By Tim Montgomerie
In her speech to the Tory Conference, her first as Party Chairman, Sayeeda Warsi listed Labour's key failures in office:
"In the mills, my Dad was told that Labour was the party for him. They said that Labour looked after the poorest. That it looked after the vulnerable and minorities. But Conference, today, my dad and millions of decent, hard-working, fair-minded people like him, are appalled at the state Labour have left this country in. Appalled that Labour abandoned the very people they promised to protect. With the poorest getting poorer. The gap between the rich and poor getting wider.
Youth unemployment hitting new heights. One in five pensioners living in poverty. One in six children growing up in households where no one works. Terrible rates of drink and drug abuse.
Appalling levels of teenage pregnancy. One of the worst rates of family breakdown in Europe. And UNICEF saying that Britain was the worst place in the developed world to be a child. The longest recession. The deepest recession. The doubling of the debt. And spending more on debt interest than on the education of our children. Conference, this is Labour’s legacy to Britain
This is their gift to the poor. And that’s why, Conference… they should never ever be allowed to do it again."
The meat of her speech She said that the country should judge Ed Miliband on his approach to the deficit:
"Mr. Miliband needs to prove that he has some answers to the challenges Britain faces today… to the big problems left by Labour… and that he has a real vision of where he wants Britain to go. And that begins with a proper economic plan. He said he would be serious, he promised responsibility. He said there are cuts he wouldn’t oppose. But all we’ve heard so far is a long list of the things he does oppose. This is the big question for Mr. Miliband. What’s your plan? Will you tell us how you would deal with the biggest problem facing our country? Or will you follow Ed Balls and his union buddies and abandon the centre ground?"