What David Miliband would have said if he had become Labour leader
James Forsyth 10:14pm
Tonight’s Guardian scoop revealing that the speech that David Miliband would have given if he had been elected leader makes this one of the most difficult—and leaky—weeks for Labour since its election defeat.
The line in the speech that will cause the most trouble for Ed Miliband is that David Miliband intended to create a commission on the deficit chaired by Alistair Darling and charged with creating a new set of fiscal rules, an admission that Labour got it wrong on the deficit which Ed Miliband has refused to give.
This speech emerging just a day after Ed Ball’s private papers about the plot to force Tony Blair to stand down came into the public domain will create suspicions in Labour circles that there is a deliberate effort underway to undermine Ed Miliband.
One striking detail from the piece is that David Miliband delivered the speech to his wife in the car as they drove away from the conference.
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Stepney
June 10th, 2011 10:26pm Report this commentPerhaps if he'd found his cojones in the preceding year he could have given it from the steps of number 10.
Fortune favours the brave. He will go down in history as the man who hid as Rome burned.
AAE
June 10th, 2011 11:17pm Report this commentLooks like The Guardian are getting moving on the succession to Young Ed, whilst The Telegraph have been giving Dave lots of covering fire with the Balls papers.
Whilst in the real world (or is it? We should be told), Guido tells us that this weekend sees the annual Bilderberg Bash, so I look forward to James' report on that early next week.
Boudicca
June 10th, 2011 11:28pm Report this commentWho cares what Big Bro' would have said. He didn't win and Labour is always very, very loathe to ditch a Leader. Particularly when the TUC has installed and paid for him. It would mean taking on the union Barons and paymasters who fund the Party.
Goodness knows I am enjoying this. I hope the Moron is sitting in Kirkcaldy seething, chewing his nails to the bone and hurling Nokias at the wall over the DT's exposure of his bullying tactics and his chosen heirs' comeuppance.
What goes around, comes around.
Mirtha Tidville
June 11th, 2011 8:31am Report this commentWith all these disclosures,Labour seem to be getting a right kicking dont they?......
Lets just hope it continues for a very long time
The Oncoming Storm
June 11th, 2011 8:45am Report this commentThey know they can't oust Ed given that the union barons support him so they're going for death by a thousand cuts, constantly chipping away and undermining his electoral credibility. This is all about the post 2015 succession.
Suffolk
June 11th, 2011 10:34am Report this commentStepney, I agree entirely.
However, Millpede elder will become PM one day and may well have grown into his gawky face by then. He will also have made himself financially secure so will have more self confidence.
Jamie
June 11th, 2011 10:54am Report this comment"Perhaps if he'd found his cojones in the preceding year he could have given it from the steps of number 10.
Fortune favours the brave. He will go down in history as the man who hid as Rome burned."
Never a truer word said.
Woody
June 11th, 2011 11:39am Report this commentWhat is a scandal, is the BBC are not covering this, apart from few brief comments.
Holly ......
June 11th, 2011 1:48pm Report this commentWoody.11.39.
What's even more..... supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is now we
know the truth....WITHOUT the BBC's help.
I've even got the Telegraph today and kindly donated it to the local cafe.
They have agreed to leave it out for the rest of the week.
BIG SOCIETY in action you may say.
Verity
June 11th, 2011 2:56pm Report this commentCan we stop having photos of British politicians sitting around in their shirt sleeves! My God - they are in Parliament, running the nation! A little formality and respect, please! Next,they'll be turing up in tennis shorts and T shirts.
Anyone who is not properly attired for the critical business of legislating for other peoples' lives should be banned from the press.
Occasional Ostrich
June 11th, 2011 4:07pm Report this comment@Suffolk:
You have it dead right; make yer pile before you enter politics, don't use politics to make yer pile. I wonder how many economically incompetent candidates that would weed out?
David Lindsay
June 11th, 2011 4:08pm Report this commentThe speech that The Other One would have delivered? I ask you!
Half of last night's Newsnight was devoted to the alleged failings of a Leader whose party was ahead in the polls, had recently made gains at local elections, and was recruiting members at an impressive rate, although see below on that. Even the other side could not be bothered to take this programme seriously, stooping so low as to send Truss The Trollop instead of a serious figure. The BBC's employment of Emily Maitlis is a breach of its charter, and the entire media now need to be reported to the Electoral Commission for functioning as an off-the-books campaigns desk in the Heir to Blair's private office.
Tony Blair cut Labour Party membership in half, and those joining now are either re-joining because the victory of Ed Miliband has delivered their party from Blairism once and for all, or else signing up for the first time because they came of age during the New Labour years and therefore had no party to join. They need to hang fire, probably until the end of this year, possibly even longer. The media campaign to remove Ed Miliband, install his brother and thus remove any opposition to Blair's fourth and fifth terms is very ferocious indeed and, it gives me no pleasure to write, may yet succeed.
Yet this Blairite Government is crying out for a proper Opposition, and is in fact being given one, which the Blairite media therefore refuse to report. After health and sentencing, the flagship schools policy, originally devised by David Miliband for Tony Blair, is also now to be "reviewed". I think we all know what that "review" will conclude.
2trueblue
June 12th, 2011 7:27am Report this commentWhat he would have said..... give us break. He failed, so there.
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