PCS strikers' anger at Miliband

30 June 2011 Last updated at 13:25 GMT By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News Striking workers outside the Commons are angry at Mr Miliband's stance Striking workers have spoken of their "anger" at Labour leader Ed Miliband's refusal to back their walkout.

PCS union members on the picket line outside the House of Commons said the party should stand up for their rights.

Labour MP John McDonnell said public sector workers "expected more" from the Labour leader and urged Mr Miliband to listen to their concerns over pensions.

But Mr Miliband said the strikes were "wrong at a time when negotiations are still going on".

Members of three teaching unions and the PCS, which represents civil servants but has no formal links to the Labour Party, have staged a 24-hour walkout in protest at planned changes to their pensions.

Their action has been condemned by the government, which is still in negotiation with other unions over the issue, and Ed Miliband, who has attacked the coalition's handling of the dispute.

The unions that last year backed Mr Miliband's bid for the Labour Party leadership - Unite, the GMB and Unison - are not taking part in the strikes and are still in talks with the government, with the possibility of action in the autumn if the issue is not resolved.

On Wednesday, the Labour leader said his MPs would be turning up for work as normal at Parliament on Thursday.

'Leadership'

The Labour benches in the Commons had the usual number of MPs on them for a Thursday morning, suggesting most had chosen to obey their leader.

But only one entrance to the Commons had a picket line outside of it - and some Labour MPs had made a point of not crossing it.

"As the son and grandson of a miner I was brought up not to cross picket lines so I won't be," said Hywel Francis, Labour MP for Aberavon.

Ed Miliband: "These strikes are wrong at a time when negotiations are going on"

"We are joining the march. My son is on strike."

Mr Francis refused to criticise Mr Miliband over his decision to come out against the strikes.

"When you are in a position of leadership, you want to engage as much as possible in negotiation," he told the BBC News website.

But leading left winger Mr McDonnell said Mr Miliband should be listening more closely to the concerns of public servants.

"He needs to start meeting a few teachers, lecturers and civil servants," he said.

"They expected more and are expecting more. They want have an opportunity to explain to him why they feel so strongly about what is happening to their pensions."

And the Hayes and Harlington MP added: "I would not expect any Labour MP to cross the picket line."

'Reckless and provocative'

Kevin Smith, a Metropolitan Police civilian security worker, on the picket line outside the St Stephens entrance to Parliament, said his branch members were "angry" and "disappointed" at the Labour leader's stance.

"We are just trying to defend our hard-earned pensions. He should be supporting us."

He said some Labour MPs had crossed the picket line, but others had offered their support.

But he added: "I will certainly not be voting Labour again.

"Then again, who else am I going to vote for? I won't vote Tory or Lib Dem."

Other PCS members on the picket line also expressed their anger at Mr Miliband's refusal to back them.

But Mr Miliband, who is later addressing the Local Government Association, is standing by his decision not to get behind the striking workers.

He told BBC News: "These strikes are wrong at a time when negotiations are still going on. Parents and the public have been let down by both sides because the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner.

"After today's disruption, I would urge both sides to put aside the rhetoric, get round the negotiating table and stop it happening again."

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Miliband urged to end unpaid work

29 June 2011 Last updated at 13:55 GMT By Victoria King BBC News Ed Miliband has pledged to campaign for all interns to get the minimum wage Campaigners are calling on Ed Miliband to end unpaid internships within the Labour Party after one of his MPs was criticised for recruiting a volunteer.

Intern Aware have sent a letter to him signed by the heads of Young Labour and the National Union of Students.

They said it was hard for him to "talk about social mobility with a straight face" while the practice continued.

While running for Labour leader, Mr Miliband pledged to campaign for all interns to get the minimum wage.

On Tuesday, the BBC revealed that Labour MP for West Ham Lyn Brown is advertising for a "voluntary Westminster worker" to join her office and carry out duties including policy research and dealing with constituents.

According to her official website, she has "campaigned tirelessly for a living wage for all" since her election in 2005.

Intern Aware accused her of "hypocrisy", but she told the BBC that although she would like to pay all her staff, she lacked sufficient resources. She said the volunteer would get expenses.

Internship pledge

Labour said the recruitment of staff was a matter for individual MPs, but Intern Aware have written to Mr Miliband urging him to take a stand.

During the Labour leadership contest, he signed the group's pledge promising that if elected, he would campaign for the Minimum Wage Act to be fully enforced to cover interns.

He said he had not personally taken on any unpaid staff and had encouraged other colleagues within his party to do the same. He added that Labour would "look closely at this issue in our policy review".

Mr Miliband also attended the launch party for the Speaker's Parliamentary Placements scheme, which is being set up to offer paid internships with MPs to a small number of applicants from poorer backgrounds.

Ben Lyons, co-director of Intern Aware, said: "Ed Miliband likes to talk a lot about social mobility, but now it's time for him to put that into practice.

"He says he will be fighting the next election on increasing opportunities for young people, but he doesn't need to wait until then.

"He must keep his pledge and end unpaid internships in the Labour Party. As leader, it is clearly within his powers to give instructions to MPs in his own party, and it is damaging for our democracy if the only people starting careers in politics are those who can afford to work for free."

The open letter to Mr Miliband has been signed by Susan Nash, chair of Young Labour, and Liam Burns, head of the National Union of Students.

Another signatory is Louise Haigh, the Unite union representative for MPs' staff and interns in Parliament.

She said: "I want to see interns paid the living wage but at the absolute minimum, their entitlement under law - the National Minimum Wage.

"If people are workers they should receive the NMW or MPs open themselves up to being hauled through the courts.

"The party must take a strong line on this and force its MPs to pay their workers properly and clearly differentiate between workers and volunteers."

Mr Miliband's competitors for the Labour leadership, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and his brother David, all joined him in signing the Intern Aware pledge.

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Miliband stories 'hurting Labour'

12 June 2011 Last updated at 10:10 GMT Ed Miliband beat brother David to the Labour leadership by a narrow margin Headlines about an alleged feud between Ed and David Miliband are "damaging" Labour, Lord Falconer has said.

According to press reports the relationship between the two brothers is far worse than either has admitted.

Both men have dismissed the claims, made in a new book serialised by The Mail on Sunday, as "tittle tattle".

But Lord Falconer told BBC News they were "distracting" and "highly reminiscent" of disagreements between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

"It is trying to fit the present and the future into a template from the past. There is no doubt that Gordon and Tony got on incredibly badly," said the former Lord Chancellor.

"Everybody therefore wants that sort of rowing to continue and it's got the added spice of the fact that the two leading figures in the Labour Party are brothers. But that's not the way it is."

Leaked documents

The two brothers have both insisted their personal relations were not damaged by Ed's defeat of elder sibling David in last year's Labour leadership contest.

Continue reading the main story

This is soap opera speculation about history when the public want politicians to be focusing on the future”

End Quote David Miliband spokesman The pair were on different sides in the feud between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair during Labour's time in power - and have both acknowledged the damage that row did to the party and the need to avoid it happening again.

David has largely remained silent on policy issues since his defeat and avoided public criticism of Ed's performance as leader.

But the newspapers have been dominated in recent days by leaked documents, including the speech David planned to make if he had won the leadership, in what has been seen by some commentators as a concerted attempt by David's supporters to destabilise Ed's leadership.

Shadow health secretary Jon Healey denied reports of in-fighting between rival camps.

"There is very little of that, I have to tell you, either in Parliament or around the country," he told Sky News.

He said Labour was in a "unique position" for a party that had just lost an election as there was "a determination and a unity that we simply have not seen before".

A new unauthorised biography, Ed: The Milibands And The Making Of A Labour Leader, claims David Miliband can barely bring himself to speak to his brother, and the two men communicate mainly through officials.

David is also said to be scathing about Ed's performance in private, saying he is "heading in the wrong direction".

'Bad blood'

Ed, for his part, is said to regard his sibling as too "managerial and technocratic".

The book also claims there is "bad blood" between Ed and shadow chancellor Ed Balls, dating back to their time as advisers to Gordon Brown at the Treasury.

The biography, by Labour-supporting journalists Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre, questions Ed's claim he made a last-minute decision to stand and may have been plotting to eclipse David for years.

The book also claims Ed blames David's team for spreading his nicknames Red Ed and Forrest Gump and that the two brothers have clashed over how Ed broke the news he was planning to stand.

A spokesman for ex-foreign secretary David said: "This is soap opera speculation about history when the public want politicians to be focusing on the future."

A source close to the Labour leader said: "David and Ed talked before, during and after the leadership election.

"There is no problem. This is tittle tattle and the Labour Party will be concentrating on meeting the challenges of Britain's future, not looking back to the past."

Ed will try to regain the initiative on Monday, with a speech in which he will admit Labour got it wrong over the welfare state and banking regulation.

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Miliband marries partner Justine

27 May 2011 Last updated at 13:10 GMT Ed Miliband and his new wife Justine

Labour leader Ed Miliband has married long-term partner Justine Thornton in a private ceremony in Nottinghamshire.

The civil ceremony took place in a luxury hotel attended by about 50 guests, including his brother David.

Mr Miliband met Ms Thornton, an environmental lawyer, in 2005 and they were engaged in March.

Before the wedding, Mr Miliband said he felt like "the luckiest guy in the world" and he was "really looking forward" to the nuptials.

'Great day'

After tying the knot in the Langar Hall country hotel near Nottingham, at a ceremony attended by family members and friends, the couple posted for pictures outside the venue.

Ms Thornton wore an ivory, empire line dress designed by Temperley while Mr Miliband wore a slate grey suit from Aquascutum.

The 25-minute ceremony included readings from Louis de Bernieres' best-selling novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin and I Carry Your Heart With Me, a poem by the American writer EE Cummings and a variety of music.

The couple used traditional wedding vows although they omitted the promise to "obey".

Following the ceremony Mr Miliband's brother, former foreign secretary David Miliband, wrote on Twitter: "Great day for Ed and Justine. They look very happy - congratulations from all the Milibands."

The Labour leader, 41, has broken with the tradition of having a best man and both he and Ms Thornton are giving speeches at the reception.

Instead of buying presents, they suggested guests give donations to children's charity Barnardo's and to Methodist Homes for the Aged.

'Right time'

Mr Miliband had faced questions about his status as an unmarried father after becoming opposition leader last September.

He told interviewers marriage was "a very important institution" but asked whether he felt it would be important, were he to become prime minister, he said he felt people were "pretty relaxed" about the issue.

But it emerged in March he had proposed last year and he told his local paper it was the "right time" for the couple to tie the knot.

Ahead of the ceremony on Friday, Mr Miliband wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter: "Thanks for all the good wishes. Really looking forward to the day. Feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be marrying Justine."

The couple are due to take a five-day honeymoon in an undisclosed location.

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Ed Miliband and Justine Thornton enjoy quiet wedding

27 May 2011 Last updated at 16:37 GMT Wedding bells - Ed Miliband weds long term partner Justine Thornton No wedding bells and slightly windswept, but a kiss - Ed Miliband and his new bride Justine Thorton were all smiles.

It was a long walk from their reception venue to meet photographers. But what DO you ask a political leader who's just got married.

So I asked the happy couple that old standby: "How are you feeling?"

"This is the happiest day of my life," said the Labour leader.

Family affair

The venue was Langar Hall, a smart hideaway in the south Nottinghamshire countryside.

Earlier, the media had staked out the hall's entrance looking for familiar Labour Party faces. No sign.

Brother David joined Ed Miliband for the wedding celebrations

The vast majority of the 50 or so guests were family, many Justine's relatives from the south Nottinghamshire and West Bridgford areas, where she was brought up and educated.

Ed's brother David arrived with his wife Louise and their children. He opened his window to greet reporters.

"Hello everyone. It's going to be a lovely day," he said.

It was. You can't beat a wedding.

Politics takes back seat

After the 25 minute civil ceremony inside, the couple emerged with the first opportunity for reporters to see Justine's wedding dress.

It was British designed: a cream, empire outfit by renowned designer Alice Temperley. His was a blue, grey suit from Aquascutum.

The couple wanted to make their special day at Langar Hall very much an occasion for family and close friends. For today, politics took a back seat.

The owner of Langar Hall, Imogen Scriving, was particularly overjoyed. She had to keep "mum" about the wedding arrangements for so long.

"They just look so happy don't they. The dress was gorgeous. It's just been a fantastic and wonderful day. So exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it," she told me.

They wanted a low key ceremony.

There wasn't even a best man's speech from brother David - that was down to the newly married couple themselves.

Next stop, a five day honeymoon, somewhere warmer and hopefully less breezy than rural Nottinghamshire.

Ed Miliband and his new wife Justine

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Miliband warns of lost generation

23 May 2011 Last updated at 11:35 GMT Ed Miliband: "For the first time for more than a century, the next generation will struggle to do better than the last"

David Cameron's claim to be helping young people is being "blown apart" by the coalition's policies, Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.

He criticised the raising of tuition fees and argued that too little help was on offer for first-time buyers.

Mr Miliband warned that government inaction was in danger of creating a "jilted generation".

The government has promised to tackle the "scandal" of youth unemployment, with ?60m to boost apprenticeships.

In a speech at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Mr Miliband, who is due to marry his partner in four days' time, said the future prospects of his two sons and their contemporaries were a concern.

He told an audience at the Royal Festival Hall: "For us, our boys, Daniel and Sam, will be the most important people at our wedding and I'd like to speak today, not just about them, but about the prospect of their whole generation.

"I am worried - and every parent should be worried - about what will happen to our children in the coming decades. About what the future holds for us, our children and our country. About what sort of place Britain will become."

'Burden'

Mr Miliband said: "It's not enough just to deal with the deficit. Our country will be stronger only if we act to restore the promise of Britain for the next and future generations."

He argued that the "Jam generation" of politicians - like Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne who grew up listening to the band The Jam in the 1980s and now dominate government - was in danger of creating the "jilted generation".

Mr Miliband also said: "His [Mr Cameron's] claim to be protecting the next generation by making this his only priority is blown apart because they are bearing so much of the burden for his decisions: from cuts to sure start to the end of educational maintenance allowances to the trebling of tuition fees."

He discussed the financial situation for young people, adding: "The average age of first time buyers was 30 in the mid-1980s. Today, it stands at 37. Our generation of politicians must act soon or people will be waiting until their forties before they buy their first home."

Asked about Labour's record in government, Mr Miliband told the BBC News Channel: "I think we made a difference to the younger generation... but we didn't get everything right... There were issues that we didn't properly address, like housing."

But he called for a more "grown-up" discussion of policies affecting young people by all parties in future.

Earlier this month the government announced a plan to "reverse the trend of rising youth unemployment".

It promised a ?60m package to create apprenticeships and work placements in private firms.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said this would "address the scandal of the highest level of youth unemployment the UK has seen in modern times".

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