So what have we seen? We've seen recession, higher unemployment, higher borrowing. I don't think that's what people were promised. Now look there will be some people who say, and this is an important argument, they'll be some people who say: ‘Well there is short-term pain but it is worth it for the long-term gain.' But I'm afraid the opposite is true.
You see that the longer you have low growth in our country the bigger the debt hole becomes for the future and the bigger our problems will be in the future. The longer a young person is out of work that is not just bad for their prospects now; it is bad for their prospects for the whole of the rest of their lives. And if a small business goes under during the recession, it can't just get back up and running again during the recovery.
So when David Cameron says to you: ‘Well let's just carry on as we are and wait for something to turn up.' Don't believe him. Don't believe him. If the medicine's not working you change the medicine. And friends, I'll tell you what else you change. You change the doctor too. And that is what this country needs to do.
Now look around you, you know the problem is the British people are paying the price of this government's failure. You're going to the petrol station and not filling up your tank because you can't afford it. Your tax credits are being cut because the Government says it can't afford it. Your frail mum and dad are not getting the care they need because the Government says it can't afford it.
But there are some things this Government can afford. The wrong things. What do they think at this most difficult economic time is going to get us out of our difficulties? What do they choose as their priority? A tax cut for millionaires. A tax cut for millionaires. Next April, David Cameron will be writing a cheque for £40,000 to each and every millionaire in Britain. Not just for one year. But each and every year. That is more than the average person earns in a whole year. At the same time as they're imposing a tax on pensioners next April. Friends, we, the Labour Party, the country knows it is wrong. It is wrong what they're doing. It shows their priorities.
And here's the worse part. David Cameron isn't just writing the cheques. He is receiving one. He's going to be getting the millionaire's tax cut. So next week maybe Mr Cameron can tell us how much is he awarding himself in a tax cut? How much is that tax cut he is awarding himself? For a job I guess he thinks is a job well done. How many of his other Cabinet colleagues have cheques in the post from the millionaire's tax cut? And how can he justify this unfairness in Britain 2012.
And of course let's not forget this tax cut wouldn't be happening without Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. Isn't it shameful that the party that supported, that implemented the People's Budget of 1909, Lloyd George's budget, is supporting the millionaire's budget of 2012.
