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  1. Politics
7 February 2014

Milibandism’s next chapter: reforming the state

The Labour leader is, after much hesitation, ready to contemplate the problem of running public services in austere times.

By Rafael Behr

Ed Miliband is ready to talk about public sector reform. It has not been a theme of his time so far as opposition leader but that will change on Monday when he delivers the annual Hugo Young memorial lecture. Transforming the way government provides services will, we are led to understand, be a significant theme.

It will be about a lot more than that, apparently – this is a traditionally an event where eminent politicians are invited to elaborate at length on their guiding philosophies – but the presence of even a loose précis of what Miliband thinks is wrong with the state and how he intends to change it will be significant.

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