By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. A week on from Ed Miliband's sixth re-launch, it would be timely to review his progress. Has he managed to persuade the public of his credibility at last? Has he managed to thrash the Coalition in the polls? Is his Party settled and united behind his leadership? It seems […]
By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter Over the past week, Ed Miliband has come under criticism from various figures in the Labour party – including from mentor and architect of 'Blue Labour', Lord Glasman, and other Labour MPs. Adding to this list today, both Alan Johnson and Alistair Darling have expressed their concerns. In Saturday's Guardian […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Conservatives have had some fun at Ed Miliband's expense this week. Today's Sun revelled in Ed Miliband's "Blackbusters" gaffe. "Silly Mili", it laughed. Guido Fawkes relaunched Iain Martin's Don't Underestimate Ed Miliband Association as the Don't Unseat Ed Miliband Association. "Save Ed Miliband" is the three word prayer of every […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Labour have put out seven pieces of campaign literature for the Feltham and Heston by-election so far. On how many does Ed Miliband have even a passport-sized photo? None. Ed Miliband is nowhere to be seen on Labour leaflets. On Thursday, the Evening Standard's Craig Woodhouse reported: "As the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Monday, Minister of State for Climate Change, Greg Barker announced that the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) level for solar installations would be reduced as a result of soaring take-up of FITs. FITs are subsidies for small-scale renewable electricity generation, paid for by ordinary households through their energy bills. The government […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Stephen Twigg, a Blairite reformer, was appointed to the Shadow Education brief in Ed Miliband's last reshuffle. As a former Education Minister who helped the drive for academy schools in the New Labour years, it was hoped his appointment might signal Ed Miliband's support for the Coalition's Free Schools […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Following Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet reshuffle this afternoon, we can take a look at some of the reaction in the press: The Spectator's James Forsyth: "The Labour reshuffle is an attempt to bring more energy and aggression into Ed Miliband's top team. It is also a recognition that the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Will Ed Miliband open up Labour's leadership elections to the public? Not quite. Mr Miliband has tabled proposals at a meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee to create "tens of thousands" of "registered supporters" who will be eligible to vote in future leadership elections. However, the "registered supporters" would be included in the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Labour Leader Ed Miliband gave a speech to the TUC Congress this morning. He treated those assembled in the hall to the usual Miliband line about unions – they play a vital role, union members should have a say in the Labour Party, and the government is wrong to […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. The latest opinion polls aren't encouraging for Labour. The Government has been through very difficult times but the overnight YouGov survey has the Conservatives just 3% behind Labour. Lib Dem HQ's attempts to say they have turned the corner (covered by the FT) are not borne out. Clegg's party […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Labour politicians have long pointed to their "Plan B", and their deficit reduction strategy that would, apparently, be carried out slower than the Coalition plan, and be less "painful". Ed Balls, Labour's Shadow Chancellor, told the House on Thursday – in a debate on the Global Economy, during the […]
By Tim Montgomerie Follow Tim on Twitter. Over at LabourList Luke Bozier is delivering a lot of home truths to his comrades: "Labour says the reason it created this fiscal mess was to save the country from a collapse of the banking system. But let's get real – the reason there's a deficit is because […]
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter Earlier on this week, the head of public-sector union UNISON, Dave Prentis, used belligerent and class-war rhetoric to call for "a campaign for strike action without precedent". You might think it would be politically sensible for Ed Miliband and his team to shut this story down and remove themselves […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Interesting piece over at LabourList urging Ed Miliband to "immerse himself in enterprise, and learn to truly understand and value it." Written by Alex Smith and Luke Bozier it's an important piece. Read the whole thing but this paragraph stood out to me: "It means getting more small businesspeople […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter The impression from the papers today and over the last few days is that Ed Miliband is under attack from the Blairite "right" of the Labour Party: David Miliband's leaked victory speech (what might have been, if he'd won), the Telegraph files showing Ed Miliband and Ed Balls plotted […]