Miliband urged to bridge the chasm between Labour and the private sector
By Tim Montgomerie
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Interesting piece over at LabourList urging Ed Miliband to "immerse himself in enterprise, and learn to truly understand and value it." Written by Alex Smith and Luke Bozier it's an important piece. Read the whole thing but this paragraph stood out to me:
"It means getting more small businesspeople into parliament and local councils, advocating loudly and proudly for their sector."
When I attended the Labour Party Conference last year, in Manchester, I was struck by the fact I didn't meet a single business person over the 36 hours I was there. Every person worked in local government, the NHS, for an NGO, for a trade union or in politics. Not one person I met in the bars or who asked a question at a fringe meeting was in the business of creating jobs.
Frankly, the Conservative Party has a problem in this area, too. Too many of our most senior people are divorced from the economic frontline but at least in our donations base we're not just dependent upon unions... and Alastair Campbell.
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