Newly triumphant Labour leader Ed Miliband has warned of a "crisis of politics" as he acknowledged all politicians need to do more to win back the public's trust.
Speaking in Harlow, Essex, this morning, where his party seized control in last week’s council elections, he said he wanted to “reach out” to the more than two-thirds of voters who did not turn out to cast their ballot.
He said he was happy with Labour’s overall support but admitted: “I know we have a lot more to do to rebuild that trust.”
Pointing to figures showing that 71% of people in Harlow did not vote in Thursday’s elections, he said: “I want to reach out and understand why you don’t trust any politicians, why you don’t believe any of us can answer the questions that you are facing in your life.
“I think there is a crisis of politics in this country, there is a crisis of people thinking ‘I’m not going to engage with politics, you’re all the same, you all break your promises’.”
The Labour leader said aspiration was being “blunted” by the coalition Government and insisted his party could “make a difference”, adding: “We can offer people change.”
His comments, at a question-and-answer session with voters, came ahead of an expected appearance in Essex by Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg due later today.
He said: “What people want from them is answers not excuses, not excuses blaming something else, not excuses blaming the eurozone, but answers about why they promised change and things have got worse not better.”
The Labour leader said Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg needed to learn from the election results, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each lost hundreds of council seats, that “economic failure with unfairness piled on top is not the answer”.
“They promised change, they promised an economy that would grow and things have got worse not better.
“And they promised fairness, they promised that we were all in it together, and things have got worse not better because they are standing up for the wrong people not the right people.”
Mr Miliband took off his jacket to field questions on a wide range of policy issues from members of the audience in Harlow.
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He admitted Labour “didn’t do enough on housing” and imposed “too many reorganisations and reforms” on the NHS during its time in power.
But he insisted the coalition Government was not doing enough on key issues like house-building and the economy.
Housing would be “a massive priority” for a Labour government, with a major drive to build a mix of affordable homes in the local authority, social and private sectors, said Mr Miliband.
And Labour has said it would repeal those parts of the Government’s NHS reforms which would create a privatisation “free for all”, he told his audience.
Mr Miliband also said he would create a British Investment Bank, backed by public and private money, to increase lending to small businesses.
Banks “have got to recognise that it is not just about creating jobs in financial services”. he said. “They have a duty to serve the real economy.”
