Ed Milliband

crackerjack

Well-known member
Is there a decent rundown anywhere of what he's actually likely to do?

All the news reports that I've seen since he won have said that a) he made a speech with a bunch of platitudes b) his brother was in the running too c) he isn't married yet omg and d) he thought Iraq was a bad idea. And before that I never managed to learn which candidate was which...

Well he's also in favour of using the state (eg thru tax and/or govt contracts) to boost the Living Wage, as opposed to the minimum.

He says the 50% top rate is permanent.

He's opposed some of Nu Lab's illiberalism (3 month detention, absurd uses of anti-terrorism law).

He's for nice stuff and against bad stuff.

That's about all I can remember at the mo.

edit: Oh, and he probably favours a slower deficit reduction than his brother, but that's not confirmed as they've been vague about that all along.
 
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scottdisco

rip this joint please
Why thank you. You old tease.

:D

yeah, Ed M has sounded good on civil liberties, like Crackerjack says, he definitely would want to reverse some NuLab follies in that area.

heartened by the Cracker and hucks love for Ed Balls' grasp of stuff, if also agreeing w all and Grizzleb about the guy's love of a ruck, etc.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
Significant that Ed's first act is to sack Nick Brown as Chief Whip, presumably as a sop to his bruv. These old wounds run sooooo deep.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Ed Balls is supposed to be super smart but everyone who has met him says that he is very unpleasant. I think that will always be his stumbling block.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
Ed Balls is supposed to be super smart but everyone who has met him says that he is very unpleasant. I think that will always be his stumbling block.

Supposedly his sworn enemy is now Ed Mili – presumably cos he nicked the centre-left vote – and Charlie Whelan (another ex-Brownie, but very much Camp Mili) is gleefully taking the piss out of him all over Twitter. I don't fancy our chances of putting all that old shit to rest.
 

mos dan

fact music
i don't understand the cynicism in this thread (and elsewhere)

firstly i'm not unhappy with the emphasis he's put on iraq - throughout the campaign. it's quite rightly been a huge fucking albatross around the neck of the labour party - both in itself, and the way it was subsequently handled. i'm not sure how verifiable his opposition in 2003 was (he wasn't an mp at the time of course - i think there was a mehdi hasan blog about proof on the ns blog a few weeks back) - but either way it's a vital break to make, symbolically. i couldn't care less if it seemed or was opportunist, it was just *necessary*

thank you crackerjack for pointing out these:

Well he's also in favour of using the state (eg thru tax and/or govt contracts) to boost the Living Wage, as opposed to the minimum.

He says the 50% top rate is permanent.

He's opposed some of Nu Lab's illiberalism (3 month detention, absurd uses of anti-terrorism law).

He's for nice stuff and against bad stuff.

edit: Oh, and he probably favours a slower deficit reduction than his brother, but that's not confirmed as they've been vague about that all along.

also he's going to vote yes on av, which is obviously crap ersatz pr, but maybe a step in the right direction.

also he's for a fully elected house of lords right?

i'll be honest i still haven't had time to watch the speech, i just got back from turkey.

the bottom line for me is that i could give a shit about the relationship dynamics between him and his brother, beyond a purely theatrical interest - there's a worryingly high emphasis on it in this thread imho! the 'in the grip of the unions stuff' is nonsense, everyone needs to move on - i don't see how anyone can think it's wildly undemocratic. and they're going to need him in the next few years as much he'll need them.

really THE POINT IS in the (lol) current economic climate, with the cuts about to bite, with an untested and brittle coalition, this is an actual opportunity, isn't it?? to make the case for the role of the state, for bank regulation, and for a green economy (which my enviro mate tells me he has a pretty good record on). this is a key moment, no? the next 3/4/5 years, before the next election? possibly less than that, who knows..

the lib dems are weak, and cameron's sheen will come off as the nights draw in (he did BADLY in the may election, too, let's not forget that - six months away from polling day they were coasting to a comfortable majority).

SURELY the least the left ought to do now is stop fiddling with itself while rome burns, lobby ed to be brave enough to probe the cracks in the coalition, and answer the questions facing the country with keynesian policies, coupled with enlightened, progressive civil liberties, climate change and electoral reform policy. all these are realistically attainable policy goals at this moment in time, no?

don't believe it'll happen necessarily - but it's easier to make the case for it than it has been for ages; and if the labour party aren't imprisoned by the ethos of new labour anymore, then how is this not a good thing? tony blair was not really ever ~a labour man~, he delighted in rejecting party orthodoxies (like fairness, redistribution of wealth, sunshine, puppies etc). meanwhile brown was fried from the start. miliband is neither of those things. i don't think it makes me a cock-eyed optimist to think that might make a difference?

:slanted:


***

ps my god what choice did ed have, with the viciously anti-socialist* press we have (and he's had, already), but to pitch his very first leader's speech to the right of 'red ed'? what would you do? i'm not saying he's some devious entriest genius in waiting, but come on, he's just not fucking stupid! :)

*whatever they think that word means at any one time

pps someone on twitter pointed out that neither blair nor cameron established a specific policy slate the minute they took over as party leaders. i don't know whether that's the right thing to do (morally or tactically), but it's certainly seen to be politically astute to hold back a bit.

post-post-script CAVEAT: i am not a member of the labour party nor have i ever been. and didn't vote for ed miliband. tho i did win a little bit betting on him lol

(sorry to witter on, seriously) :)
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
the bottom line for me is that i could give a shit about the relationship dynamics between him and his brother, beyond a purely theatrical interest - there's a worryingly high emphasis on it in this thread imho!

not just on this thread either. 'serious' journos seem to be lapping it up.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
To add my two cents, I think it was a disasterous conference: Labour, once again, sank to the occasion. I've been watching the TV in total disbelief for the last few days, swimming around in Tessa Jowell's tragic eyes as Kinnock and the Union Leaders goon around on TV. The only serious contenders, with the only substantial leadership campaigns, proved to be David Miliband and Ed Balls -- followed, a long way behind, by Andy Burnham, who made valient stabs at the arguments, and gave a surprisingly robust defence of his Iraq vote. Diane Abbott's bid was merely perplexing, and not as funny or singular or epochal as she obviously thought. And then there was Ed, who seemed to be having a pillow fight on a bouncy castle. As David and Balls hit their stride, his performance got increasingly vacuous and nonsensical, cynical (manipulating all the factions) and powerless (being manipulated by them). So now, this means that Labour is led by a young man who doesn't really know what to do with his victory and is surrounded by powerful Party and Union barons who suddenly think they have a puppet, and very likely have. I know a lot of people are delighted by the Blairite rout (symbolised for me by Charles Clarke losing his seat in May and Tessa's tragic eyes, Tessa and Charles being, after all, the very spores of New Labour) -- but the expulsion/exile of this tendency will prove important, and damaging.
 

hucks

Your Message Here
I don't understand the cynicism around Ed Miliband

I'm not cynical, but I'm not impressed. And all that We Are the Optimists stuff was just cringeworthy. Is that it? Don't worry be happy? We're all fucked. Why cheer that one on?

really THE POINT IS in the (lol) current economic climate, with the cuts about to bite, with an untested and brittle coalition, this is an actual opportunity, isn't it??

Exactly. He just isn't the man. I want someone to bite George Osborne's face off. Will Ed Miliband bite George Osborne's face off? No. Then he isn't the man.

the lib dems are weak, and cameron's sheen will come off as the nights draw in (he did BADLY in the may election, too, let's not forget that - six months away from polling day they were coasting to a comfortable majority).

Good point. But why isn't Cameron popular? Why didn't he seal the deal? I don't want to wade too deep into the Tory blogging cesspit to find out, but surely part of it was his absence of any policies? He articulated nothing. He was Hope and Change. OK, we get it. And it's not enough.

Balls would have gone after them on schools and the economy. Even Burnham has a good line of attack on the NHS (which really, really matters) but EMili is just "values" and "message" and yawn and zzzz.


SURELY the least the left ought to do now is stop fiddling with itself while rome burns, lobby ed to be brave enough to probe the cracks in the coalition

He shouldn't need lobbying. I agree with you that he does, though. And that's not right.

don't believe it'll happen necessarily - but it's easier to make the case for it than it has been for ages; and if the labour party aren't imprisoned by the ethos of new labour anymore, then how is this not a good thing? tony blair was not really evera labour man~, he delighted in rejecting party orthodoxies (like fairness, redistribution of wealth, sun~shine, puppies etc). meanwhile brown was fried from the start. miliband is neither of those things. i don't think it makes me a cock-eyed optimist to think that might make a difference?

No, but I think you're ignoring his lack of experience and his lack of any real point of difference with the coalition. My horrible feeling is that he's goin gto spend the time getting the mood music right while the Tories wreak utter havoc. I want a Labour leader to articulate an alternative to the forthcoming Tory/ Lib Dem horror. I don't see Ed Miliband doing that. I hope I'm wrong.

Also, and this is sad, and I feel bad saying it, but I'd take any Labour, Old, New, whatever, over this government. The systematic destruction of any social safety net, the total economic illiteracy, the transparent class hatred - listen to Gove, listen to Osborne. I want them beaten, and I would sacrifice a shot at a perfect Labour party to get it done. And I don't think Ed Miliband is the man.
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
Exactly. He just isn't the man. I want someone to bite George Osborne's face off. Will Ed Miliband bite George Osborne's face off? No. Then he isn't the man.
.

But that will be Balls' job (assuming he gets it - if not, maybe Liam Byrne) and he'll do it better as shadow chancellor than leader. All this visceral stuff is very appealing to the party faithful but people don't want attack dogs in No.10. Mood music matters - that's why Brown was so spectacularly crap as a leader.

edit: If you missed QT last night, get to the iPlayer and watch Brian Cox (the actor, not D-Ream/scientist) rip David Starkey a new arsehole on the issue of Ed.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
I know a lot of people are delighted by the Blairite rout (symbolised for me by Charles Clarke losing his seat in May and Tessa's tragic eyes, Tessa and Charles being, after all, the very spores of New Labour) -- but the expulsion/exile of this tendency will prove important, and damaging.

This hyperbolic ultra-Blarite shit surrounding Ed - of which the above is an example – is getting embarrassing. There is no expulsion/exile unless you/they want it. Ed Mili's election represents a long-overdue minor leftward shift and little more. He has no need to be in the union pocket because he's already elected and say what you will about Tony Woodley, he's no Sam Giancana. People are getting in a tizz because Mili said it's time to admit Iraq was a fuck-up – tbh, this is pretty much now beyond a matter of opinion and into objective fact, but too many people have expended too much energy and burnt too many bridges to admit that.

Nu Lab, to me, was always meant to be about pragmatism, a cutting back of the more damaging statist ideology and its replacement with a more flexible approach. instead it's pickled into hardcore dogma, with Blair becoming Thatcher (witness his ludicrous suggestion that deviating one iota from Nu Lab spelt trouble - I mean, he is aware we had to nationalise the banks, right?) and Mandelson (who did enormous damage to D Mili's hopes) turning into its Tebbit. It's time to get over yourselves.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Yeah, it does seem mental to see 'blairism' turning into some kind of hardcore ideology when it always seemed to be a kind of soft, pragmatic, grab-the-middleground compromise of an idea. I mean, people seem to be making out the differences between, Ed M, David M and Ed B to be like some kind of earth-shattering ideological gulfs when from the outside it looks a lot more like different personalities and different gangs of mates heading very similar brands of pragmatic centrism...
 

routes

we can delay.ay.ay...
*aside*

Emilli Emilli Emilli Emilli Emilli......


"Ed Milliband, i'm the unmarried Milliband, younger than the other Milliband, my policies don't compare, i'm a political disease, like a minstrel, please.... etc..."
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I'm ashamed to say I'm part of the 74% of the electorate that failed to vote... :eek:

Various dirty tricks mentioned in the papers - the Bengali freesheet calling the Labour guy a 'racist' (against whom?) and 'wifebeater' - Rahman denies all knowledge, of course.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
I'm ashamed to say I'm part of the 74% of the electorate that failed to vote... :eek:

Various dirty tricks mentioned in the papers - the Bengali freesheet calling the Labour guy a 'racist' (against whom?) and 'wifebeater' - Rahman denies all knowledge, of course.

The Bengali freesheet which was delivered to thousands of houses in the borough for the first time ever. And half their staff resigned in protest. Rahman's campaign was the filthiest shit I've seen and anyone involved in it should be refused readmission to the party. And as for Ken....it's the kind of thing that makes me believe all the muck thrown at him is fully justified. Cunt.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Yeah, you expect no better from Gorgeous George of course, but to see Ken backing this kind of slimy bastard is just depressing. I guess maybe it flatters his vanity to see another Labour man do a 'him', i.e. win an important post after being booted out of the party and going it alone.
 
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