Posts Tagged ‘Miliband’

Friday News Review

30/07/2010, 07:30:11 AM

Ed: targeted?

The leadership

Both the Reading East and Reading West constituency parties voted to give Ed Miliband ‘supporting nominations’ at a meeting on Thursday, following a visit to the town by the shadow climate secretary the week before. Reading Labour Party chairwoman Sarah King said: “There is a strong field of candidates in this election, and Thursday’s was a well-attended and lively meeting, with a number of new members taking part. Over 100 new members have joined Reading Labour Party since the election, determined to fight back against the damage the Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition is inflicting on our country. Ed Miliband has a sense of vision that appeals to members in Reading, but local people know that, whoever wins the leadership, Labour will be in there fighting hard on their side.” – The Reading Chronicle.

Ed Balls’s campaign, pitched at school building cuts and VAT closures, has a concrete quality that his opponents’ have lacked. He would make the case for spending and borrowing more with economic literacy. Nor can the craftsman of Bank of England independence be easily dismissed as a wild man. However, his platform plays into the Tory narrative. Is that what Labour members want? – The Guardian.

Ed Miliband is under fire from all sides. “He just tickles the tummy of the party,” say some of the Blairites backing David Miliband. “He’s far too junior to be party leader,” say some of the Brownites backing Ed Balls. “He’ll take Labour back to the 1980s,” say the conservative commentators supporting David Cameron. We are witnessing Operation Target Ed Miliband. As he sets off for his summer holiday in Cornwall, the younger Miliband brother could be forgiven for thinking that he must be doing something right to be attracting such pointed criticism from rivals and right-wingers alike. – New Statesman.

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Thursday News Review

29/07/2010, 07:30:56 AM

Panic over: Brown spotted

Spotted!

It was the rare appearance of the not-very-often-spotted glowering Gordon at the weekend which reminded the nation we were not just short of a few bob but a leader of the Labour Party. Gordon Brown, aware of his popularity in certain circles, chose that well known suburb of Kirkcudbright, Uganda, to re-emerge on the public scene. – Channel 4.

Reform

Labour is trying to score cheap party-political points. The Opposition wants to exploit potential Tory divisions on the issue, even if it means performing a policy somersault. Jack Straw (who has form, having first promised and then abandoned the EU referendum) sought to justify this shabby volte-face by insisting that it is not AV that Labour opposes but the other half of the Bill, which seeks to cut the number of MPs by 50 and make constituency sizes more equal. With an apparently straight face, Mr Straw claimed that redrawing constituency boundaries was “very, very partisan” and amounted to “gerrymandering”. – The Telegraph.

Straw on AV

A large number of Tory MPs are unhappy about the proposals for constitutional reform. They feel that these have not been thought through and that they could prove to be a second instalment of Blairite recklessness. The referendum on AV (the alternative vote) is the immediate challenge. It will require legislation. Bernard Jenkin and other Tory rebels would be ready to co-operate with the Labour front bench to defeat it. Mr Jenkin has form. In the 1992 parliament, he was one of the Tories who collaborated with Labour to sabotage legislation on the Maastricht treaty. Today’s Labour leadership might conclude the coalition could not survive the death of AV. – Financial Times.

…with Labour now likely to oppose the referendum bill, which also promises to cut the number of lawmakers and make boundary changes to electoral districts, the government could face its first defeat when parliament debates the issue in early September. And most Conservatives will line up against the referendum if a vote does happen. Under the terms of the coalition deal, Mr. Cameron’s party were free to campaign for a “no” vote just as the Liberal Democrats were allowed to abstain on certain issues in parliamentary votes. Mr. Cameron and his party support the current First Past the Post voting system which favors the two biggest parties: the Conservatives and Labour. – Wall Street Journal.

The leadership

“I am proud and honoured to receive the support of so many of Labour’s leaders in local government and grassroots activists. These are the people at the frontline of Labour’s fight against the Tory-Liberal coalition. These are the people we need to engage to rebuild and renew our party if we are to win back power.” – David Miliband,  Carlisle News and Star.

Like the Levellers, the Tolpuddle martyrs or the Jarrow marchers, the Chartists of the 1830s and 1840s are up there among the Labour party’s most venerated secular saints. And rightly so. For the Chartists long ago placed democracy, reform and fairness at the front of the British labour movement’s forward march. –
Martin Kettle,  The Guardian

Education

It was at the Labour party conference in 1999 that Tony Blair announced that by 2010 that 50 per cent of school leavers would be enrolled in higher education. Although the Labour government quietly abandoned that target last year, the latest numbers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills show that they actually came pretty close to meeting it: by 2009, university participation rates among 17- to 30-year-olds had risen to 45 per cent. – Gulf News

And finally…

Celebrities and politicians including Peter Andre, Sarah Brown and David Miliband paid tribute to the World’s oldest tweeter following her death. Ivy Bean, 104, passed away in her sleep last night after being unwell for several weeks.
Leading the online tributes was Mrs Brown, who praised the late silver surfer for her ‘great spirit and sense of humour’. – The Mail.

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Monday News Review

26/07/2010, 07:35:41 AM

Ed Balls: I’m a fighter

Ed Balls: Fighting to the end

Ed Balls confirmed today that he was “fighting to win” the Labour leadership contest, as his campaign suffered a major blow when he failed to secure the backing of the Unite union. The decision by the political committee of Unite to back Ed Miliband means the shadow climate change secretary enters the summer recess with the backing of Britain’s three largest trade unions. Unison and the GMB have also endorsed Miliband. – The Guardian

Ed Balls has rejected speculation that he is considering quitting the Labour leadership contest. The shadow education secretary told the BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend he was “fighting to the end and I’m fighting to win”. Speculation about his leadership bid came after he failed to win the backing of the Unite union, which gave its endorsement to Ed Miliband. – The BBC

The former schools secretary was forced to re-state his commitment to the contest after reports suggested he was stepping aside in the wake of his failure to secure the backing of Unite union. Mr Balls was overlooked by the union in favour of Ed Miliband, who has now secured the endorsement of three out of the four major UK trade unions after Unison and the GMB also pledged their support. Mr Balls was believed to be considering his candidacy, but came out fighting to deny the reports. – The Scotsman

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I don’t want a new best friend. I want a Labour Prime Minister

24/07/2010, 12:00:21 PM

Back  in 1994 Tony Blair sealed the deal with many of us when he was billed as “the man the Tories most fear”. After the crushing blow of losing in 1992 we wanted a winner. Damn his policies! As the late Tony Banks exclaimed “my members will eat shit to see a Labour government”.

Blair was given enormous latitude. The party was desperate to break its losing streak. We got hooked on successful – but corrosive – habits about stifling internal debate and adopting an approach to discipline that would make a Gordonstoun headmaster blush. But that approach helped keep us in power for 13 years; albeit with a long trail of political capital and supporters leaching out on the road behind us.

We now find ourselves in the middle of Labour’s first truly modern leadership campaign; one that eschews the left/right factionalism of the past and the fatalism we used to have about whether we could actually win power at all. It is opening up debate in a way that we are unused to.

But we have to be careful we don’t overuse our new gifts. There is a balance to be struck between embracing the party’s new glasnost and forgetting the old ways – and why we adopted them in the first place.

At the moment, there’s a lot of tummy tickling going on but not much vision. We need a discussion about how do we equip ourselves for a world where coalition governments may become commonplace. Where there is less money to spend our way to our social democratic nirvana. Where we articulate our own version of The Big Society. Where we back up our grand rhetoric on localism and environmentalism with real commitments next time. But these kind of hard-edged issues are simply not breaking through. (more…)

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Saturday News Review

24/07/2010, 09:42:49 AM

Cash money

David Miliband has raised more in donations than any of the other candidates

David Miliband, the frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest, has raised at least £200,000, his campaign has revealed, as the disparity in financial backing for the five candidates emerges as a big issue. Two wealthy donors have each given him £50,000, sparking accusations within the party that the former foreign secretary is deploying far more staff than his rivals and is in danger of “buying the election” with “Blairite” support. – The Guardian

Apathy

More than 2 million people have a vote in the Labour leadership election, which will trudge on through the summer to a crescendo on 25 September. But how many will avail themselves of the chance to vote must be a cause for concern. The Society of Labour Lawyers has completed a ballot of its 598 members to decide which candidates would receive the society’s formal backing. Labour lawyers, you might think, would be among the more motivated sections of the electorate, yet turn out in this ballot was a dismal eight per cent. In other word, 48 out of 598 bothered to vote. The result was Ed Miliband 18, David Miliband 17, Diane Abbott 8, Andy Burnham 9, and Ed Balls nil. If that reflects the level of enthusiasm, it is not going to be a resounding mandate. – The Independent

The contest has raised barely an eyebrow of public interest, though whoever wins may find low expectations a blessing. There is nowhere to go but up, as opinion polls offer cold comfort. Guardian readers should not be deceived by our daily reasoned critiques of profoundly misguided government policies. The coalition may be about to crash the economy, shipwreck the NHS and splinter the education system but the public does not agree, as yet. The coalition’s honeymoon may last a while. – The Guardian

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Friday News Review

23/07/2010, 08:30:10 AM

 Leadership Contest

“I am an economic realist. The public finances need addressing. Labour’s plans would halve the budget deficit and remove the bulk of the structural deficit in four years. It is the sensible, credible middle-ground between extreme cuts and unchecked spending. But the government’s proposals, designed without an escape hatch in the event of slowing growth, reflect ideology, not realism” – David Miliband, Financial Times.

 Ed, the younger of the two Miliband brothers, has been heavily supported with Coral bookmakers in the last two days to be the next Labour Leader, and has been slashed in price to 13-8 (from 9-4). David is still the odds-on favourite at 1-2. – Live Odds and Scores.

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We’re finally starting to see who should lead the Labour Party, observes Dan Hodges

22/07/2010, 02:30:56 PM

The legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once confided to an assistant that he found analysing match replays more stimulating than sex. “Either you don’t know how to have sex”, the assistant replied,  “or I don’t know how to watch game footage”.  I was reminded of that quote when someone at Saturday’s Labour Friends of Searchlight leadership hustings gushed to me how the leadership election was “energising the movement”. Either I have unrealistic expectations of what it means to be energised, or elements of the movement  have to get out there and get some excitement into their lives.

This leadership election is dire. The candidates are exhausted. The contest is mired in tedium. There  is lots of sound, but precious little fury. We are a beaten party going through the motions, and it shows.

And yet…and yet. Despite the banality, the drudgery, the parsing, the positioning; somewhere through the gloom, the odd chinks of light are starting to seep through. Patterns, barely discernable, are beginning to form. Gradually we are unearthing the first clues  to who could, and should, be the next leader of our Party.

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Wednesday News Review

21/07/2010, 08:00:58 AM
 
 

A bit of brotherly love from both Milibands at hustings

The Leadership

“It’s easy for me – it’s not on all issues that blood is thicker than water, but I only have one brother standing,” said David Miliband. “I nominated Diane but I fear I would disappoint her (when the votes are cast).” His brother Ed responded: “I would nominate David – I think his qualities speak for themselves but obviously he would be a fantastic leader.” Diane Abbott summed up: “You can see their mum has got them in line on this. Canary Wharf hustings – Docklands 24.

Normally in a Labour leadership election people like us either profess disinterest (or, possibly, even uninterest), or make jokes about intrusions into private grief. I think it would be unwise to be so flippant. I have never set foot in a bookmaker’s in my life, but were I that sort of person, I would be seeing what odds I could get on Ed Miliband’s being prime minister this time next year. Oh, I know he’s the less famous one, and it has been decreed that the Coalition is going to last five years: but stranger things have happened. Therefore, we might take notice of what the Labour Party, in what the media represent as being a quiet period in its fortunes, is up to. – The Telegraph.

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Tuesday News Review

20/07/2010, 07:32:12 AM

Miliband: beating contenders

Leadership Candidate Visibility

‘Despite his rivals efforts to make inroads – particularly Ed Balls who seems to be constantly popping up on tv and radio – David Miliband’s support is rock solid and there is no serious money being invested on any of his fellow contenders’ –William Hill

Many of those who do may have listened to Mr Balls’s speech and been enchanted by it. It may certainly have appealed to their lower instincts. It may have tickled their viscera. And for this reason we can conclude that Mr Balls had a good day, awful though he may have been.  The simple fact was that he was on his hind hooves, bulging his eyes in parliamentary prime time while none of his leadership opponents was to be seen or heard. – Daily Mail.

Miliband in Scotland

Labour will never form another UK Government unless it revives in southern England. The stark assessment comes from David Miliband as the Labour leadership contender tries to get to grips with the public’s rejection of New Labour, now consigned to the history books and to be replaced by what some have dubbed, somewhat unimaginatively, Next Labour, which Miliband says can be relaunched from Scotland. –Herald Scotland.

Labour leadership contender David Miliband has condemned the decision to release the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing as clearly wrong. His comments in an exclusive interview in The Herald today represent a dramatic change in his previous position on Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi’s release on medical grounds. – Herald Scotland.

Ed Miliband: finding a voice on Big Society

Big Society

Labour was today quick to dismiss the prime minister’s pledge to deliver the “most dramatic redistribution of power from elites in Whitehall to the man and woman on the street”. This is what Ed Miliband told Radio 4: “This is essentially a 19th century or US-style view of our welfare state which is cut back the welfare state and somehow civic society will thrive.” – The Guardian on Big Society. 

Graduate Tax

Vince Cable, and according to Cable, the prime minister and the chancellor; the universities minister, David Willetts; the NUS and all Labour leadership contenders except David Miliband. –The Guardian on Graduate Tax Supporters.
In a letter to the climate secretary Chris Huhne, former climate secretary Ed Miliband called on the government to to stand up against “free-market zealots” and restore funding for green industries. “After helping to lead the debate in changing the balance of our economy in a more sustainable direction, you are now turning your back on green industry and risk undermining the UK’s growing reputation around the world for leadership in this field,” he wrote. “You claimed to be the ‘greenest government ever’ but so far you are turning your back on green jobs and green industry.” – The Guardian.

Abbott

Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott has called on the Government to continue its aid efforts for Haiti. Ms Abbott tabled an Early Day Motion and requested a meeting with ministers to discuss how further help could be given to the tiny nation on the six month anniversary of the tragedy. – Hackney Gazette.

The idea of Stella and her husband, magazine publisher Alasdhair Willis, doing a Diane Abbott in reverse  –  dragging their children out of public schools to send them to the local state-education establishments to give them a better chance in life  –  is laughable. Jan Moir on Stella McCartney – Daily Mail.

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Sunday News Review

18/07/2010, 07:56:14 AM

Have you seen this man?

Where’s Gordon?

Some ex-prime ministers take years to get over being ejected; some never come to terms with the withdrawal of power. I don’t blame him for holing up in Kirkaldy and trying to bury his anguish by sitting at his keyboard thumping out a tome on the financial crisis. But I do criticise his colleagues for continuing to flinch from confronting the truth about him. – Rawnsley on Brown, The Guardian.

Since Labour left office their ­successors have finally been able to go through the books. And they make for uncomfortable reading. Of course it is difficult to fathom the labyrinthine bureaucracy that under-pins the NHS. But it would be hard to imagine any private business accepting without question a supplier increasing the price of a product by almost 1,000 per cent over two years. –Daily Mail.

Leadership news

The widow of John Smith, the former Labour leader who died of a heart attack in 1994, has thrown her backing behind Ed Miliband in the party’s leadership battle. Baroness Elizabeth Smith said she was sure that her husband would have done the same thing if he had been alive. “I am backing Ed Miliband because I identify with Ed’s values and principles, and I know that John would have done so too. Ed is also the candidate who I know has the ability to unify the party going forward,” she said. – The Guardian.

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