Miliband tries to explain himself
Peter Hoskin 9:46am
As the weekend drifts closer, there is a case that Ed Miliband has just enjoyed his best
week as Labour leader. Not really from anything he has done — although his PMQs performance had more vigour than usual — but thanks to the backwash from the Ken Clarke calamity. MiliE's
spinners could barely have dreamed, even a few days ago, that their man would gain the the fiery approval of The Sun on matters of law and order. But that is effectively what they gained yesterday. "Labour is now tougher on crime," bellowed the paper's leader column, "than our Tory-led
government." Even today their editorial laments, "so much for David Cameron's pledge to provide a
young, modern government in tune with 2011 Britain."
But this week has not been an unmitigated triumph for Miliband. His call for Ken Clarke to resign has, in particular, soured the occasion for him and his supporters. Some have complained that operating against Ken Clarke will push the coalition's policy into the hands of the Tory right — and prevent the sort of prison reforms that the left quite admires. Some have suggested that Miliband's truculance will only have made David Cameron more determined to hang on to Clarke. Some, such as one interrogator on last night's Question Time, have said that it was cheap and dirty politics in the first place, and ought be scorned as such. "Some of the worst instincts of New Labour in terms of a personal attack," was how he described Miliband's actions.
So it's no coicidence that Miliband is on the defensive this morning, with an article in the Independent headlined, "Why I was right to demand that Clarke should go". The basic argument he makes is that, while he supports the idea of prison reform, Ken Clarke's proposals are all about cutting costs, rather than cutting crime. "By reducing the number of police on our streets, by halving sentences for violent offenders," he finishes, "the Government are risking creating more victims. They are failing a very simple test. They are not making our communities safer now or for the future."
This, really, is not so much a justification for Miliband's attack on Clarke, as for Labour's overall crime and justice policy — and one that we have heard before. Sadiq Khan, the shadow
justice secretary, put it in similar terms in a key address to the Fabians in February. Here is the passage from that
speech that sums it all up:
What we have on crime — and it has been clarified this week — is the ol' investment-vs-cuts dividing line. On one side, the government saying that, "this isn't working, and more money won't fix it". On the other, an Opposition saying that, "this isn't working, and more money will fix it". But Labour will have been given hope that this time, just maybe, their argument could gain ground. It is a reactionary argument and one that lacks detail, but it has already won some approval from The Sun. Perhaps crime is such an emotive issue that it makes the cuts less endurable. If so, the government has some serious counterarguing to do."It's clear that the policies of the Ministry of Justice are founded on the short-term need to cut costs, not crime. But in the short-term, successful rehabilitation requires resources.And successful rehabilitation will not only make society better, it will produce long-term savings — both from the prison budget, and from society as a whole as a result of lower crime.
This government is taking a very short-sighted view on the rehabilitation process. In the long run, they are risking increased costs by gambling with public safety — there is a real and genuine danger that because of their policies crime will rise.
Quite simply, it's irresponsible to pursue this agenda without the investment to match it."
Previous
DavidDP
May 20th, 2011 9:59am Report this comment"Even today their editorial laments, "so much for David Cameron's pledge to provide a young, modern government in tune with 2011 Britain."
I'm amused by the Sun believing it is in tune with young, modern, 2011 Britain.
As for Ed, most of the women I know think he's politicised the issue of rape, and hate him for it.
Rhoda Klapp
May 20th, 2011 10:00am Report this commentThis is an in-the-bubble story, and as such it is likely that these issues are ephemeral. And irrelevant.
However, always questioning, I wonder just how much crime as an issue with voters, in the sense that they really believe one party will fix it and one will not. It seems to me that no party has a clue. Voters do want criminals locked up, generally. Is crime really a deciding issue?
David Dee
May 20th, 2011 10:14am Report this commentIf you think that Ed wants rid of Ken Clarke ( to be replaced by another Thatcherite) then you are mistaken.
What he is doing is questioning the Tory party image of that as being the party of Law and Order whilst at the same time making it impossible for our Pantomime PM to sack him as it would appear as though he was taking orders from Ed as opposed to his real leader, Murdoch !!!
GDT
May 20th, 2011 10:17am Report this commentIt seems not only defence is reliant on a well managed economy. Labour would say they would spend more. It is the Labour Party in a nutshell. Spend...Spend...Spend
Nick
May 20th, 2011 10:25am Report this commentIt hasn't been a good week for Ed Milliband at all.
He has called for Clarke to be sacked. And Clarke is still in place. Backed by even editorials in The Guardian and Labour-supporting blogs.
All Ed has done is show his impotency.
marc antony
May 20th, 2011 10:26am Report this commentEd is blowing it big time and his miserable article only confirms it. God only knows what kind of dweebs are advising him and then coming up with this guff. It's all about judgement and he is demonstrating none.
perdix
May 20th, 2011 10:27am Report this commentBut Clarke proposes new ways of rehabilitation including payment by results.What are Labour's ideas?
Maggie
May 20th, 2011 10:31am Report this commentIf Miliband is as sympathetic to the victims of crime as he would like us to suppose he should've fought against Labour's policy of opening up our borders to the world's criminals during the past 13 years. Very large numbers of criminals packing out our over-burdened prison and criminal justice service are the direct result of Labour's laisse faire immigration policy.
Peter King
May 20th, 2011 10:35am Report this commentThis is an interesting argument until the last paragraph and particularly the sentence "It is a reactionary argument and one that lacks detail, but it has already won some approval from The Sun". The argument may lack detail but it has resonance precisely because it is reactionary, and the The Sun is in tune with modern Britain because it know that reactionary arguments tend to be in tune with majority opinion in Britain. If recent events such as the Royal Wedding and AV Referendum have taught us anything it is that Britain remains a deeply (small 'c') conservative country and that this does not detract from its acceptance of modernity.
dirtbox
May 20th, 2011 10:37am Report this commentI suggest you read the reader responses to the Milliband article, the vast majority are extremely scornful of what they see as his opportunistic politicking on a serious subject and many readers are supportive of Clarke. Dittto in the Guardian yesterday. Surely that is the bigger story here !
Pete-s
May 20th, 2011 10:38am Report this commentThe only thing that has been proven this week, is that the PC sisterhood have managed 'rape' to be yet another subject that only the brave talk about. This goes into the same category as BNP, Racism, Child Poverty, Benefit scroungers, immigration, etc.
Nicholas
May 20th, 2011 10:41am Report this commentYeah, tough on crime, but you need to look beyond the headline to understand what New Labour II means by "crime". Tough on the innocent and anyone whose views they disapprove of too.
Chris lancashire
May 20th, 2011 10:47am Report this commentWhat is intrinsically wrong about cutting costs. This week "cost cutting" has been used as a dirty phrase in relation to the justice system, railways, defence and the NHS. I would really like to hear the government make the case that cost cutting is good - particularly when "there is no money left".
Simon Stephenson.
May 20th, 2011 10:53am Report this commentRhoda Klapp : 10.00am
"Voters do want criminals locked up, generally."
Well, not exactly generally, I would say. They want criminals locked up, and generally dealt with harshly, as long as these criminals are someone else's sons, brothers, uncles or fathers. The moment they are confronted with the criminals being their own kith and kin, their "general" opinion as to the treatment of prisoners lurches from one end of the spectrum to the other, from uncompromising to lenient.
What's needed is for people to understand that they are not being asked for an opinion on a situation in which they may assume non-involvement, but one in which they may, or may not, become personally involved, and where their conclusion is to be reached with this uncertainty in mind.
Sir Everard Digby
May 20th, 2011 10:54am Report this commentOh the irony.Perhaps Ed could comment on this:
'Spending on the prison and probation system in England and Wales has grown by 36 percent in real terms since 2004 despite a major reorganisation that was meant to save money, a new report from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has found. Prison and probation expenditure 1999 - 2009 found that spending on the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) - which combines the costs of operating the prison, probation and headquarters function - rose in real terms from £3.6 billion in 2004/05 to £4.9 billion in 2008/09.
Despite this significant increase in expenditure, frontline resources have been increasingly overstretched. Public prisons have experienced successive annual real terms cuts in expenditure per prisoners since 2006 and overcrowding has increased. In probation, key frontline staffing groups peaked in 2006 and have since declined in the face of a continuing rise in the number of people subject to probation supervision'
So,where was the investment then Ed? -not in frontline services.
Ed appears to have selective amnesia which means he can't recall anything before May 2010. Time to retire I think.
Simon Stephenson.
May 20th, 2011 11:16am Report this commentChris lancashire : 10.47am
This is the government's most damaging failure. Labour is being allowed to paint a picture of public spending increases being no more than a matter of accounting, based on the fanciful notion that, however it is treated, the privately controlled section of the economy is unlimited in its ability to create enough tradeable value to keep the country solvent.
The reality, of course, is that Labour's designs are to keep chipping away at the private sector's ability to deliver until one day the party is able to claim that the private sector is letting the country down with its inadequacies - so opening up the "solution" of greatly expanded political control over economic activity.
Hugh Janus
May 20th, 2011 11:22am Report this commentOh well said Pete-s! The hysterical response form the PC brigade will certainly frighten off all but the most strong-willed. As you say, this is the same as shouting "racist" when anyone tries to discuss race or immigration, although on this occasion I think the response scored at least 15 on a scale of hysterics of 1 to 10.
Miliband's judgement in all this has, once again, been seriously lacking. His call for Clark's resignation was just pathetic, but apparently the only response he could think of at PMQs.
Liz Brown
May 20th, 2011 11:50am Report this commenthe needn't bother, as far as I'm concerned - he could cut the CO2 emissions he bored on about (and signed into Law at vast expense to we, the people), and keep his trap shut
TrevorsDen
May 20th, 2011 12:20pm Report this commentMr Hoskin - Labour have spent money like a drunken sailor for 13 years. And now labour say rehabilitation needs even more money??
The very reason we need to make savings is because of labour's wasteful spending. Spending is out of control --- geddit? Anyone who thinks its going to be easy to get it back in control is plain dipsy. prisons and sentencing is just one example.
AndyinBrum
May 20th, 2011 12:25pm Report this commentWant to save money in the justice system? Stop this moronic, wasteful, harmful, hypocritical and failed "war on drugs".
dorothy wilson
May 20th, 2011 12:40pm Report this commentAs usual with Milliminor and crew they criticise the government, make broad brush statements requiring more money to be spent but never say where that money will come from.
Stephens
May 20th, 2011 12:50pm Report this commentThe Sun just wants to twist the knife against the highest profile pro-Euro cabinet member. Nothing to do with law and order. The substance of Ken's argument is right and that is what really matters.
Kennybhoy
May 20th, 2011 12:51pm Report this commentSimon Stephenson on May 20th, 2011.
Fair comment sir.
If the definition of a Conservative is a Liberal who got mugged then the definition of a Liberal is a Conservative who got arrested or, as you so rightly observe, who's loved one got arrested.
canonalberic
May 20th, 2011 1:03pm Report this commentIt is remarkable to me that Millibands only real fans are commentators in conservative leaning publications who for various reasons (because he didnt "win", because he isnt UKIP enough, because he isnt Lady Thatcher, because he has a round face) hate David Cameron. Maybe it tactics afterall the Tories couldnt wish for a better leader of the opposition - he would be unelectable if Cameron were found to be sheltering Mullah Omar.
Milliband has had another simply hopeless week. Cameron overwhelmed him at PMQs because despite presenting an open goal all Milliband could manage was poorly thought out shrill posturing, the liberal blogosphere almost universally condemned his pathetic call for Clarke to resign, and he has reinforced the obviously correct perception that he is an opportunistic juvenile hack politician quite hopelessly out of his depth. I bet Ed Balls is delighted.
Kennybhoy
May 20th, 2011 1:04pm Report this commentRhoda Klapp asked:
"Is crime really a deciding issue?"
Short answer. No. The same goes for immigration and Europe. Those who are exercised by these issues are actually spread out across the three main parties. None of these issues are, at present, important enough to such voters as to break their traditional party allegiance...
In2minds
May 20th, 2011 1:09pm Report this commentAndyinBrum - Showing your mean side today eh? The WoD along with ambulance chasing is so much fun and well paid too, have a heart!
Ken
May 20th, 2011 1:23pm Report this comment@Nick ... And there was I thinking it was for adenoids that short trousers will soon undergo surgery.
David Ossitt
May 20th, 2011 3:38pm Report this comment“The basic argument he makes is that, while he supports the idea of prison reform, Ken Clarke's proposals are all about cutting costs, rather than cutting crime.”
Typical Ed (the Gromit) Miliband double speak or might it be even double thought.
A bit like having a candle lit dinner, she does it to enhance the mood, he does it to save the cost of the electricity.
Peter Hoskin why do you seek to find positive things to report about Ed Miliband?
He is a looser.
Andrew
May 20th, 2011 3:51pm Report this commentEd Miliband is such a loser - why does anyone pay any attention to him in the first place.
michaelm
May 20th, 2011 4:48pm Report this commentsun worship:
Long lazee days - no work no stress no strife
Long lazee ways - having the time of your life
Long lazee pays - HMG picks up the expense
Long lazee lays - sleeping it off is immense
Long lazee stray - signing on at the office for cash.
Long lazee play - thanks to to that hand me out stash
Long lazee gaze - at a totally meaningless sun
Long lazee daze - of long legs and big boobs and pert bums.
Long lazee haze - its the big colour piccies wot won
Long lazee rays - over blown overexposed ovsrdone.
dorothy wilson
May 20th, 2011 4:49pm Report this commentAnyone who thinks Milliminor had a good PMQs on Wednesday should read Quentin Letts' verdict.
Ian
May 20th, 2011 5:12pm Report this commentThis entire episode has been utterly shameful - Clarke's sane remarks about gradations in crimes being shamefully misread, The Sun being taken seriously instead of despised for the opportunist rag it is and Milliband's juvenile, posturing, sanctimonious, 'more in sorrow than in anger' call for Clarke to be sacked while surrounded by the scowling wimminhood on Labour's bench. Yet another reason to be dismal about this country and its inability to discuss issues in a mature, open fashion. The Spectator has hardly covered itself in glory either, being almost as hysterical as the other usual culprits.
ollie
May 20th, 2011 5:29pm Report this commentThe only thing Miliband is benefitting from is the fact that we are all talking about him. Publicity and bad news and all that.
He won't mind that one bit.
Kennybhoy
May 20th, 2011 10:56pm Report this commentIan wrote:
"Yet another reason to be dismal about this country and its inability to discuss issues in a mature, open fashion."
In this specific instance I disagree. I have been very pleasently surprised at how rational and considered the greater part of the response has been. Across the political spectrum, across the media, serious and popular, most have been prepared to attend to what he actually said and meant rather than the PC spin.
"The Spectator has hardly covered itself in glory either, being almost as hysterical as the other usual culprits"
Wholeheartedly agree.
HFC
May 21st, 2011 12:13am Report this commentPic looks uncannily like Frankie Howerd in his youth. Oo-er missis, no, wait, I'll rephrase that...
Ian
May 21st, 2011 1:28pm Report this commentKennybhoy : Having just watched QT where Shami played a blinder and having read other responses to this issue, I agree with you that I was overly pessimistic about the good sense of the general public. On reflection, I paid to much attention to The Spectator's wittering and the BBC's forlorn attempt to spin this issue.
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