Revealed: those Cable-Miliband texts

We have been offered details of some the frequent texts exchanged between Vince Cable, the business secretary and leading Lib Dem, and Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party.

How they were obtained, we don’t know. But we thought the “public interest” would be best served by publishing extracts. These cover exchanges from early September this year and go right up until yesterday afternoon. Enjoy!

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Ed:

What do u think of my predistribution speech? Need fairer, responsible capitalism. This is my big idea.

Sent @ 16.42 Sep 6

Vince:

Great idea imo. Redistribution old hat now!!!! LDs can support predistribution.

Sent @ 16.59 Sep 6

Ed: If bosses play ball we could save billions in pub spending. Genius stuff from US

Sent @ 17.02 Sep 6

Vince:

Deficit getting worse. So every penny we can save…

Sent @ 17.04 Sep 6

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Vince:

Great to be on with Ed [Balls, shadow chancellor] on Marr’s show. Bit of a stir when I said was on centre-left!!!!!

Sent @ 14.17 Sep 9  

Ed:

Left/right not issue anymore imo. System needs sorting. Ed’s ego a prob tho!

Sent @ 15.19 Sep 9

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Vince:

Bros gave Ed bad time at TUC. What’s wrong with them? Thgt they were all signed up?

Sent @ 18.30 Sep 11

Ed:

Think they own me!!! Don’t want to know abt deficit. Pay freeze right for country. Glad Ed was there and not me!!!
Sent @19.07 Sep 11 

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Vince:

Hope my plans on emp tribs ok with you? [Cable is to consult on curbing employment tribunal payouts and other restrictions]

Sent @ 13.05 Sep 14

Ed:

No probs! Too much conflict in the system. Sort it out Vince!

Sent @ 14.27 Sep 14

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Ed:

Hope u liked my int in D Tel. Cld bring our 2 parties closer. Need to wk 2gether after 2015 [date of next general election].

Sent @ 13.20 Sep 15

Vince:

Great stuff. Liked bit about saving capitalism from itself. Can we do it? Yes we can!!!!!

Sent @14.00 Sep 15
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Vince

Nick’s [Clegg] apol on fees was amazing. Cldn’t believe it!!!! Whatever next!!! He can’t last. My turn????

Sent @ 11.01 Sep 19

Ed:

Hope so. Be gt to have u and LDs with us after 2015. Still more cuts to come. So need to wk closer.

Sent @ 11.05 Sep 19

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Vince: Polls show you well ahead. Cld u manage without LDs after 2015? Pity if so.

Sent @ 14.25 Sep 21

Ed: Don’t worry. Public don’t really like any of us. Will they vote? Will need each other imo.

Sent @ 15.08 Sep 21

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Vince: Bit lonely in govt. Most Tories won’t speak to me!!!! Keep telling myself in govt in nat interest. Not sure anymore!!!!

Sent @ 8.50 Sep 23

Ed:  Don’t worry. You’ve got a friend in me [believed to be a Toy Story reference]. Tories are out of touch.

Sent @ 8.52 Sep 23

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Ed:  Great speech at ur conf Vince. Lvd stuff about Tory headbangers and plebs. Small business bank right way to go.

Sent @ 15.58 Sep 24

Vince: Cheers! They love me here. Nick is done for imo. I could relaunch LDs in time for 2015. But u know LDs. They can’t make up their minds!!!!!

Sent @ 16.20 Sep 24

Ed: I’m here for you. There’s a new third way and we’ve found it.

Sent @ 16.25 Sep 24

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Miliband's manifesto for 'responsible capitalism'

There are people out there who harbour hopes that a future Labour government under Ed Miliband would be a radical administration that responds to ordinary people’s aspirations. Dream on.

What is made clearer each time Miliband or shadow chancellor Ed Balls speaks is that they accept lock, stock and barrel that the first priority will be to reduce the public spending deficit. If elected, Labour would carry on where the Tories leave off.

That was the hardly-disguised implication of Miliband’s speech yesterday at the stock exchange where Labour came down in favour of what is known as “predistribution”. You read that right, not redistribution but predistribution.  

"The redistribution of the last Labour government relied on revenue, at least in part, which the next Labour government will not enjoy," Miliband told his audience ."The option of simply increasing tax credits, for example, in the way we did before will not be open to us … fiscal circumstances will make it harder not easier."

Now, in the dim and distant past, Labour was in principle in favour of redistribution. In fact, that was the raison d’être of voting for Labour in the first place. By way of taxation, housing, education and state-owned utilities, the inequality/wealth gap would at least be held in check, if not narrowed

That philosophy went out of the window in the 1990s, when New Labour came into existence. As Miliband said: “In the 1990s New Labour rightly embraced markets, most famously in our change to Clause 4. The party embraced the creativity of capitalism.”

In came the love for deregulated market capitalism and so-called trickle-down economics. Except the trickle became a tide heading in the opposite direction. Inequality grew as the better off increased their share of wealth. One report published just before the last general election concluded: “Households in the top tenth have total wealth (including private pension rights) almost 100 times those at the cut-off for the bottom tenth.”

Millions were condemned to low wage, unskilled jobs as the corporations moved skilled manufacturing jobs to Asia. House prices soared out of the reach of most people, while rents in private and social sectors became unaffordable on wages alone. Many households were forced to live in permanent debt, and still do.

Neither the minimum wage – which you cannot live on – nor tax credits made a substantial difference. But even those measures are being abandoned by Miliband in favour of predistribution, a term coined by political economist Jacob S. Hacker who has advised the Democratic Party in the US.

So what does it mean? It is little more than encouraging capitalism to be more “responsible”. As Miliband told his audience: “"Predistribution is about saying, 'We cannot allow ourselves to be stuck with permanently being a low-wage economy and hope that through taxes and benefits we can make up the shortfall. It's not just, nor does it enable us to pay our way in the world. Our aim must be to transform our economy so it is a much higher skill, much higher wage economy.”

And, pray, who is to achieve this laudable aim? Not the government, not the state. Yes, you’ve guessed it, the employers! Miliband claimed that “the move towards a more responsible capitalism is actually being led by many business people”, by companies who know that firms “flourish best when rewards are fairly shared”.

This will come as news to the vast majority of workers, who real incomes have fallen sharply since the economic and financial crisis broke five years ago (with much worse to come at the end of this year when food, fuel and transport costs soar).

Just in case his audience was in any doubt, Miliband finished his speech by declaring: “And I believe creating this responsible capitalism will be better for our country. A responsible capitalism is a resilient capitalism.” Vote for that? You are joking!

Paul Feldman

Communications editor