Ed Milliband speech..

[clapham_gull]

yes, same here. but the opinion prior to the contest was D Miliband was better on presentation and if after its recognised he gives a better image to the wider electorate (quite imporant on winning elections). his speech on Monday was supposed to have been excellent. seems maybe a bit of complacency set in on the campaign?

and union support swinging the vote for Ed was really what won it.

I'd read up on the system if I were you. One MP is worth the votes of 608 party members and 12,915 affiliated members.

So hugely weighted towards the votes of MPs.

 

[crodonilson]

It gets worse, in an interview with Nicky Campbell he has proclaimed he doesn't believe in God.

 

[Tubby Mondays]

Which is it: 'Cutting everything which will destroy the country' or ' has no policies'?

Stop listerning to the Labour propaganda and lies.

Cuts are his only policy. For anything else he has to ask the country see for example: 'Theres too many laws, which ones should we scrap you tell us and we need to make cuts can you tell us where we make them'.

Isnt that the governments job to decide?

 

[Tubby Mondays]

It gets worse, in an interview with Nicky Campbell he has proclaimed he doesn't believe in God.

Whats wrong with that?

He also said that he admires those who have faith and the way that all faiths and beliefs are tolerated in Britain.

 

[Tubby Mondays]

When was he elected? Saturday.

What day is it today? Wednesday

How is he meant to shit miracles in 5 days?

He'll have presentation training etc and get better. Why is the Standard and the daily mails of this country slating him? If he was that bad surely they wouldnt have to bother. Wouldnt be cos they fear him would it?

 

[CheeseRolls]

It gets worse, in an interview with Nicky Campbell he has proclaimed he doesn't believe in God.

Same as Clegg then - this is more acceptable in the UK than in just about any other country in the world or so it seems. For me it is far more acceptable than the likes of Blair and Bush, thinking they were somehow doing gods work on Earth. That mindset belongs somewhere in the middle ages.

 

[Gwylan]

It gets worse, in an interview with Nicky Campbell he has proclaimed he doesn't believe in God.

At last, a politician who doesn't need to play the religious card. I'm warming to him already

 

[Twinkle Toes]

I thought his speech was very dull tbh, but I find the new breed of politicos - irrespective of their party allegiances - to be about as interesting as watching the curtains get discoloured. I heard him on 5Live this morning & thought he sounded like Malcolm off the old Tunes advert.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Interesting article on the Miliband family here

 

[crodonilson]

Whats wrong with that?

He also said that he admires those who have faith and the way that all faiths and beliefs are tolerated in Britain.

Faith is important, particularly in a job such as his.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

The union support was individual members voting - not that it would be obvious from some of the press coverage. Trade Unions still remain the biggest voluntary organisations in the country and the support of levy paying members is probably what scares tax dodging foreign media owners hence the "Red Ed" bollocks.

Here is an e-mail I recieved from UNITE. One of many. It makes it pretty obvious who the unions wanted in. Given the wafer thin margin between Ed and David no-one can possibly argue that the unions didn't make the difference. They will surely want paying back at some point in the future.

Ed Milliband is like a lightweight, dithering student who acts like this is some jape down the union. I've never voted anything other than Labour but he makes me want to vote Tory.

Dear Iggle Piggle,


You should now have received your ballot paper for the Labour leadership contest. Unite is urging you to give Ed Miliband your first preference.

Unite members are facing savage and unnecessary cuts that will affect jobs in the public and private sectors alike and threaten the fragile economic recovery. We believe that Ed has the right policies to take the coalition on, support Unite policies and to lead Labour back into government at the next election.

As a result of this contest we have received a huge number of application forms for people to join the Labour party. Here are just some of the reasons that people have given for joining:

David Cowap, Airbus UK
"The last Labour government gave great support to high-tech manufacturing, but the new coalition government doesn't take manufacturing in this country seriously. I believe Ed Miliband will lead the fight against the ConDem government and I want to join the Labour Party so I can vote for Ed."

Richie, Glasgow
"I work in the NHS. I'm joining the Labour Party to vote for Ed Miliband because the NHS has always been best in Labour's hands and I think Ed Miliband will win the next election for Labour."

Steve, EON
"Ed Miliband showed in government his commitment to creating green jobs. He will lead a Labour Party with green issues at its core. I want to join Labour so I can vote for Ed."

There is a Labour party membership form with your ballot paper. You can join many of your colleagues by using this to increase the voice of Unite in the Labour party.

You can vote online here votebyinternet.com/unitelabour. If you haven’t received your ballot paper call the hotline on 020 8829 8996.

Many thanks for your support as a Unite member.

Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley


Joint General Secretaries

Ps - Remember to put a cross on the declaration on the ballot paper or your support for Ed won’t count. You can also join the Labour party at a reduced trade union rate by downloading the form from here The Labour Leadership - Unite backs Ed Miliband | Unite4Labour

 

[Tubby Mondays]

Faith is important, particularly in a job such as his.

Why?

 

[Pavilionaire]

1. Ed Milliband has come out and said we were wrong to go to war in Afghanistan. Harriet Harman, the Deputy Labour Leader, nodded in agreement.
2. It's costing c. £1.5 billion per year to fight this war and aid the war-torn country.
3. The war's gone on for 9 years.

So indirectly he's basically saying New Labour f***ed up and it's cost the British taxpayer £15-odd billion. That's one hell of admission of failure, and one that shouldn't see them back in power for at least a decade.

I see Ed Milliband doing for Labour what William Hague did for the Tories, i.e. appeal to the grass roots of the party, try and find their way again and rebuild.

He'll lose in 5 years time because for evey person that supports his admission that the war was wrong there's a person who thinks that's a weak and gutless admission, especially while we have soldiers in the field.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I'd read up on the system if I were you. One MP is worth the votes of 608 party members and 12,915 affiliated members.

So hugely weighted towards the votes of MPs.

So D Milliband gets more votes from MP'S, MEP's and Members but not from the Unions. Surely it's obvious what made the difference?

David Miliband 49.35 (17.812 from MPs and MEPs, 18.135 from members, 13.40 from unions and affiliated societies)

Ed Miliband 50.65 (15.522 from MPs and MEPs, 15.198 from members, 19.934 from unions and affiliated societies)

 

[Gwylan]

1. Ed Milliband has come out and said we were wrong to go to war in Afghanistan.

He'll lose in 5 years time because for evey person that supports his admission that the war was wrong there's a person who thinks that's a weak and gutless admission, especially while we have soldiers in the field.

Trouble with that argument is that Nick Clegg has said exactly the same thing. And it's a bit worse for him as he's in a government that's continuing to support the war. I can't see that that does the coalition much good TBH

 

[Pavilionaire]

I don't think it's anywhere near worse. Given it's a coalition there are going to be diverse opinions within it. Also I think it's easier for the Tories to live with those sorts of comments from Clegg when it's clear all 3 parties want to get out as soon as is practical. It WOULD be a problem if the Tories were committed to fighting on.

 

[The Large One]

So D Milliband gets more votes from MP'S, MEP's and Members but not from the Unions. Surely it's obvious what made the difference?

David Miliband 49.35 (17.812 from MPs and MEPs, 18.135 from members, 13.40 from unions and affiliated societies)

Ed Miliband 50.65 (15.522 from MPs and MEPs, 15.198 from members, 19.934 from unions and affiliated societies)

Yep. Individuals within the trade union movement who are affiliated to the Labour Party.

 

[Simster]

Trouble with that argument is that Nick Clegg has said exactly the same thing. And it's a bit worse for him as he's in a government that's continuing to support the war. I can't see that that does the coalition much good TBH

At least Clegg had the bollocks to say as much before he reached his political nadir. The same could not be said of far too many gutless Labour MPs, including Ed Milliband.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Or have they got rid of the block vote and only those that participated count?

WWII has finished as well.

 

[Gwylan]

At least Clegg had the bollocks to say as much before he reached his political nadir. The same could not be said of far too many gutless Labour MPs, including Ed Milliband.

Yes. Miliband could have said it before he was kicked out. Or he could have done the decent thing as Robin Cook did and refuse to serve in a cabinet that supported a war that he didn't believe it.