The speech
This was a whole new style of speech-making. Labour at last has a leader who shops at H&M rather than Marks & Sparks. He sounded nervous at times and tripped over a few lines. But when it came to the big moments, the high Cs of political rhetoric, he hit the note. This speech’s real purpose, a job on the myths peddled by the right-wing press, was tackled head on. He made clear he would have no truck with irresponsible strikes – and was reassuringly responsible about the deficit. – The Mirror
Miliband, who on Saturday bested his brother, former foreign minister David Miliband, to earn Labor’s top job, sought to distance himself at the party’s conference in Manchester from the pro-business, pro-American platform of “new Labor” forged by Tony Blair in the 1990s. At the same time, he signaled that he, too, would position himself as political centrist and was by no means endorsing a return to the days when Labor politics were closely identified with violent union strikes. – Washington Post
SOME LABOUR delegates were clearly deflated leaving the hall yesterday: some are still not reconciled to having Ed Miliband as leader; some were irritated by the way in which he denigrated New Labour’s history; others had gone into the Manchester hall with expectations that were not deliverable in the first place. Labour has still not come to terms with life in opposition. Miliband did well, if not brilliantly. The delivery was pedestrian in parts; too pedestrian to lift the thousands sitting in front of me. Too often, he seemed to regard the applause, when it did come, as an interruption to his oration, rather than a tribute. Too often, the speech seemed to include paragraphs dropped in specifically to neutralise a particular constituency. – The Irish TImes
Labour’s new leader did exactly what he needed to. Miliband, virtually unknown off the Westminster stage, had to give the public a sense of himself. The passages on his parents’ persecution at the hands of the Nazis were useful in providing a political back story, something he did far more successfully than Gordon Brown (no mean feat when your father was a Marxist intellectual, not a protestant minister). Still, it’s hard to plead strong family ties when you’ve just knifed your elder brother in the back. – City AM
Another fascinating evening of gossip in the bars. I learned that the Ed Milibandcomments in his speech that the war in Iraq was wrong (which so irritated his brother) were carefully planned as a final full stop on the argument developed through the campaign. It was a crucial point of difference with David Miliband and I am told they quite deliberately saved the most definitive statement for last. Of course now we needto know whether, like Nick Clegg, he thinks the war was illegal. – Channel Four
David: Why are you clapping?
The furore over the Labour leadership battle gathered pace after David Miliband apparently criticised his brother Ed’s maiden speech. The shadow foreign secretary was in the hall in Manchester to watch the address, praising it afterwards as “very strong” and “nerveless”. But ITV News claimed to have caught him on tape making a barbed comment to the party’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman. Following a key passage where Ed condemned the invasion of Iraq as “wrong”, his elder brother was said to have turned to Mrs Harman sitting next to him and said: “You voted for it, why are you clapping?” – ITN
Mr Miliband’s fate was effectively sealed on Tuesday night after footage emerged of him criticising his younger sibling’s maiden conference speech in Manchester. As the new leader sought to distance himself from the former New Labour regime by branding the invasion of Iraq “wrong”, David was seen turning to deputy leader Harriet Harman and saying: “You voted for it, why are you clapping?” The ITV News camera caught Mrs Harman responding: “I’m clapping because he is the leader. I’m supporting him.” – The Mirror
David Miliband’s career on the Labour frontbench appears all but over after bitter tensions with his brother Ed spilled into the open. With nominations for the party’s top team due to close, the shadow foreign secretary is widely expected to confirm that he will not seek re-election.Mr Miliband’s fate was effectively sealed on Tuesday night after footage emerged of him criticising his younger sibling’s maiden conference speech in Manchester.
As the new leader sought to distance himself from the former New Labour regime by branding the invasion of Iraq “wrong”, David was seen turning to deputy leader Harriet Harman and saying: “You voted for it, why are you clapping?” The ITV News camera caught Mrs Harman responding: “I’m clapping because he is the leader. I’m supporting him.” – Press Association
