Tweet Ed’s speech was carefully measured. A re-statement of the post-war justification for the creation of the welfare state — a social responsibility we all share. Those who saw this as an attack on benefit claimants must be basing their view on the spin and interpretation of the speech rather than the speech itself. And [...]
Posts Tagged ‘David Miliband’
We now know what a good thing it was that David Miliband didn’t win
Jun 11th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Tweet David Miliband’s victory speech that never was to the Labour Party conference last September, leaked to the Guardian, reveals all too clearly the disastrous path down which he would have taken the party to near-extinction, by adopting the Osborne cut-and-slash strategy in full, and indeed perhaps going even further. His claim that “the party will only [...]
David Miliband’s outside earnings top £200k
May 31st, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Tweet David Miliband’s earnings from outside parliament this year now exceed £200,000. These earnings include: £25,000 for a lecture in Abu Dhabi; £42,600 for three lectures through the London Speaker Bureau and £10,000 for another organised by McKinsey; almost £24,000 for one week’s teaching at MIT plus the same again for his whole family’s flights [...]
The Blairite ultras would lead Labour to surrender. They must be stopped
May 19th, 2011 by Owen Jones.Tweet I never thought I’d say but it but, Christ, I don’t half know how Thatcher felt. Until her administration came and put the ‘Great’ back into ‘Great Britain’ (and all that), post-war Britain was a picture of despair for Maggie. The Tories had capitulated to the political settlement established by Clement Attlee’s 1945 government, [...]
Could Labour have won in 2010?
Apr 19th, 2011 by Andy Newman.Tweet In the final days of last year’s general election campaign, Gordon Brown visited Skelmersdale, to a raw emotional reception. This was an election where Labour was too slow to realise that working class memories of what a Tory government is like were strong. Polly Toynbee, to her credit, did pick up that it was different from politics as usual, [...]
If David Miliband is the answer, its a bloody stupid question
Mar 13th, 2011 by Mark Seddon.Tweet It says something about the rather dismal condition of both British politics and journalism, that this week there was an amount of liberal fluttering over a speech at the London School of Economics by former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who was beaten by his brother for the Labour leadership. Here is Miliband’s thesis; it is [...]
What really matters about Labour Leadership elections?
Feb 17th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Tweet Labour’s review of its structure is right to include the way it elects its leader but public attention has so far been drawn to the wrong things. That’s happened because Ed’s recent victory surprised many, not least his brother and his brother’s supporters, and some of Ed’s people see a need to spin away [...]
Labour must renounce its ugly Blairite legacy if it wants to win
Feb 2nd, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Tweet Monday was a day of shame, the day they denationalised the NHS. Yet at the second reading of the Bill in the House of Commons the main line of defence of the increasingly isolated Andrew Lansley, who is clearly out of his depth, was that the Tories are only carrying on where Blair left off [...]
Wanted: A (new) Labour General Secretary
Nov 25th, 2010 by Mark Seddon.Tweet Labour’s new leader has been in office barely two months, yet this hasn’t stopped a motley collection of ex Ministers, frustrated David Miliband supporters and it would seem some party officials, from moaning in the ear of one Dan Hodges, who last week launched into print in the New Statesman, giving vent to their [...]
Ed Miliband needs to get a grip
Nov 22nd, 2010 by Mark Seddon.Tweet “If a week is a long time in politics”, as Harold Wilson once said, two weeks away from politics on paternity leave is clearly an age. Ed Miliband returns this week to Parliament after a fortnight helping to change nappies, only to find that some on his own front bench have been busy doing [...]
