There has been a lot of chat about Ed Miliband’s speech this morning on the social media networks by people who have not read through or heard the speech, so now I’ve read through the transcript I feel in a better place to add comment.

Firstly, were this really dog whistle politics designed to please the right wing, or the electorate who appeal to populist politics of the sort that the Daily Express and the Daily Mail dine out on, then there are far better ways of doing it that’s for sure. Instead Miliband explained his long held appreciation of a Britain that has enjoyed good deals of immigration – which he himself was the beneficiary of. At no point is there any mention that immigrants are a problem or that the public sector is bursting full of foreigners – as is the standard trope of dog whistle politics. Continue reading →