Ed does Foreign Policy

Today, Ed Miliband spoke on Foreign Policy at Chatham House. He spoke of the result of Cameron’s and his government’s paralysis that the UK was losing influence around the world and that through lack of planning for post military support, Libya was close to becoming a failed state.

He argued that Labour would re-engage with the international institutions, including the EU. He empasised Cameron’s retreat from global leadership, which started on day 1, when he defined British interests solely as trade interests and a narrrow amoral view he has carried on throughout the administration as he seeks to appease UKIP and his own right wing.

This is a storify I made at the time and have transferred it to this blog and published as at the date created. …

Strength & weakness in leadership

The Defence Secretary, tries to label Labour & Miliband as weak on defence alleging that Labour would not replace Trident. Due to the unnecessary and scurrilous allegations made, the issues surrounding Trident are lost in the noise and the debate becomes one of character, which Miliband wins again!

This is a storify I made at the time and have transferred it to this blog and published as at the date created. …

Luke Sorba on #lab14

Luke Sorba on #lab14

My friend and comrade Luke Sorba, a Labour Councillor in Telegraph Hill ward, who mainly blogs on Facebook was Deptford’s delegate to Labour’s Conference this year and his comprehensive written report, was presented to the General Committee last night; it covered the rear guard actions by the Blairite rump, a reflection that some ex-ministers showed an arrogance to the membership, disappointment at the lack of debate on the conference floor and concludes with a paean to Ed Miliband’s heart and courage.  …

Help for Heroes & the Sun

Help for Heroes & the Sun

Ed Miliband, somewhere between being too busy and not wanting to help the Sun sell more copies of itself, was unavailable or refused to appear on the front page of the Sun with the leaders of the Government parties and Farage wearing Help for Heroes wrist bands. The invite was clearly made in order to boost the Sun’s attempt to cloak itself in the Union Jack and veteran’s blood and suffering. Ed Miliband has no need or desire to help the Sun  …

Cruddas Affair

Cruddas Affair

It’s getting to be an old story now, but the other week, the Sunday Times, having obtained quotes by subterfuge and without permission, ran a story that John Cruddas, Labour’s policy review chief had criticised the likely way in which the Leader’s Office would deal with what he saw as Labour’s rich and detailed policy reviews; he may have been most interested in the reviews he’s running himself, and less so in the long term policy commissions and the National Policy Forum processes, the latter of course being the process the membership are most invested in. The criticism’s are also reported in the New Statesman. …

Cleaning Up Labour’s Politics II

Cleaning Up Labour’s Politics II

I have just published and backdated my first thoughts in response to Ed Miliband’s speech on “Cleaning Up” politics. This has been written over a six month period. It was started as I shaped my thoughts and was originally written as a contribution to what became the Collins Review but I decided it was insufficiently focused and made no proposals. It merely expressed my anger. The final version of the article was published today and backdated to near the point I started it. It was thus published after the closure of the Collins Review deadline, and before the publication of the Special Conference agenda.  …

On Labour’s new Shadow Cabinet

On Labour’s new Shadow Cabinet

One step forward, two steps back?

Ed Miliband reshuffled Labour’s Shadow Cabinet earlier this week, 1½ weeks after the #lab13 and since three of Len McCluskey’s four horsemen of austerity have been either demoted or sacked many, particularly the Tory blogosphere saw this and reflected on it  as a reinforcement of Miliband’s conference speech vector and a move to the Left. The full story is probably more nuanced than the stories told by the mainly right wing commentariat but you can take your choice from Red Ed stamps McClusky’s Marxism on Labour to Miliband punishes the poor messengers. …

Beyond simple keynesianism

Beyond simple keynesianism

In the aftermath, of Ed Miliband’s conference speech, I came across two important articles published on the Touchstone and IPPR blog sites. Responsible Capitalism Takes Shape by Duncan Wheldon, and On left populism and Labour’s conference by Nick Pearce. It was Wheldon’s article that caught my eye first but both he and Pearce suggest there is a tension in the Labour Party between those who believe that British Capitalism no longer serves the interests of the majority; that what’s good for business is no longer good for people and the ‘simple keynesians’ who follow the old New Labour policies of using macroeconomic policy and demand management to encourage private sector growth. Pearce argues that Miliband believes that it’s broken and needs rebuilding, he’s on record as saying he thinks the 2015 election will be as transformative as that in 1979 and as he put it in the conference speech in speaking about the fact that capitalism seems no longer to let people afford a decent life, …

Ed Miliband’s Leader’s speech, what I think!

Ed Miliband’s Leader’s speech, what I think!

After my experience at Manchester last year, where  the queue to get into the auditorium to hear Ed Miliband speak started at 13:00, I got to the Brighton Centre early, and got one of the last seats in the balcony. By the time I publish this, many others will have commented, and I didn’t take any notes so my perceptions may be influenced by others comments. If you want the transcript, it’s available on Labour List here and the Labour Party have published a web video avaialble on you tube, or there’s a hyperlink in this article. …