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Archive for 2010

Thursday News Review

14/10/2010, 08:22:58 AM

The boy done good

Ed Miliband was the undisputed winner in his debut appearance opposite David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday. The new Labour leader scored a direct hit on the PM’s muddled policies when he went on the attack over coalition plans to scrap child benefit for higher-rate taxpayers. He said Cameron’s proposals to cut child benefit for people earning over £44,000 were unfair for middle-income families. And he showed he had nerves of steel in the bearpit of British politics when Cameron flannelled on an answer. The Tory leader tried to turn the question around on the Doncaster MP by asking if it was fair that the poor in his constituency should pay for his child benefit. Without realising it, Cameron had walked into a trap. Miliband retorted: “I may be new to this game but I thought I asked the questions and you answered them.” – The Daily Record

ITN News

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David Cameron is all talk and no trousers, says Karen Butler

13/10/2010, 05:00:51 PM

He looks the part. He sounds the part. So what is it about David Cameron that makes him a less fearsome opponent than perhaps he should be?

There are plenty of attack lines that we like to believe about DC. He seems intellectually lightweight, incurious even, and sometimes astoundingly short on detail. He doesn’t seem to have any real beliefs or ideology and he rarely stands up well to interrogation. But these things can be hidden, even from himself, behind the pomp and the power, the celebrity and the blow-dried, well-suited veneer.

But last week on Uncut Dan Hodges articulated one of those truths that is both surprisingly new yet instantly recognisable: Cameron is a bottler.?? The child benefit row saw Cameron fail to withstand even a single day of rightwing criticism – something that his strategists will not just have been expecting but banking on, following their clever move to dare Labour’s new leader to defend benefits for the wealthy. (more…)

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Siôn Simon on Ed Miliband’s first PMQs

13/10/2010, 01:14:18 PM

All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Not for a moment have I missed sitting on the green benches. Not for a wistful split-second have I wished that I had the choice again. As I’ve watched them twist and turn in the Westminster wind, and remembered how it feels, there’s been nothing but relief that it isn’t me any more.

Until today. Ed Miliband’s first prime minister’s questions was a great parliamentary moment. A performance of such assurance and aplomb on the first day of such an inexperienced leader that it will be long remembered.

All new party leaders begin by promising an end to the punch and judy style of traditional PMQs. They never mean it. Substantively, Miliband doesn’t mean it either. It’s not a debate; it’s a fight; and he wants to win. But presentationally – and may the ghost of Frank Johnson forgive me for the phrase – he just changed the game.

At a stroke, by simply willing it, he halved the heat and pace of what has always been a stupidly uproarious affair, and effortlessly took control.

At first he seemed so slow that one feared the worst. But he held his nerve and within a minute was completely in command of the occasion. (more…)

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Tom Watson promises Ed Miliband that he’ll stop behaving like a child

13/10/2010, 10:03:38 AM

Ed Miliband is more like the early Tony Blair than either he or Tony would publicly admit. He is patient with his colleagues, considerate and engaging. He is irritated by complacency and policy inertia. And he is murderously ambitious for electoral success.

As Neil Kinnock once famously said “to lead a political party, first of all you have to establish whether the political party wishes to be led”. Ed’s got to put the band back together. Re-pitch the big tent.

And with what was a sublime re-shuffle – respect for defeated opponents, dignified exits for distinguished big beasts, early promotion of a cadre of new MPs – I think the band might soon, for the first time in many years, be playing in harmony.

He’s made some spectacularly audacious and very clever appointments that make it just possible for this happen. Anne McGuire joining the team as his PPS is an act of genius. She’s canny and well-respected by MPs. (more…)

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Wednesday News Review

13/10/2010, 07:07:50 AM

First meeting for generation Ed

Ed Miliband has geared up for his first face-to-face clash with David Cameron since he was elected Labour leader by meeting his Shadow Cabinet for the first time. The Opposition leader will face intense scrutiny when he takes on the Tory leader at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons later today. The showdown will be seen as a key test of his abilities, after he narrowly won victory ahead of his brother David last month. Yesterday’s meeting of his front-bench team was the first since their appointments on Friday. In just over a week’s time they will spearhead the Opposition response to the Government’s swingeing public spending cuts. In a sign of the crucial role he will play, Alan Johnson, a surprise choice as Shadow Chancellor, sat opposite the new leader. – The Herald

So the shadow cabinet election winners are mastering their briefs. But spare a thought for those who saw hopes and dreams go up in smoke. In Scotland activists ran a tight operation. Ann McKechin wanted to be shadow Scottish secretary, and that’s what she got. But in Wales things became a little more complex. Distinguished as he has been, supporters of Peter Hain thought it was time he moved on to something more challenging than the Welsh secretary brief – again – and thus all sorts of other Welsh MPs were encouraged to stand. Ideally, there would be someone else to take the Welsh portfolio, leaving Hain free to take another plum brief. But it didn’t work out that way. So many stood – Chris Bryant, Huw Irranca-Davies, Ian Lucas, Wayne David, David Hanson and Kevin Brennan – that none made the shadow cabinet. Hain has been co-opted back as shadow Welsh secretary. Best-laid plans. Oh well. – The Guardian

ED Miliband’s top team met for the first time as his surprise pick for Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson sparred for the first time with opposite number George Osborne. The nine-strong “Yorkshire mafia” were among those taking their seats at the Shadow Cabinet table yesterday as Mr Miliband addressed his team ahead of today’s first appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions since becoming leader. – The Yorkshire Post

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The new generation front bench: Ed pays his debts

12/10/2010, 04:30:04 PM

Where better to seek clues about Ed Miliband’s new generation politics than Ed Miliband’s new generation of Labour MPs?

A quick look at how they voted in the leadership election and what has happened to them in the fortnight since is instructive.

A scan of the voting list reveals 29 new MPs first preferencing David, against 23 supporting his brother. Already, this is interesting. It shows that new MPs were disproportionately more likely to first preference Ed than was the PLP as a whole. Suggesting that perhaps he really is a leader for the new generation.

(New MPs were more likely to first preference both Milibands than was the PLP as a whole, but the difference was more pronounced for Ed, whom 4.7% more new MPs supported than did the PLP as a whole, compared to 3.3% for David).

Certainly, the politics of many of the more talented new generation Milibandistas do not appear to square with the compass-lite new tribunism that Ed has been preaching. The likes of Rachel Reeves, Emma Reynolds and Michael Dugher are straight out of the New Labour/old right tradition. Ed should not have been their natural choice. (more…)

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Spinning banned – official

12/10/2010, 02:59:19 PM

Spinning has been banned. Official. At the inaugural meeting of Ed Miliband’s new shadow cabinet the law was laid down.

“I will not be briefing against colleagues”, he said, “and I do not expect colleagues to be briefing against others or myself”.

Factions are also out. Apparently. “We will have no return to the factionalism of the past”, he decreed. Though how this latter is to be policed is less clear. Images of Rosie Winterton pouncing on unsuspecting colleagues spring to mind:

“You there, by the bar. Move along. Two’s company. Three is a faction”.

No factions. No briefing. Let’s see how Westminster’s plotters respond to this edict in tomorrow’s papers.

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Charlie Whelan should holster his guns and let the posse ride on, says Dan Hodges

12/10/2010, 09:00:25 AM

Two weeks ago Charlie Whelan savoured his greatest triumph. Unite’s pistol-packing political director strained every sinew and bicep of union muscle as Ed Miliband was carried triumphantly across the finishing line. The crowd roared. And at that point our hero was supposed to hang up his six shooters, saddle up his horse, and gallop into the sunset.

It didn’t happen that way. Instead, Charlie wheeled his steed, came barreling down main street, and started shooting up the town.

“Charlie Whelan: the puppet master who ‘won it for Ed’” – the Sunday Telegraph; “Charlie Whelan launches attack on biggest names in Labour party” – the Guardian; “I’m not going to go around crowing. But it was clear that the union vote turned out for Ed Miliband.” – the Times.

To many people, there’s no mystery to answer. “Charlie’s just being Charlie”, said one journalist, “what you get is what’s on the tin”. “It’s all about his book”, says another, “he just wants to sell more than Peter”. (more…)

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Tuesday News Review

12/10/2010, 07:53:59 AM

The Browne review

A plan for higher university fees, fewer subsidies, more markets and less government has been unveiled by an independent review into the future of the English higher education system. The radical blueprint, revealed on Tuesday by a panel chaired by Lord Browne, the former chief executive of BP, will cause tremors in the coalition government and problems for Labour.The review proposes removing the current cap on annual fees of £3,290. If institutions want to charge more than £6,000, however, they will be obliged to pay a levy to recompense the government for the cost of higher student loans. – The FT

David Cameron has urged Liberal Democrat MPs to “compromise” over university funding, as the Government prepared to announce a dramatic rise in university fees. John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley) and Lorely Burt (Lib Dem Solihull) both signed a pledge before the general election promising to vote against any increase in student tuition fees. But they will face a dilemma if a Government review recommends allowing universities to charge more. Lord Browne of Madingley’s independent review of student finance is expected to recommend removing the existing tuition fee limit of £3,290 a year. – The Birmingham Post

Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig said Prime Minister David Cameron would brief Labour leader Ed Miliband in the morning in an attempt to build a consensus. “The crucial vote will be in six weeks time,” Craig said. “That’s when the big showdown will come.” The National Union of Students said debts could double and students who have to borrow the most to fund their studies will be hit by higher interest payments. Speaking before the report’s publication, NUS president Aaron Porter said: “It would be an insult to the intelligence of those who voted for the Liberal Democrats to attempt to rebrand the regressive and deeply unpopular top-up fee system. Liberal Democrat MPs have long opposed tuition fees and at the general election each of them signed a pledge to vote against higher fees in Parliament.” – Sky News (more…)

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Jonathan Todd reviews “The British General Election of 2010” by Dennis Kavanagh and Philip Cowley

11/10/2010, 04:50:33 PM

“The characteristic virtue of Englishmen is power of sustained practical activity and their characteristic vice a reluctance to test the quality of that activity by reference to principles.”

So said R. H. Tawney. Whereas the mantra of Alicia Kennedy, Labour’s director of field operations, during this year’s general election was ‘where we work, we win’ – a eulogy to the power of sustained practical Labour activity. Now, we can test the quality of that activity by reference to a simple principle: did it secure Labour representation as effectively as it could have done?

Only now is it possible fully to answer this question. Because Dennis Kavanagh and Philip Cowley have just published the 2010 edition of what used to be known as the ‘Butler book’.

Kavanagh and Cowley have ably stepped into the big shoes of David Butler, whose foreword to the 2010 volume means he has been involved in these election studies for 65 years. Cowley’s revolts project, which, though struggling for funding, has so far just about made into this parliament, has debunked many myths about backbench behaviour. This study of the 2010 general election is equally successful at disentangling hype from reality. (more…)

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