He has always been seen as a heavyweight and a bruiser. He has experience of the Treasury at the highest level and was well-respected there. He is ferociously intelligent, one of the brightest of all his Oxford contemporaries who, famously, does not suffer fools gladly. And, despite failing in his bid to be elected leader,… Continue reading Reflections on a brilliant (Shadow) Chancellor
Month: January 2011
Can we please just ignore the Lib Dems?
While recent headlines may have all but obliterated from memory Ed’s recent Fabians speech, it is also worth lingering on his more prescriptive, post-Oldham Guardian article from the day before. If Ed did not go as far as Neal Lawson did and metaphorically throw open the gates of Victoria Street to Lib Dem members to… Continue reading Can we please just ignore the Lib Dems?
Time, experience and normality: Labour’s real loss
There are – thankfully – some positives we can glean from all of this. There is the fact that Balls can now bring his undoubted talent and expertise to the economic brief. There is also the fact that Johnson and Miliband were clearly not seeing eye-to-eye and there is now the opportunity for a new… Continue reading Time, experience and normality: Labour’s real loss
Soft left or soft thinking? a response to Neal Lawson
In these uneasy days for Labour, there has surely been a renaissance of the Kinnockite “soft left”, excited by Ed Miliband’s victory. Fair enough, you say. But so far the thinking emanating from this renaissance seems not just woolly, but dangerously flawed. A case in point is the article posted in last week’s Guardian by… Continue reading Soft left or soft thinking? a response to Neal Lawson
The battle for Labour’s past: you are all right
Last week was the week when we – finally – dealt with head-on the subject of Labour’s economic legacy. And we seem to have been debating it ever since, because it’s perhaps the most important subject which will define a lot of the next 4 years. It’s complex, as Steve Richards argues and, paradoxically, there… Continue reading The battle for Labour’s past: you are all right
The strange case of Party democracy
The last few days have seen two major Labour news stories: the clashing between the pro- and anti- camps for the Additional Vote (AV) referendum; and the controversy over supposed changes to Labour’s funding and voting model with respect to trade unions, which may or may not ever happen. What is not, perhaps, immediately obvious… Continue reading The strange case of Party democracy
Er, hang on a sec…
Ok my next proper article will be tomorrow but, in the meantime, just wanted to mention this. I mean, it’s obviously just coincidence, but check out the last two lines of today’s Observer editorial on Ed’s 100 days as leader, centred on Labour’s slowness in positioning itself on the economy: After 100 days, Ed Miliband… Continue reading Er, hang on a sec…