De Blasio To Head To England To Address Labour Party On Income Inequality
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio will be headed to England later this month, to appear as the international speaker at the annual conference for the Labour Party.
De Blasio was invited by the Labour Party to the conference in Manchester to discuss "the twin challenges of rising inequality and declining standards of living," drawing from his "work in New York and his commitment to tackling the 'affordability crisis' affecting ordinary New Yorkers," according to a news release.
The mayor will give a speech on what was called the need for strategies to fight income inequality on the final day of the conference, and will also hold a private meeting with Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband, the release said.
"The fight against income inequality doesn't stop at a city limit, a state line, or an international border," Mayor de Blasio said in the release. "It's an issue that confronts us all, in every corner of the world, and it demands a unified response. To truly lift up more people, families and communities struggling to make it in tough economic conditions, we must truly have a shared vision, and a shared strategy."
Miliband said in the release that he followed de Blasio's campaign for mayor last year, and was impressed with what he characterized as the mayor's focus on everyday New Yorkers.
"We both recognize we face a generational challenge to ensure that hard work is properly rewarded, that young people get a fair shot in life, and that the cost-of-living crisis for working families is tackled. It is an international challenge for progressive leaders in the United Kingdom, in the United States, and across the developed world," Miliband said in the release. "I look forward to meeting the Mayor and to hearing a speech that I know will be one of the highlights of our week in Manchester."
The conference will be the last for the Labor Party before the May 2015 general election in Great Britain. It will also come days after a Scottish independence referendum scheduled for Thursday that could end the union of the United Kingdom as it has been known since 1707.
Milibrand backs the anti-independence ``Better Together'' campaign on that issue.
Prime Minister David Cameron, Miliband and Liberal Democrat chief Nick Clegg all signed a pledge published Tuesday in the Daily Record newspaper promising Scots ``extensive new powers'' -- including tax-raising authority -- if they remain part of the United Kingdom.
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