Tag Archives: ed miliband

Health and Social Care Bill: a letter from Ed Milliband

By Mark Valladares | 19th February 2012 - 3:50 pm

A copy of Ed Miliband’s letter to members of the House of Lords has fallen into the hands of Liberal Democrat Voice. This is what he has to say…

Dear Member of the House of Lords

I am taking the unusual step of writing to you and all your fellow peers to share my very great fear for the future of the NHS. I know you are aware that the decisions you have to make over the next few weeks on the Health and Social Care Bill are of huge significance to the NHS and to the country. I can think of …

Posted in News | Also tagged NHS | 42 Comments

Labours of Letters: the Alex Hilton & Hopi Sen correspondence

By Stephen Tall | 18th February 2012 - 5:38 pm

At the risk of intruding on private grief, I feel I should draw the attention of Voice readers to an excoriating broadside against Ed Miliband’s leadership published on LabourList last night.

Entitled ‘Losing faith’, it is an open letter from Alex Hilton, twice a Labour parliamentary candidate and founder of the Labour Home website, to ‘Dear Ed’. It weighs in at 1,457 words — here are just a few of them:

I no longer have any faith that the Labour Party will make a better society – or even

…

Posted in News and Opposition watch | Also tagged alex hilton and hopi sen | 16 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Ed Miliband “Basking in The Sun” Edition

By Stephen Tall | 18th February 2012 - 4:13 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

Here’s Labour leader Ed Miliband proudly bathing in the reflected glory of The Sun (before Rupert Murdoch’s fall from grace, natch) — what do you think might be being said or thought by or about him?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Clegg, Cam & Lansley “You can hear the white coats flapping” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Also tagged joshua dixon and the sun | 13 Comments

Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron

By Stephen Tall | 16th February 2012 - 11:28 am

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 570 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Miliband slumps to -83% among Lib Dem members

LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?

Total well = 7%

Total badly = 90%

Well, I …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged david cameron | 7 Comments

Opinion: Labour’s embracing of economic liberalism is to be welcomed

By David Thorpe | 9th February 2012 - 9:28 am

The first sign that man is moving from the reckless abandon of late youth to the windswept comfort of early maturity can be found in his reaction to the sight of falling snow. Where once it would have been an excuse to declare the days schedule defunct, this year it signalled only the onset of boredom.

Consequently I dusted down my new year’s resolution to ‘laugh a lot more’ and began thinking about Labour’s attitude to economics. I propose to look at the Labour leadership’s deeper economic instincts to provide a guide as to how they might actually run the economy.

Ed Balls

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged economic liberalism, economy, ed balls, orange book and vince cable | 21 Comments

The IFS’s verdict on Labour’s deficit argument is in – and it ain’t pretty

By Nick Thornsby | 2nd February 2012 - 3:54 pm

Yesterday saw the publication by the Institute for Fiscal Studies of its annual ‘Green Budget‘, which looks generally at the global and UK economic picture as well providing a detailed analysis of the UK fiscal position. The document is fascinating in many respects, but one of the parts that particularly caught my eye was its devastating take on Labour’s position on the deficit.

Since the Autumn Statement, when figures for the estimated size of the budget deficit in future years were revised upwards, one of Labour’s main arguments has been that by cutting “too far, too fast” the government has …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged economy, ed balls, featured, IFS and labour | 7 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Eds Balls and Miliband “The Early Years” Edition

By Stephen Tall | 28th January 2012 - 4:40 pm

There’s no prize at stake – just the opportunity to prove you’re wittier than any other LDV reader…

(Image from The Guardian.)

Here’s Labour top two Eds — the party leader and shadow chancellor — pictured in their salad days, Spadding for the Blair/Brown government. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, Michael Gove “May the Lego be with you” Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Also tagged ed balls | 28 Comments

The weekend debate: Should Stephen Hester accept his bonus?

By Carl Quilliam | 28th January 2012 - 9:25 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

Since the £963, 000 shares bonus for RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester has been revealed there have been opinions pouring out from across the political spectrum.

When Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of a “failure of leadership” over it, Cameron promptly distanced himself from the process altogether, with George Osborne claiming it was due to rules put in place by Labour.

Boris Johnson seems to be against it, as is our usually economically …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged boris johnson, george osborne, jeremy browne, nick clegg, stephen hester and weekend debate | 28 Comments

PMQs: The importance of Doncaster, almost to the exclusion of everything else

By Paul Walter | 26th January 2012 - 12:56 pm

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Cameron and Ed Miliband first clashed on the subject of economic growth (or, indeed, contraction). That entanglement was, more or less, a score draw. But Ed Miliband was much stronger during a later exchange on the NHS reform bill, culminating with this belter:

I shall tell the Prime Minister what is happening in the NHS: waiting lists up, morale down. What does the majority-Conservative Select Committee on Health say about his reorganisation? It says that it will be a “disruption and distraction that hinders the ability of organisations to” release savings.

Let us be frank: this

…

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged david cameron, economy, eleanor laing, malcolm bruce, NHS and sir robert smith | 3 Comments

Opinion: The Coalition are winning the economic argument

By David Thorpe | 20th January 2012 - 12:30 pm

It’s a dark winter night in Westminster but the building from which a group of men emerge is still wreathed in light. The men clamber into a sleek car, which streaks away through the emptying streets. Their journey is short in physical distance, but it’s long on significance for all of them. They are serious of face and purpose as the vehicle stops by one of the quieter spots on the riverbank.

The heaviest of the men is the first to get out, he flashes a look along the river bank, and seeing it deserted, nods quickly to his companions, all of whom …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged coalition, deficit reduction, ed balls and labour | 30 Comments

The trade unions could be doing Ed Miliband – and all of us – a favour

By Mark Pack | 19th January 2012 - 3:56 pm

No doubt, both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, joined by a select band of Blairite survivors, would be rather chipper if the trade union chiefs currently making threatening noises about cutting Labour Party funding turn out to really mean it.

But the real benefit could be much wider: if Labour loses a large chunk of its funding from trade unions bosses then it could unlock the long-running saga that political party funding reform.

Back in December I wrote:

The strong historical links between trade unions and the Labour Party means that any proposals which would curb the amount unions can give to Labour are

…

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged party funding and trade unions | 1 Comment

PMQs: Miliband hoist by his Balls’ petard

By Paul Walter | 19th January 2012 - 8:24 am

Let’s start with what Ed Balls, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor said in the Guardian on January 14th:

My starting point is, I am afraid, we are going to have keep all these cuts. There is a big squeeze happening on budgets across the piece. The squeeze on defence spending, for instance, is £15bn by 2015. We are going to have to start from that being the baseline. At this stage, we can make no commitments to reverse any of that, on spending or on tax. So I am being absolutely clear about that.

So, it was something of a surprise when Ed …

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged andrew george, david cameron, david hamilton, economy, ed balls, tessa munt and unemployment | 15 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes… Are two Eds better than one?

By Tim Farron MP | 18th January 2012 - 12:54 pm

Are 2 Eds better than one? I’m not sure – but the two Eds said something very interesting over the weekend: apparently they don’t have a ‘Plan B’ for the economy after all!

As I drove into the village of Haverthwaite on Saturday morning to do some residents’ surveying, I was preparing to turn the radio off and then Ed Balls popped up. I listened with amazement. In his interview he admitted not only that the programme of cuts being carried out by the Coalition government were right, but that Labour would not over turn them if they were in Government. Unfortunately however he didn’t go as far as to admit that the cause behind all the cuts – the dire economic situation – was in fact largely his fault.

You’ll have heard Simon Hughes and me over the weekend rightly calling on the two Eds to apologise. We want them to apologise to the British public for deceiving them for 18 months before finally admitting that what the Liberal Democrats have been doing in Government is broadly the right approach. However, there is one apology we didn’t call for publicly, but which they still should make – that’s an apology to you!

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed balls, nick clegg and simon hughes | 21 Comments

Campaign Corner: What should I measure?

Where I stand on the new Lib Dem groupings

“A shitty time to be a liberal”: The Economist’s must-read…

Chris Davies MEP writes… To tithe or not to tithe?

Tag Archives: ed miliband

Health and Social Care Bill: a letter from Ed Milliband

Labours of Letters: the Alex Hilton & Hopi Sen correspondence

LDV Caption Competition: Ed Miliband “Basking in The Sun” Edition

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Revealed: What Lib Dem members think of Ed Miliband and David Cameron

Miliband slumps to -83% among Lib Dem members

Opinion: Labour’s embracing of economic liberalism is to be welcomed

The IFS’s verdict on Labour’s deficit argument is in – and it ain’t pretty

LDV Caption Competition: Eds Balls and Miliband “The Early Years” Edition

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

The weekend debate: Should Stephen Hester accept his bonus?

PMQs: The importance of Doncaster, almost to the exclusion of everything else

Opinion: The Coalition are winning the economic argument

The trade unions could be doing Ed Miliband – and all of us – a favour

PMQs: Miliband hoist by his Balls’ petard

Tim Farron MP writes… Are two Eds better than one?

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Campaign Corner: What should I measure?

Where I stand on the new Lib Dem groupings

“A shitty time to be a liberal”: The Economist’s must-read…

Chris Davies MEP writes… To tithe or not to tithe?

Tag Archives: ed miliband

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Miliband slumps to -83% among Lib Dem members

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

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