Tag Archives: ed miliband

Fantasy leadership scenarios – the silly season has arrived

By Paul Walter | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 4:53 pm

There currently seems to be a cottage industry of Tories writing off Nick Clegg. This article by Iain Martin in the Telegraph is typical:

The reality is that if Labour is the largest party after the next election and the Lib Dems want to talk, then a pre-condition is going to be the absence of Clegg.

This ignores two points:

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg | 26 Comments

Clegg: ‘I’d form a new coalition with Ed Miliband’

By NewsHound | Mon 23rd July 2012 - 10:23 am

There was an interesting interview with Nick Clegg in yesterday’s Sunday People:

Nick Clegg would form a coalition with Ed Miliband in the next government, he told The People.

The Lib Dem leader could even stay on as Deputy PM if a general election replaced one governing party with another.

Posted in News | Also tagged labour party, liberal democrats and nick clegg | 25 Comments

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

By Stephen Tall | Sat 30th June 2012 - 2:25 pm

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 560 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Miliband surges to -43%, best rating yet among Lib Dems

LDV asked: Do you think Ed Miliband is doing well or badly as leader of the Labour party?
(Results in March in brackets)

Total well = 26% (7%)

Total badly =

…

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged david cameron | 11 Comments

Lords reform, Labour and the three key tests

By Mark Pack | Thu 28th June 2012 - 9:25 am

Ed Miliband’s decision to insist on Labour backing House of Lords reform at the Second Reading vote in the House of Commons is an important and welcome one. That it was opposed by senior Labour figures such as David Blunkett probably reinforces the views of many Liberal Democrats of Blunkett and co, but it should also remind us that Miliband’s decision and leadership on this is not trivial. It is something House of Lords reformers in all parties should welcome.

More cynical people may wonder if Labour support on the Second Reading will be a distraction tactic from them trying to sink Lords reform at a later date, whether with or without Miliband’s implicit backing. There are three main opportunities for that.

Posted in News | Also tagged constitutional reform, david blunkett, house of lords, lords reform and unlock democracy | 14 Comments

Lords reform: did we really expect any better of either the Tories or Labour?

By Stephen Tall | Tue 26th June 2012 - 9:10 pm

All three main political parties fought the 2010 election promising the electorate that, if elected, they would reform the House of Lords. All three promised the same in 2005, too. And 2001. Yet in 2012 only one party is staying true to that promise: the Lib Dems. The Tories and Labour, in contrast, are happily indulging in party politics to block progress in advancing legislative democracy.

The Conservatives living up to their anti-reform name…

The Conservative Party has fought the last three elections promising to introduce a mainly/wholly elected second chamber to replace the current House of Patronage. They signed up …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benedict brogan, coalition agreement, conservative party, featured, house of lords, labour party, LabourList, lords reform and mark ferguson | 25 Comments

Tom Brake MP writes… Labour has a lot to apologise for on immigration – it should start with child detention

By Tom Brake | Tue 26th June 2012 - 4:53 pm

On the subject of immigration, Ed Miliband was in apologetic mood this week. And not before time.

Labour has a lot to apologise for on immigration – not just the dog whistle ‘British Jobs for British Workers’ rhetoric and an attitude to the views of ordinary people that resulted in Gordon Brown’s ‘bigoted woman’ slur.

Miliband could apologise for not reintroducing the exit checks abolished by the Tories and allowing our border controls to descend into farce.

He could apologise for wildly underestimating the number of migrants from Eastern Europe when new countries joined the EU.

But if there is one thing Labour really …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged Alex Cole-Hamilton and immigration | 8 Comments

‘Brand Clegg’ continues to out-poll ‘Brand Miliband’: what it means for the Lib Dems

By Stephen Tall | Tue 1st May 2012 - 9:15 am

It’s a harsh reality that ‘Nick Clegg’ has become an easy punchline for many comedians. Nick can perhaps draw some comfort from the truth universally acknowledged that it’s better to be joked about than never to be joked about at all.

But he can draw greater comfort from some of the polling evidence showing him doing better than Ed Miliband, even though the Lib Dems’ ratings significantly trail Labour’s. The Independent’s Matt Chorley noticed this little-noticed phenomenon last week:

Most, though not all, months the Independent on Sunday/Sunday Mirror/ComRes poll has asked voters whether they agreed or disagreed with these statements

…

Posted in Op-eds and Polls | Also tagged david cameron, featured and nick clegg | 42 Comments

David Cameron’s jibe at Dennis Skinner: forget the ageism, it was just badly done.

By Stephen Tall | Mon 30th April 2012 - 6:55 pm

David Cameron, it became clear today, was not impressed by Commons Speaker John Bercow’s decision to grant Labour leader Ed Miliband an urgent question on the subject of Jeremy Hunt’s hanging-by-a-thread career as culture secretary. His not-impressedness manifested itself as indignant anger — it was “spectacularly ill-judged” according to the Telegraph’s Iain Martin:

From the off Cameron’s approach was wince-inducingly ill-judged. He rushed his statement and sounded steadily more touchy as he got deeper into it, lashing out and even shouting at one point about Charlie Whelan. It wasn’t very Prime Ministerial.

Mr Cameron has faced particular stick for his dismissive suggestion to veteran Labour backbencher Dennis Skinner that it was time he took his pension:

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged david cameron, dennis skinner, jeremy hunt and rupert murdoch | 25 Comments

PMQs: Miliband hits barn door – twice

By Paul Walter | Fri 27th April 2012 - 1:54 pm

Britain back in recession, embarrassing emails about government links to Murdoch. These are gifts to the opposition. The most open of open goals at this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.

I liked Miliband’s opening question:

Today we had the catastrophic news that Britain is back in recession. I am sure that the Prime Minister has spent the past 24 hours thinking of an excuse as to why it is nothing to do with him, so what is his excuse

…

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged Angela Smith, david amess, david cameron, jeremy hunt, news international, recession and stephen lloyd | 31 Comments

I would have sacked Vince Cable for standing up to Murdoch – what Ed Miliband said 16 months ago

By Stephen Tall | Tue 24th April 2012 - 3:53 pm

Jeremy Hunt is in hot water today following the revelations at the Leveson Inquiry of the closeness of his relationship with the Murdochs during their attempted takeover of BSkyB.

The culture secretary was handed quasi-judicial responsibility for handling the deal after Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable was snared by the Telegraph declaring war on the Murdoch empire before it became fashionable.

According to the Guardian, the Labour party ‘is likely to demand an urgent Commons statement from Hunt to set out the nature of …

Posted in News | Also tagged bskyb, david cameron, featured, jeremy hunt, news international and vince cable | 47 Comments

PMQs: It’s déjà vu all over again

By Paul Walter | Fri 20th April 2012 - 12:05 pm

Andrew Selous MP (Conservative) got up at Prime Minister’s Questions this week and said this:

What does he think about Ken Livingstone, who said that: “I get loads of money, all from different sources, and I give it to an accountant and they manage it”? Is that modern socialism for you?

A superb question. But one could be forgiven for being reminded of Yogi Berra’s remark:

Posted in PMQs | Also tagged andrew cunningham, andrew selous, budget 2012, david cameron, ian murray, naomi long and stephen gilbert | 2 Comments

Labour put down tax amendment that would have given Tories tax cut they want – which Lib Dems stopped

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 18th April 2012 - 7:59 pm

I realise that Parliamentary shenanigans and point scoring isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s worth pointing out that Labour today squandered a relatively good position going into the first PMQs of the new Parliamentary term. Ed Miliband had an open goal ahead of him given controversy over the pensioners’ tax allowance, “pasty tax” and charity tax relief yet he and his strategists still managed to misunderstand parliamentary procedure to a ludicrous extent. He’s just lucky that more excitable members of the Tory benches didn’t take their chance to have some fun.

Miliband looked not to Labour big hitters of the …

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged income tax, labour party, stephen williams and tax | 8 Comments

Miliband moves on party funding: offers £5k cap including union donations (but what about members’ opt-in?)

By Stephen Tall | Sun 15th April 2012 - 11:55 am

Three weeks after the latest funding furore to hit politics — when Tory co-treasurer Peter Cruddas touted influence on government policy for £250k a pop — Ed Miliband has seized the initiative, proposing to limit all donations from individuals, organisations and unions to a maximum of £5,000.

Here’s the BBC report:

Labour leader Ed Miliband has offered to limit donations to his party from trade unions to £5,000, as leaders discuss how to change the system. He told the BBC this would remove the influence of “big money” on politics. The issue has been the subject of an ongoing

…

Posted in News | Also tagged party funding and trade unions | 29 Comments

Opinion: Ed Miliband is out of touch

By Nicola Prigg | Wed 4th April 2012 - 2:05 pm

On Monday, Ed Miliband, Leader of the Opposition, launched the Labour Party’s local election campaign.

Ed proclaimed that the government is “out of touch”, and challenged us on growth, fairer taxes and a stronger society.

On growth, he claimed that we need to deal with the deficit otherwise we won’t have growth in the future.

On fairer taxes, Ed said we “are raising taxes for pensioners but cutting them for millionaires”.

Actually, this month has seen the personal tax allowance for pensioners increase, and from next year they are frozen until the personal tax allowance catches up. Or does Ed believe that pensioners …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged labour party | 11 Comments

Politics in pictures: How Cameron, Clegg & Miliband led from the front this week

By Stephen Tall | Sat 31st March 2012 - 6:40 pm

It’s been a tumultuous week in the political world. So let’s have a look at how the three main party leaders led from the front in statesmanlike fashion…

David Cameron played badminton in a suit…

Ed Miliband bought sausage rolls in Greggs…

Posted in News | Also tagged barack obama, david cameron and nick clegg | 6 Comments

LDV Caption Competition: Cameron & Miliband “We’re in this together” Funding Scandal Special Edition

By Stephen Tall | Sun 25th March 2012 - 5:45 pm

For once, there IS a prize at stake. Better than that, there are TWO prizes. The best two entries of this week’s caption competition will each win a copy of former Labour MP Chris Mullin’s diaries, A View from the Foothills. The hit book has now been adapted for the theatre as A Walk On Part: The Fall of New Labour. So make some extra witty noise for this week’s competition…

Here’s David Cameron and Ed Miliband sharing a special moment together earlier this week. What do you think might be being said or thought by or about them?

And don’t worry, unlike the Tories or Labour we don’t require any fee for you to take part.

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Some fantastic entries for our most recent caption competition, The Obama & Cameron ‘Special Relationship’ Edition.

Posted in Caption Comp | Also tagged david cameron | 28 Comments

Tax controversy and flash cars – that’s life in the modern Labour Party

By NewsHound | Thu 22nd March 2012 - 10:25 am

We’ve heard lots about Labour mayoral candidate “Red Ken” Livingstone’s tax affairs recently, as this Telegraph article reports.

Then we have Labour leader Ed Miliband turn up in a Rolls Royce to a football match. Leaving aside the clear communications ineptitude about his diary for that day, it’s not the best look for the leader of a party which claims to be all about social justice.

Especially when he has such a strong record of standing up to rich and powerful media moguls whose operations are under investigation at the moment.

Posted in News | Also tagged ken livingstone, labour party and tax mayoral election | 2 Comments

LDVideo | Poor old Ed, it’s the Miliband ‘Gaffes Tape’ Special

By Stephen Tall | Sat 17th March 2012 - 9:00 am

Poor Ed Miliband — an attempt to make a serious speech on youth unemployment was overshadowed yesterday by his failure to be able to distinguish men from women when he took questions. As ITN labelled it in true tabloid fashion, Ed Miliband’s triple-fail: ‘Is that a man or a woman?’ Here’s the video:

(Available on YouTube here.)

Actually the real shame of Ed’s fluffed lines distracting from his speech is that it distracts from Labour’s latest fluffed policies. Not only is the party re-spending — for the umpteenth time — their bankers’ bonus tax, but their so-called ‘Real Jobs Guarantee’ is a pale imitation of Nick Clegg’s Youth Contract. As Jo Swinson noted:

Posted in YouTube | 6 Comments

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

By Stephen Tall | Tue 13th March 2012 - 7:55 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. Over 500 party members responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Miliband rating slips back again, to -84%, 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 = 91%

…

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged david cameron | 15 Comments

PMQs: Tragedy, comedy and the Continuing Saga of the Family Bone

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 23rd February 2012 - 4:28 pm

I’m not used to learning anything from the weekly pantomime that is Prime Minister’s Questions. Sadly, though yesterday’s session brought me the news of the death of Marie Colvin, the veteran Sunday Times reporter whose often heartbreaking reports from war zones I’ve been reading most of my adult life. Both David Cameron and Ed Miliband paid tribute to her work, the latter calling her brave, tireless and an inspiration to women in her profession. More tragedy followed as Sajid Javid, the MP for Bromsgrove, asked the PM to join in with sympathy for those killed and injured in the bus crash …

Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged alex hilton, david cameron, julian huppert, marie colvin, mike crockart, nick clegg, peter bone and PMQs | 4 Comments

Labours of Letters: the Alex Hilton & Hopi Sen correspondence

By Stephen Tall | Sat 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 | Also tagged alex hilton and hopi sen | 16 Comments

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

By Stephen Tall | Sat 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 | Thu 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 | Thu 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 T | Thu 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 party | 7 Comments

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

By Stephen Tall | Sat 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

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Tag Archives: ed miliband

Miliband surges to -43%, best rating yet among Lib Dems

The Conservatives living up to their anti-reform name…

David Cameron played badminton in a suit…

Ed Miliband bought sausage rolls in Greggs…

And the winner of our last caption comp is…

Miliband rating slips back again, to -84%, among Lib Dem members

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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