Ed Miliband: ‘Knee-jerk gimmicks’ not the answer to riots
Ed Miliband, Labour leader, criticises David Cameron's "knee-jerk gimmicks" and draws parallel between riots and the expenses scandal:
"It's not the first time we've seen this kind of me-first, take-what-you-can attitude.
"The bankers who took millions while destroying people's savings: greedy, selfish, immoral. The MPs who fiddled their expenses: greedy, selfish, immoral. The people who hacked phones to get stories and make money for themselves: greedy, selfish and immoral. Let's talk about what this does to our culture.
"A new policy a day, knee-jerk gimmicks unveiled without being properly thought through, are unlikely to solve the problem.
"I am clear: both culture and deprivation matter. To explain is not to excuse. But to refuse to explain is to condemn to repeat."
