will welcome the offer of 25 hours of free childcare a week, while just about everyone will embrace the idea of a freeze on energy prices.

The difficulty with these headline policy announcements, however, lies in the detail. And here, once again, Labour is found wanting.

The business tax cut, for instance, would be funded by reversing the proposed reduction in corporation tax for larger firms at a time when they are desperately fighting for their share of global markets, essential to stimulating growth and creating much-needed jobs.

Belief in Labour’s ability to build hundreds of thousands of homes each year would be greater if it were not for the fact that under Gordon Brown house-building hit its lowest level since 1924.

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While Ed Balls may be confident the country can afford the offer of 25 hours of free childcare, the country is far less sure. As for that vow to freeze energy prices, there’s no doubt that it will appeal to voters, but it’s yet to be seen if, and how, it can be achieved.

And it’s this lack of clarity and refusal to face up to reality that remains the biggest barrier to Labour’s re-election. Ed Miliband might tell us that “Britain can do better than this”, but such grandstanding overlooks one salient fact – the Tory-led coalition has launched a recovery amid desperately difficult circumstances that are the direct legacy of Labour’s failure during 13 years in power.

The public’s memory may be short, but for Ed Miliband and Labour it is not nearly short enough.

But scheme must stay on track

GIVEN the pivotal role he has played in the bid to secure the £210m Green Port Hull development, the departure of port director Matt Jukes is surprising to say the least.

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The decision by owners Associated British Ports to reorganise its Humber ports, bringing its two divisions under one umbrella, means there is no place for a figure who has been so heavily involved in the bid to transform Hull’s Alexandra Dock and attract wind energy giant Siemens to the city.

It is clear that Mr Jukes is as surprised as anyone, admitting that the move has left him “shocked and stunned”. Yet, as he himself accepts, a scheme that has the potential to be the single biggest influence on Hull’s economy for generations is bigger than any one individual.

Last month it was revealed that more than 100 apprentices had been taken on by companies in the first year of the Green Port Growth Programme’s employment and skills initiative, which is aimed at raising skills and capacity in the engineering sector.

Yet this is a drop in the ocean compared to the 700 engineering jobs that would be created and the thousands of others the site would potentially support.

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The work of Mr Jukes, among others, has ensured that Hull is now well-placed to establish itself as the renewables capital of the UK, guaranteeing jobs, helping the environment and boosting the city’s economy for generations to come.

Now all parties must work together to ensure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is brought to fruition.

Figures who put Yorkshire on map

EVER heard of George Cayley? Or Edith Key? How about Jonathon Fletcher?

Their names may be unfamiliar, but they and many other unheralded figures from this county have made valuable contributions to society that deserve to be recognised.

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Today, the Yorkshire Post shines a light on a few of them. The work of Scarborough-born George Cayley, for instance, paved the way for the Wright brothers’ maiden flight.

Edith Key, from Bradford, was a prominent figure in the suffrage movement

to secure women the vote.

In more modern times, Jonathon Fletcher, another son of Scarborough, invented the world’s first web-crawling search engine – the same technology that powers Google.

None of these figures – or the others whose accomplishments we showcase today – are

what you would call household names,

but in their own right they surely deserve to be celebrated just as much as those who are.