'Sponsored walk' jibe as Miliband rallies militants who get set for a general strike

By Gerri Peev

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Ed Miliband will speak at a trade union rally today in which militant leaders will call for a general strike.

In doing so, the Labour leader will risk accusations he is a hostage to unions that have donated £17million to his party since he took over in September 2010.

His Tory opponents have already called a march that will proceed his speech a ‘sponsored walk’. They have set up a parody website showing him asking for donations to his ‘favourite charity, the Labour Party’.

Showing his support: Labour leader Ed Miliband has been accused by the Tories of being a slave to the Unions

Showing his support: Labour leader Ed Miliband has been accused by the Tories of being a slave to the Unions

In it, he says: ‘If you’re free, we’re having a little party at my house afterwards. It’s the big one, in the posh neighbourhood, worth well over two million – you can’t miss it.’

Mr Miliband met business leaders yesterday to publicise the mis-selling scandal by banks that broke many small firms.

 

But his attempts to throw off the ‘Red Ed’ tag will be harmed by his association with left-wingers protesting against government cuts in Hyde Park, central London. In his speech, he is expected to say: ‘They told us “we’re all in this together”.

Time for action: Rail union leader Bob Crow has called on his workers to stand up and be counted

Time for action: Rail union leader Bob Crow has called on his workers to stand up and be counted

‘But now they are cutting taxes for millionaires, as they raise taxes on everybody else, including our pensioners.

‘They told us the gain would be worth the pain. But even after the cuts, the pain, the tax rises, borrowing is not falling – it’s rising. They are even failing the one test they set themselves.’

Mr Miliband will say that trickle-down economics is not the way to get Britain working. But he will admit that in power he would have to make cuts: ‘I do not promise easy times. But I do promise a different and fairer approach.

‘This Government has shown us self-defeating austerity, by cutting too far and too fast, is not the answer. I would never cut taxes for millionaires while raising taxes for everybody else.’

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather to hear union leaders call for a general strike over cuts to their pensions and public services.

Bob Crow of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will say: ‘The marches are a building block towards the objective of co-ordinated action and a general strike. That is why RMT says, march today, strike tomorrow.’

But Matthew Sinclair of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘The protesters are arguing against necessary spending cuts and pension reform in favour of preserving an unaffordable status quo at the expense of families struggling in the recession. Militant union leaders oppose any cuts in public spending but most people know public spending has become unsustainable.’

 

The comments below have not been moderated.

Seriously. There really is something genetically abnormal about Milliband. He just doesn't look right... or act right.

Click to rate     Rating   4

good to see Milliband getting in bed with the devil. Vote labour and the militants get the power to hold the country to ransom. remember what happened with the drivers before the olympics

Click to rate     Rating   7

if the malignant, vile crowe and the stupid millipede think something is right then you can be sure most sensible people will know it is wrong.

Click to rate     Rating   13

He has got to obey his union masters commands and they will become even more radical if Labour ever get another chance to destroy our country!! - EnglandandStGeorge, Derby, 20/10/2012 8:23 Even the thought of it sends shivers down my spine!

Click to rate     Rating   15

political pygmies bleating like sheep, all of them. - Druid, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 20/10/2012 17:02 Surely sheep are more intelligent than the millipede?

Click to rate     Rating   14

These are the same people who sneer if you hint you're proud to be British , who despise anyone who wants to make something of their lives . They want a whole country full of state employed workers who are easier to control and bring in laws to shut up dissenters . Communism by the back door ! Scary people !! I've been in a union ! You go to them with a problem they say "What do you want me to do about it ?" To busy pushing personal agendas !! They want a puppet government and Labour has always been the easiest to control!!

Click to rate     Rating   22

A likeable man with a vision. Milliband can save this country from the terrible coalition.

Click to rate     Rating   41

Presumably top union cronies can afford to go on strike with their inflated salaries and perks. Most of them give the impression of loving the limelight and stirring up trouble for everyone else. There is no longer anything productive or useful about them and they are as out of touch as any politician. Time to find a better way of representing workers.

Click to rate     Rating   29

political pygmies bleating like sheep, all of them.

Click to rate     Rating   24

I've been in three unions, two of them very big ones, and been shafted three times. Never again. They are no longer fit for purpose and are little more than political buffoons.

Click to rate     Rating   33

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