Miliband dumps New Labour

He used his conference speech to demand a “new bargain” which rewards hard work and responsibility among the British people and businesses as he seeks to boost support for Labour a year after becoming leader.

He insisted he was “up for the fight” and said a Labour government would use tax, regulation and contracts to favour companies which invest in their communities, offer apprenticeships and training and create wealth for the nation, while penalising those which simply seek to make money by asset-stripping.

Workers’ representatives would be installed in every company’s remuneration board to put a brake on “unjustified rewards” at the top and action would be taken to break up the “rigged market” in energy which delivers massive profits to a few giant companies and swollen bills to consumers. And the welfare system would be reformed to ensure work pays and that benefits go to those who genuinely deserve them.

Mr Miliband will hope the speech, which received a mixed reaction, will give the party a lift after disappointing opinion polls.

New bargain

The key theme was his call for a “new bargain” based on British values as Mr Miliband distanced himself from the legacy of his predecessors, saying: “I’m not Tony Blair. I’m not Gordon Brown either ... I’m my own man and I’m going to do things my own way.”

His reference to being different from Mr Blair drew cheers – and even some boos – from parts of the arena, although Mr Miliband was careful to say he was “proud” of the achievements of the administrations of Blair and Brown, whom he described as “great men who, in their different ways, achieved great things”.

However, he said the former Labour government “changed the fabric of our society but we did not do enough to change the values of our economy”, allowing the continuation of the trickle-down economics and the elevation of finance over industry that had begun under Margaret Thatcher.

Banker Sir Fred Goodwin should not have been knighted by a Labour government and the private equity firm which bought Southern Cross care homes should not have been allowed to strip its assets for a “fast buck”.

After the riots, the banking crisis, phone hacking and MPs’ expenses, he said it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to “change the way we do things”.

He warned that a “something for nothing culture” had grown up where people are encouraged to “take what you can, fill your boots”.

Instead, reward should be linked to effort in a “something for something” ethos. Mr Miliband acknowledged changing Britain would be a “tough fight” but said he was determined to strike his new bargain.

Business

Mr Miliband insisted he was “pro business” but said Labour would be on the side of “producers” rather than “predators”.

“Producers train, invest, invent, sell,” he said. “Things Britain does brilliantly. Predators are just interested in the fast buck, taking what they can out of the business.

“This isn’t about one industry that’s good and another that isn’t. Or one firm always destined to be a predator and another to be a producer. It’s about different ways of doing business, ways that the rules of our economy can favour or discourage.”

He accused the Government of “selling down the river” companies like Bombardier, BAe Systems and Sheffield Forgemasters, which had an £80m loan axed by the coalition last year.

Taking aim at the Deputy Prime Minister and Sheffield Hallam MP, he said: “Having Nick Clegg as the local MP didn’t help much. You know, the boundary review means his seat will be represented by a Tory after the next election. No change there then.”

Economy

The Labour leader renewed calls for David Cameron to change course on the economy and recognise the Government’s austerity plan “is failing”.

He admitted Labour had lost trust from voters but pledged to regain it as he insisted the party could now offer a credible alternative through a growth plan announced by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls on Monday.

“I am determined to prove to you that the next Labour government will only spend what it can afford, that we will live within our means, that we will manage your money properly.”

He warned that if Labour wins the next election in 2015 it “won’t be able to reverse many of the cuts this Government is making”, but said he would deal with the deficit if the coalition fails to – although he did not spell out how.

Tories

Mr Miliband surprised some in the audience by insisting Labour was “wrong” to oppose the Thatcher administration’s reform of strike laws, council house sell-off and cuts in sky-high taxes in the 1980s, and made clear he was not seeking to overturn all of her legacy.

But he condemned David Cameron as “the last gasp of the old rules” which had saddled Britain with “the wrong values for our country and the wrong values for our time”.

Mr Miliband also won a standing ovation by claiming “you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS”.

He praised the care his family received when his son Sam was born this year and said that the Government’s plans for the NHS were the thing “that shocks me most” about the coalition.

David Cameron had “told us he was different” but within a year of gaining power had “gone back on every word he’d said”.

Society

The Doncaster North MP praised British troops and the response of those who came out to clean the streets after the riots, saying that the “vast majority of people who live there are decent, law-abiding, community-spirited”.

He challenged David Cameron’s notion that parts of the country are “sick”, saying: “We are not a country of bad people but great people.” But he said that for decades the country has been run on the “wrong values”.