Jeremy Corbyn's Speech Used Words Rejected By Ed Miliband In 2011

    New politics as usual.

    Jim Waterson
    by Jim Waterson

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party conference speech contains passages that appear to be lifted from unused remarks written for Ed Miliband in 2011.

    Gareth Fuller / PA Wire/PA Images

    Corbyn pledged a new approach to politics in his first speech to Labour conference as party leader – but it seems many of his words were taken directly from lines that were submitted to Ed Miliband's office four years ago. The overlap was spotted by The Spectator.

    For example, this is what Jeremy Corbyn told the Labour conference today:

    Spectator

    And this is a near-identical passage written in 2011 by speechwriter Richard Heller as a suggestion for what Ed Miliband should tell the Labour party conference.

    Richard Heller

    Heller described the passage as something that might "work well in [Miliband's] Conference speech or in any other occasion for setting out his basic values".

    "This would be a good general theme for Ed Miliband and the party," he wrote.

    Corbyn's team initially denied any connection between the two passages, saying people who were "a lot cleverer" had written the speech and the overlap was a coincidence.

    Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes

    Team Corbyn deny Richard Heller had anything to do with this speech. It was written by ppl who are "a lot cleverer" http://t.co/rZ7wFVZDDE

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    Minutes later they did a U-turn and began briefing that Corbyn's speechwriter Neale Coleman had found the rejected Ed Miliband speech online and asked Heller whether he could reuse it for the new Labour leader.

    BuzzFeed News spoke to Richard Heller, currently in Pakistan, over a very poor phone line about whether he was involved in the speech.

    Did you write parts of Jeremy Corbyn's speech?

    "No, not directly. I wrote a passage rather like it some time ago. I think it was published [inaudible]"

    So did they ask permission?
    "Yes...they did."

    To check: You gave them permission to use the comments?
    "They were available to anyone. I'd forgotten about it completely. I put it in the public domain. I made it available to anyone. It's a real zinger."

    So were you aware they were going to use the comments?
    "I'm OK with it. I'm very OK with it."

    So you gave permission?
    "I wasn't certain it was going to be used..."

    [Line becomes inaudible]