Dianne Abbott told the Observer…
“The most stupid thing that fellow candidates have said is that immigration cost us the election.
The wisest thing they have said is ‘I agree with Diane.’”
Labour leadership election 2010: Candidates' question time
On 25 September the result of Labour's leadership election will be announced at the party's annual conference in Manchester, but what will this change of management herald for a new New Labour? We invited David Miliband, Ed Balls, Diane Abbott, Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband to talk politics, purse strings and the perfect night's television
■ Capture your campaign in a paragraph
David Miliband – Through my campaign I aim to bring vision, values and victory to the Labour party. I am campaigning to be a leader who enshrines the strong values of Labour, can fire the imagination of the public as well as the party, win the battle of ideas with the Tories and be a credible prime minister.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – Looked at through the prism of the Westminster insider, my campaign is hopeless. Fortunately, the voters are ordinary Labour supporters. I am closer to the grassroots than the other candidates. I share their hopes and fears. In politics frontrunners always falter and insurgents can surprise. If not me, who – and if not now when?
Andy Burnham – After 16 years of New Labour, our party needs a leader with a new approach. I will lead that change and put the heart and soul back into Labour. I will put us back on the same page as ordinary people and provide a real contrast to a cabinet of millionaires cutting without compassion. And I will inspire with big ideas that tackle the challenges of our times but are true to our roots.
■ Describe what New Labour should be now
David Miliband – Proud of our record, humble about our mistakes and clear on how, together, we can build a better future for the country. We should be a movement for change in every community, campaigning for our values and turning them into action. New Labour needs to rise to the new challenges in Britain.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – Yesterday's marketing device.
Andy Burnham – New Labour redefined our thinking on issues such as crime, business and aspiration and that should never change. But the recession has led people to reassess their sense of fairness. Labour needs to respond to that and move beyond the divisiveness of New Labour and Old Labour.
Ed Miliband –
■ What are your best and worst political moments? And your biggest political mistake?
David Miliband – The best: Mandela released. Seeing the footage of Nelson Mandela walking free still sends a shiver down my spine. It is truly inspiring and shows how the determination and personal sacrifice of one man can mean that good can triumph, even in the harshest of situations. The worst: Losing in 1992 was a real body blow. Knowing that the people and the country had at least five more years of a government that would do nothing for them. Keeping the faith as everyone was saying we would never win again was a challenge. My biggest political mistake? Not eating that banana before I went for a walk with it.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – My worst political moment was when we lost the 1992 election. My best was when we went on to win in 1997. My biggest political mistake has always been to think that you can make jokes in politics and not be misunderstood (often deliberately).
Andy Burnham – My hardest moment was addressing the Kop as culture secretary on the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough. On a personal level, no other issue matters more so I was very anxious about whether I would be able to hold myself together.If I hadn't gone into politics, I might have been one of those shouting at the minister. But I look at it now as a great moment. It told the whole country of the raw sense of injustice that remained on Merseyside My biggest mistake? Probably to write on the bottom of a letter to the fees office a silly line about my wife divorcing me. As Liam Byrne has also found, jokes on private letters don't translate well into the harsh light of the newspapers.
Ed Miliband –
■ What is the main weakness of the coalition budget?
David Miliband – It isn't progressive and it isn't fair, it's a con. It will hit the poorest hardest and slow the recovery of our fragile economy, risking the livelihood of millions. In attacking the living standards of ordinary families, the Tories showed their true colours. They found money to cut taxes on business profits but paid for it by taking money out of manufacturing and support for families. They argued that the cuts were unavoidable but they made them too big, too fast.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – It is not just the savage cuts on the poor and middle England, it is a deflationary budget. If other countries in Europe impose similar policies, taking demand out of the economy, we risk tipping into a Europe-wide slump. The Lib Dems all know this. That is why they all sat there looking as if their dog had died when Osborne finished his speech.
Andy Burnham – Its unbalanced approach to public spending. The Tory pledge to increase NHS spending was a political device. It can only be paid for by decimating other public services. This is dangerous – the NHS doesn't exist in isolation. Hospitals can only discharge people if there is appropriate care support in the community. Under these plans, vulnerable people face higher charges and carers are under greater pressure.
Ed Miliband –
■ What is the book, the film and the TV box set you would recommend to a friend for pure pleasure?
David Miliband – The Gruffalo: Fantastic pictures, great story and all you need to know to get by in life. 12 Angry Men: Gripping human drama with personal prejudices overcome to do the right thing. Fawlty Towers: Just gutted there aren't enough episodes to make a box set.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – The book that I would recommend is one of the best political biographies ever, Robert A Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson. My film would be The Godfather. And for the TV box set, no contest: it would have to be the incomparable West Wing.
Andy Burnham – Book: Tony Harrison – Collected Poems.
Film: Goodfellas.
Box set: The Royle Family.
Ed Miliband –
■ Where do you/did you/will you send your children to school and why?
David Miliband – My eldest son is at a state primary school and my youngest is toddling around anxiously waiting for the day he gets to go to "big" school too. I believe in comprehensive education and know it is possible to have a world-class education system that is open to everyone. We must never allow the Tory myth that excellence is for a few to take hold.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – My son went to Ambler primary school, London N4, City of London School and the SOS College near Tema in Ghana. I made those choices because they were right for him.
Andy Burnham – My three children go to St Catherine's RC primary school in Lowton – a good local school that I know well from my own childhood.
Ed Miliband –
■ Collectively, you have all been criticised for not facing up to the structural deficit. Make a bold suggestion for reducing it.
David Miliband – Start the cuts at the top, not the bottom. Two examples: A mansion tax of 1% on property worth over £2m would raise the money the Tories are cutting from housing. We can stop subsidy of private school places and instead restore Labour's commitment to free school meals for the poorest.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – I would tackle the deficit by coming out of Afghanistan, slashing the defence budget and scrapping Trident.
Andy Burnham – A more ambitious version of the financial transaction tax than currently proposed would speak to people's sense of fairness and natural justice – and go some way to restoring trust in politics.
Ed Miliband –
■ Where was your last holiday? Where is your favourite place in the world and why?
David Miliband – My last holiday was three sunny days in Suffolk with Louise and the children. My favourite place is wherever my family is.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – My last holiday was in Jamaica, which is my favourite place in the world. It gets some distorted and negative publicity. But for me it has everything: blue skies; beautiful hills and mountains; fabulous food; the best rum; reggae music; and family that I adore. It is the place that I go when I want to shrug off my troubles.
Andy Burnham – Our last proper family holiday was on Easdale Island near Oban. No shops, no cars – and the kids, to their surprise, enjoyed it more because of that. My favourite place is Goodison Park – where identity, family, passion and emotion all come together.
Ed Miliband –
■ What do you drive, what's your most expensive piece of clothing and how nice is your house?
David Miliband – An elderly Toyota Corolla Verso. Like most men, a suit. My house is nice because it's filled with the people I love.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – I do not drive. It is my contribution to fighting climate change. My most expensive item of clothing is a wonderful evening dress by Yemi of Kosibah Creations. I have a very nice house in Dalston. But I do not spend much time there at the moment.
Andy Burnham – An old VW Golf; a Gieves & Hawkes mac – gallingly described as a "donkey jacket" by the Daily Mail at the unveiling of the Queen Mother's statue! It's a lovely old semi-detached house close to the junction of East Lancs and the M6 – right at the heart of the north-west.
Ed Miliband –
■ What's the wisest thing a fellow candidate has said?
David Miliband – The wisest thing was Diane pointing out that the Tory cuts don't change their way of life, it's everyone else's lives that will change.
Ed Balls –
Diane Abbott – The most stupid thing that fellow candidates have said is that immigration cost us the election. The wisest thing they have said is "I agree with Diane".
Andy Burnham – That history will show we all owe Gordon Brown a bigger debt of gratitude than many might realise today (WHO SAID IT?????/seaco).
Ed Miliband –
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