英国工党领袖埃德·米利班德在2019年工党年会英语演讲稿

It’s great to be in Brighton. AndI want to start by thanking somebody from the bottom ofmy heart for thekindest of words. Not Justine …oh, I would like to thank her, a round ofapplausefor Justine please, ladies and gentlemen. Not my mum … but a womancalled Ella Philips. It waslocal election day, Ella rode past me on her bike,she fell off …it’s not funny! I helped her upand afterwards she called mesomething I had never been called before: she said I was an“action hero”. Whyare you laughing? She said I was an action hero “who mysteriously appearedoutof nowhere”. And she said, “What added to all the confusion was that Ed wasactuallyattractive and not geeky at all”. I promise you, she did say that. Shesaid, “Even the way heappeared was suave”. I don’t know why you find this sofunny, friends. “He was dressed casually,but he had style”. Sounds quite me,doesn’t it? Now I was pretty pleased with this, as you cantell, until somethingdawned on me: Ella was concussed. She was badly concussed. In fact, sheherselfsaid, “I was seeing things because I was still in quite a daze”. Well, Ella,you are notkidding. But let me say, Ella, if you are watching today, thankyou, you have made my year.

I want to start today with thesimplest of thoughts. An idea that has inspired change forgenerations. Thebelief that helped drive us out of the Second World War and into thatgreatreforming government of 1945. An ambition that is more important now than ithas beenfor decades. An emotion that is felt across our country at kitchentables every night. A feelingthat is so threatening to those who want to keepthings as they are. Words that are so basicand yet so powerful, so modest andyet so hard to believe. Six simple words that say: Britaincan do better thanthis. Britain can do better than this; we are Britain, we are better thanthis.Are you satisfied with a country where people are working for longer for less,year afteryear? Are you satisfied with a country divided losing touch with thethings we value the most?Are you satisfied with a country that shuts out thevoices of millions of ordinary people andlistens only to the powerful? Are yousatisfied with a country standing apart as two nations? WellI am notsatisfied. We are Britain, we are better than this. And we have to rebuild anewOneNation. An economy built on your success, a society based on your values, apolitics that hearsyour voice – rich and poor alike – accepting their responsibilitiestop each other. One Nation, weare going to make it happen, and today I amgoing to tell you how.

I want to start with leadership.Leadership is about risks and difficult decisions. It is aboutthose lonelymoments when you have to peer deep into your soul. I ran for the leadership ofthisparty, it was really hard for my family, but I believed that Labour neededto turn the page and Iwas the best person to do it. I when I became leader Iface ……此处隐藏7919个字……r who introduced the bedroom tax, I’llbe the PrimeMinister who repeals the bedroom tax.

You see here is the thing aboutDavid Cameron. He may be strong at standing up to theweak, but he is alwaysweak when it comes to standing up against the strong. That is thedifferencebetween me and David Cameron, so let’s have that debate about leadershipandcharacter, and I relish that debate. And we know what we are going to see fromthese Toriesbetween now and the general election, it is the lowest form ofpolitics, it is divide and rule.People on benefits versus those in work.People in unions against those outside union. People inthe private sectorversus those in the public sector. People in the north against those inthesouth. It is the worst form of politics. Like sending vans into areas ofBritain where people’smums and granddads have lived for years, generations,and telling people to go home. I say weare Britain, we are better than this.Telling anyone who’s looking for a job that they are ascrounger. However hardthey are looking, even if the work is not available. I say we are Britainweare better than this. So come on. So David Cameron I have got a message foryou. You cantell your Lynton Crosby, it might work elsewhere, it won’t workhere. We’re Britain, we’re betterthan this.

Friends, the easy path forpolitics is to divide, that’s the easy part. You need to know thisabout me, Ibelieve in seeing the best in people, not the worst. That’s what I am about.That’show we create One Nation. That’s how we make Britain better than this.That’s how we have agovernment that fights for you.

Now, it is going to be a bigfight between now and the general election. Prepare yourself forthat fight.But when you think about that fight, don’t think about our party, think aboutourcountry. I don’t want to win this fight for Labour; I want to win it forBritain. And just rememberthis, throughout our history, when the voices ofhope have been ranged against the voices offear, the voices of hope have wonthrough. Those who said at the dawn of the industrialrevolution that workingpeople needed the vote and they wouldn’t wait - they knew Britaincould bebetter than this, and we were. Those that said, at the birth of a new century,those whosaid at the birth of a new century that working people needed a partyto fight for them and theold order wouldn’t do – they knew Britain could bebetter than this, and we were. Those whosaid at our darkest hour in the SecondWorld War that Britain needed to rebuild after the warand said ‘never again’,they knew Britain could be better than this, and we did. Those who said,as the20th Century grew old, that the battle for equality was still young; they knewBritain coulddo better than this, and we did.

And so now it falls to us, tobuild One Nation, a country for all, a Britain we rebuild together.Britain’sbest days lie ahead. Britain can do better than this. We’re Britain, we’rebetter thanthis. I’ll lead a government that fights for you.