Ed Milliband... on his way out?

[beorhthelm]

You can say a lot of thing about the speech but this is way wide of the mark. If Milliband has been defined by one thing it's been by his determination to break with the Murdoch empire despite the fact that it will mean months, or years, of reaction in the Murdoch press.

it wasnt meant literally, maybe a "like" should be in there. and there is a media beyond News International. the point is his speech focused on a couple of high profile popularist issues, notably banker/city bashing. he didnt seem to offer any vision beyond that, and its this approach to economics Oborne highlights as new. there didnt seem any meaningfull way to address the issue, other than the blunt rust tool that is tax.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

It speaks volumes about the state of politics that the Leader of the Opposition has as much charisma as a brick. Twenty odd years ago Labour learned to shed their Michael Foot & Kinnock lefty image by thrusting the PR savvy Blair into the limelight and he blew away the crusty old Tories. With Brown and now Miliband junior they seem to have regressed.

Ed Miliband's ideology may resonate with some on the centre left and may have appeased the unions (not for much longer) but isn't pressing many buttons of the electorate. Given how unpopular the Coalition is the opposition should be even further ahead in the polls. Apart from the 'Ed who...?' problem he is not helped by having so many of Brown's cronies such as Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Harriet Harman so prominent. They are damaged goods and not deserving of our trust.

 

[Gwylan]

it wasnt meant literally, maybe a "like" should be in there. and there is a media beyond News International. the point is his speech focused on a couple of high profile popularist issues, notably banker/city bashing. he didnt seem to offer any vision beyond that, and its this approach to economics Oborne highlights as new. there didnt seem any meaningfull way to address the issue, other than the blunt rust tool that is tax.

He put forward something radically new: an attempt to deal with the short-termist outlook of business and the finance industry. I've not seen any British politician of any party look at this before.
He also did something even more radical, he's looking to give politics more of a moral focus, questioning what makes a 'good' business and a 'bad' business -that's very much a new departure.
His plans are barely sketched out at the moment and it would be easy to pick holes in the argument. I'm certainly not saying I'd vote Labour but his speech has intrigued me greatly. It's clear that he's thinking well beyond the normal dividing lines of politics.

Apart from the 'Ed who...?' problem he is not helped by having so many of Brown's cronies such as Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Harriet Harman so prominent. They are damaged goods and not deserving of our trust.

Which is why the party is doing away with elections. I wonder how many of the shadow cabinet will still be there in two years time. I wouldn't mind betting that James Purnell will be there by the time of the next election.

 

[beorhthelm]

He put forward something radically new: an attempt to deal with the short-termist outlook of business and the finance industry. I've not seen any British politician of any party look at this before.
He also did something even more radical, he's looking to give politics more of a moral focus, questioning what makes a 'good' business and a 'bad' business -that's very much a new departure.
His plans are barely sketched out at the moment and it would be easy to pick holes in the argument. I'm certainly not saying I'd vote Labour but his speech has intrigued me greatly. It's clear that he's thinking well beyond the normal dividing lines of politics.

yes, he did ask a question, and maybe one leaders dont ask. but it certainly not something thats a new idea, it comes up from time to time. its easy to pick holes because its far too wooly. whats a good business? one mans vital manufacturing company is anothers warmongering arms company. whats asset stripping? one mans selling of underused prime real estate is another losing valuable asset impoverishing the companies future (and the Labour Party did this themselves not long ago). put another way, i dont think politicans are equiped to ask this particular question without knee jerk reactions. it woul be loverly to bring about some longer term ideals in business, but it needs to be done on the long term (not a favorite of politicos) and through broader and more complex legislation than "tax the bastards". the bad businesses will just strip more to compenstate.

but its being debated, i suppose that part of the point and a small victory. it will be interesting to see if Miliband actually sticks to this though, which is my main contention, that its a temporal idea to feed a current narrative. will it persist as an idea to next year or beyond? its rather too early to say he has redefined politics. yet...

 

[Gwylan]

yes, he did ask a question, and maybe one leaders dont ask. but it certainly not something thats a new idea, it comes up from time to time. it

It certainly does and you're right it's not new. Many business commentators have noted that businesses in the UK have far too short-term an outlook. It's something we see every day in our sub-standard railways, roads, utilities as no-one's made an long-term investment in an infrastructure. But it's very new for a politician to say it - the trouble with politics is that parties are geared to winning the next election so politicians tend to have a short-term mindset.

It will be interesting to see how the ideas develop. As you say, the speech was full of holes and parts of it were clearly not thought through. But it certainly grabbed my attention and hope he develops these themes further.

 

[Mr Albion]

Was Ed ever In?

Think Labour will spend many years in opposition after what they did to this country regarding our debt

I think you'll find it was the bankers my dear chap

 

[Samej]

Heard a whisper from a well placed source today that Labour grandees and senior union barons have given Ed till Conference to get his act together.

If he's still punching below his weight come the autumn he'll be asked to step aside, citing personal reasons...

No word yet who's in line for the job though.

Ed is the best thing to happen to the tories since Kinnock and Scargill, leave him alone he is doing a great job

 

[Danny-Boy]

It certainly does and you're right it's not new. Many business commentators have noted that businesses in the UK have far too short-term an outlook. It's something we see every day in our sub-standard railways, roads, utilities as no-one's made an long-term investment in an infrastructure. But it's very new for a politician to say it - the trouble with politics is that parties are geared to winning the next election so politicians tend to have a short-term mindset.

It will be interesting to see how the ideas develop. As you say, the speech was full of holes and parts of it were clearly not thought through. But it certainly grabbed my attention and hope he develops these themes further.

That's far more the problem with politicians. The next General Election is as far as Red Ed is looking.

Anyway "good business" is making a profit. If you do't you SHOULD go under by market forces, but of course Labour in the past repeatedly bailed out companies who lost money.

Maybe you have to start evaluating what damages the social structure and put a capital value on it. I think that's what the "carbon footprint" is all about. If that was put in company accounts as a cost and hurt the "bottom line" maybe they would take note.

But then they can just move their financial base to a country which doesn't do that; that's the problem with a global economy.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Ed Milliband is just not an effective leader. To win an election, you need a certain amount of PR nous these days and even the best spin doctors can't teach that - you either have it or you don't - and he does not. He is the Ashley Neale of politics.

 

[Don Quixote]

He'll be out soon enough, and with him will go Harman, Balls and Cooper and all those has beens. Then we will see a regeneration of the party and an election win.

 

[Samej]

He'll be out soon enough, and with him will go Harman, Balls and Cooper and all those has beens. Then we will see a regeneration of the party and an election win.

 

[Don Quixote]

What's so funny about that statement?

 

[Samej]

What's so funny about that statement?

Then we will see a regeneration of the party and an election win.
....

 

[Don Quixote]

I really don't understand you, laughing faces don't appear in the English language.

 

[paddy]

He put forward something radically new: an attempt to deal with the short-termist outlook of business and the finance industry. I've not seen any British politician of any party look at this before.

You ought to look at the various speeches made by Cameron about ethical capitalism - Ed has simply stolen the idea from him.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-urges-ethical-capitalism-after-crunch-1222122.html

 

[Samej]

I really don't understand you, laughing faces don't appear in the English language.

You understood well enough to ask what i thought was funny.