"Instead, we were treated to a bizarre historical excursion back to the 19th century, when even Conservatives – such as Lord Stanley and Benjamin Disraeli – respected the working man and the rights of organised labour (really?).
Unlike horrid, stinky David Cameron, who "writes you off, he writes your members off, he oozes contempt for trade unionists from every pore of his being". There followed a laboured attempt to compare Cameron to Mitt Romney."
Did Pork write the speech ??
The Stanleys were immensely popular among working class voters in Lancashire.
I wouldn't say that Cameron "oozes contempt" for trade unionists - he just doesn't relate to those of them who are working or lower-middle class, in the way that he would to rich green activists, professional lobbyists, or representatives of ethnic or sexual minorities.
I remember when he was elected: that day that he finished shafting his brother. I sat to listen to his speech, filled with benevolence and hope. Here, at last, was a Labour leader to cast out the Blair shadow and take them to power, who would expose Cameron's posturing and inspire a new generation.
There's a moment near the start of Finding Nemo when his dad starts attempting to tell a joke. The smiles on his recipients' faces gradually freeze and turn to bewildered horror. Nemo looks on with desperate embarrassment. So for me with EdM's speech. It was the worst I've heard in a long while, well at least since Chris Patten's 'we're not going to hurt them a little we're going to hurt them a lot'.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh on EdM but I don't think so. There was a certain acceptance that Michael Howard and IDS would never become PM. Enough people thought the same of the Welsh Windbag.
I'm afraid politics is clearcut and you either have the X factor or you don't. EdM may have been shrewd at getting the job but he will not lead his party to GE victory. He is a minnow.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
"Did I miss something? Ed Miliband was meant to make a speech today in which he defended his trade union reforms, made the case for a new and more direct relationship between Labour and individual union members, and showed the nation that he was his own man, not the prisoner of the Left.
Instead, his speech can be summed up as follows: "Tories! Nasty, nasty Tories!"
If he hadn't delivered his address without notes, strolling around the bizarrely blue-lit stage, I'd have thought there'd been a simple mix-up. What had happened was that someone had put the speech for party conference – the big address to the nation about how bad the Government are, and what he'd do differently – into the teleprompter instead of the make-or-break speech to the TUC about union relations.
On topic, I'd say it depends entirely on whether Mr Balls genuinely wants a move and, even then, is it something Mr Miliband would want to do? Wishing Mr Balls wasn't SCoE is one thing; wanting to replace him (for Ms Cooper or anyone else) is another.
If the only credible replacement wasn't his wife, the down-side of moving him against his will would at least be more straightforward. Mr Miliband - let alone the party & wider public - would never know who was 'speaking' when the Shadow Chancellor made an utterance. There would always be the suspicion that Mr Balls was the power behind that throne, at least.
I don't believe this leaves Mr Miliband looking weak - it's just a circumstance beyond his control. Dealing with it is pragmatism, not weakness or strength. In my experience, most large organisations keep spouses, partners or relatives away from each other's chain of command to avoid problems like these. This is more of a family-business situation.
I remember when he was elected: that day that he finished shafting his brother. I sat to listen to his speech, filled with benevolence and hope. Here, at last, was a Labour leader to cast out the Blair shadow and take them to power, who would expose Cameron's posturing and inspire a new generation.
There's a moment near the start of Finding Nemo when his dad starts attempting to tell a joke. The smiles on his recipients' faces gradually freeze and turn to bewildered horror. Nemo looks on with desperate embarrassment. So for me with EdM's speech. It was the worst I've heard in a long while, well at least since Chris Patten's 'we're not going to hurt them a little we're going to hurt them a lot'.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh on EdM but I don't think so. There was a certain acceptance that Michael Howard and IDS would never become PM. Enough people thought the same of the Welsh Windbag.
I'm afraid politics is clearcut and you either have the X factor or you don't. EdM may have been shrewd at getting the job but he will not lead his party to GE victory. He is a minnow.
Ricardohos,I want to put the boot in on ed,but I'm beginning to feel sorry for him ;-)
The effect of fracking on prices is basic economics and arithmetic - which is why Labour types don't get it..
Tell us what percentage of the gas market will be filled by British fracked gas then.
In the next 10 minutes ? Zero - can I have £50 ?
Google the laws of supply and demand - supply will increase - can you guess what happens to price ? See the USA if you are unsure of your answer.
You don't understand the differences between the US gas market and the European/Asian market despite it being pointed out to you in many different ways by many different posters.
tim predicting fracking will have no effect on Uk prices - one to watch over the next 15 years.
Nick Sutton @suttonnick .@BBCNormanS: "If this was meant to be a defining moment, then well it somewhat passed me by, it just didn't have that feel" #tuc13
The defining moment is rightly reserved for the Conference.This was about selling a difficult set of reforms to the trade union members.
He was excellent in the Q&A.
Most top politicians are excellent at Q&A in a relaxed environment, when they're the only one on stage and don't feel the need to stick to a script of 'points to make'. Not that the public ever sees it as the usual formats encourage division, point-scoring and short answers / rebuttals.
It wasn't a bad speech at all (and I particularly liked the opening passage about the Earl of Derby, although TUC delegates don't seem particularly interested in nineteenth century Conservative history, and it fell rather flat). But it was a relatively thin speech, and it did not feel like one that will shift the argument on his union link reforms. We did not learn anything about the wider implications. (See 9.15am.) And we did not really learn much about what the TUC delegates think about his plans either. But they did make it clear that they don't like austerity. (See 12.21pm.) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/10/ed-milibands-tuc-speech-on-labours-links-with-the-unions-politics-live-blog#block-522f085ce4b03cba712fa1a6
SMukesh "He was good at the Q@A' A specially selected group of loyalists who were no doubt given the questions which Ed had rehearsed the answers to..any fool could look good doing that. It might have been improved somewhat if we could have actually seen them and him..
Weirdly, I enjoyed canvassing as well (though I wouldn't want to do it every weekend) it was eye-opening, unexpectedly entertaining, and yes, nice to meet people you wouldn't normally encounter, and chat with them - even if 35% of them were apparently insane.
By the way, apologies for being too sharp with you last night. Blame a mixture of wine, too much caffeine (damn that Nespresso), and psychic stress from intense writing, 12 hours a day (finishing a book).
I also wonder if this Telegraph blogging lark is good for my soul. I am now being paid to be polemical, provocative and aggressive (and I was hardly a shrinking violet before). As my punchiness is rewarded and cultivated it gets more extreme - and this maybe spills over into daily interactions: another deformation professionnelle.
However it's mainly the Nespresso wot did it.
lol, thanks, thought the acid/humour ratio was a bit higher than usual, but Nespresso explains it. Perhaps the Telegraph column will eventually suck in all your polemical zeal and you'll come here and idly talk about cat videos? Or occasionally you'll get mixed up and deliver a tirade here and talk to the Telegraph about train timetables?
All thanks to John Kerry's gaffe. Anywhere you find peace and freedom, you owe it to governmental incompetence.
If all it requires for Syria to hand over it's chemical weapons is for John Kerry to gaffe slightly in a press conference then surely the Obama administration should be happy to lose a little face to achieve what seems (On the face of it) an equitable outcome.
Katz should resign. A major gaffe for a TV producer. The fact that she was boring (it's the first time I've seen her and she was dismal) has nothing to do with it. Newsnight is a BBC joke at the moment and they can ill afford liabilities like Katz.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
All thanks to John Kerry's gaffe. Anywhere you find peace and freedom, you owe it to governmental incompetence.
If all it requires for Syria to hand over it's chemical weapons is for John Kerry to gaffe slightly in a press conference then surely the Obama administration should be happy to lose a little face to achieve what seems (On the face of it) an equitable outcome.
3 cheers for John Kerry.
Word.
Someone on Twitter was saying there should be an Ignoble Peace Prize for people who try to bring war, cock it up, and accidentally bring peace.
I'm afraid politics is clearcut and you either have the X factor or you don't. EdM may have been shrewd at getting the job but he will not lead his party to GE victory. He is a minnow.
Weird thing is Ed is quite good at PMQs. And often makes Cameron look foolish and puce. Yet he's mediocre at speechifying and positively BAD on TV (where it really counts).
This is the opposite of what I expected, I expected him to be a cruddy parliamentarian but quite telegenic and articulate (though still a poor leader overall).
It's too late to fix him now. He's getting worse, as well. He needs parliament sitting again, so he can land a few blows on Cammo.
OK, work!!!!
Very true Sean. Didn't Kinnock land a few blows on Mrs T at PMQ's? I seem to recall a commentator saying being Oppo leader during the bi-weekly, now weekly, event was much easier than being PM because you are always able to put the PM on the spot, and therefore make him or her look defensive, as well as catch them out of course. No idea if that's really true, and Mrs T knew how to strike back pretty damned hard, but I suspect if EdM were the other side of the floor he'd look less capable in parliament?
I feel sorry for him too, whoever mentioned that below, but that's a pretty grim state of affairs. How have Labour managed to get two such rubbish leaders in a row? Or is that the inevitable curse of following the mega-successful Blair?
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
Katz should resign. A major gaffe for a TV producer. The fact that she was boring (it's the first time I've seen her and she was dismal) has nothing to do with it. Newsnight is a BBC joke at the moment and they can ill afford liabilities like Katz.
Perhaps the clue was that he used to work for the Granuaid - they should have headhunted somebody decent.
1000 tonnes of Chemical weapos held in Syria. According to Skys man on the spot the experts reckon it will take a day to remove and secure just one tonne..that's a thousand days. Lots to discuss with this one..
It wasn't a bad speech at all (and I particularly liked the opening passage about the Earl of Derby, although TUC delegates don't seem particularly interested in nineteenth century Conservative history, and it fell rather flat). But it was a relatively thin speech, and it did not feel like one that will shift the argument on his union link reforms. We did not learn anything about the wider implications. (See 9.15am.) And we did not really learn much about what the TUC delegates think about his plans either. But they did make it clear that they don't like austerity. (See 12.21pm.) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/10/ed-milibands-tuc-speech-on-labours-links-with-the-unions-politics-live-blog#block-522f085ce4b03cba712fa1a6
A piece for which the phrase "damned with faint praise" seems made to measure.
Further to my comment about the "Balls Up" at Treasury questions. Oddly I'm no longer surprised by Ed Balls continuing poor performances, that is when he can be arsed to appear in public ....
Edinburgh baby panda or Ed Balls - Who is more elusive ??
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
" Brutal dictator One who kills his opponents slowly. If he just has them all shot, use ''ruthless dictator’’. If our government could easily ''topple him’’, but can’t be bothered, use ''tinpot dictator’’.
Clamour We’ve written two editorials about this. If there’s one in today, refer to a ''growing clamour’’.
Coffers Where organisations of which we disapprove keep money.
Considering The all-purpose unfalsifiable policy story. No one will ever be able to convincingly deny that they’ve considered something.
Deepened What happened to people’s difficulties last night.
Eleventh hour The time at which one should start expecting “last-ditch” negotiations or “last-gasp” interventions.
Facing charges They haven’t been charged with a crime, they may never be charged with a crime, but they could be charged with one.
Ill-fated Frankly, it was inevitable that anything that ''started as an innocent day out’’ would turn out to have ''ended in tragedy’’.
Influential Any group that can get a letter printed in a national paper.
Mystery surrounds In time, it may deepen. Right now, we don’t have a clue what’s going on.
Perfect storm Two bad things have happened to someone at the same time.
Pooch A dog, of any size or breed, that has lived up to the best traditions of its species by faithfully leading children out of danger or helping a pensioner cross the road. Not a synonym for devil dog.
Potentially fatal Well, potentially. I mean, a peanut is potentially fatal.
Set to Sounds like it means ''will’’, but if it turns out the story is wrong, you can point out it only actually means ''may’’.
Special Investigation A normal investigation, but with a picture byline for the reporter...
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
Says the bloke who wanted to believe so much that votes for women were delayed in 1906 by a bombing campaign in 1914 that he put it in a header.
Says the farmer who writes so much rubbish that's left lying around here he's giving Labour's "winter of discontent" a run for its money.
I'm afraid politics is clearcut and you either have the X factor or you don't. EdM may have been shrewd at getting the job but he will not lead his party to GE victory. He is a minnow.
Weird thing is Ed is quite good at PMQs. And often makes Cameron look foolish and puce. Yet he's mediocre at speechifying and positively BAD on TV (where it really counts).
This is the opposite of what I expected, I expected him to be a cruddy parliamentarian but quite telegenic and articulate (though still a poor leader overall).
It's too late to fix him now. He's getting worse, as well. He needs parliament sitting again, so he can land a few blows on Cammo.
OK, work!!!!
Very true Sean. Didn't Kinnock land a few blows on Mrs T at PMQ's? I seem to recall a commentator saying being Oppo leader during the bi-weekly, now weekly, event was much easier than being PM because you are always able to put the PM on the spot, and therefore make him or her look defensive, as well as catch them out of course. No idea if that's really true, and Mrs T knew how to strike back pretty damned hard, but I suspect if EdM were the other side of the floor he'd look less capable in parliament?
I feel sorry for him too, whoever mentioned that below, but that's a pretty grim state of affairs. How have Labour managed to get two such rubbish leaders in a row? Or is that the inevitable curse of following the mega-successful Blair?
Yes it is, a bit. If you are not going to be a BoJo or a Mandelson where, for better or worse, everyone hangs on your every word, you need to be a Blair-lite. But being a middle-aged PPE Blair lite is, as they say, necessary but not sufficient.
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
This was the dodge suggested when Labour were considering whether to have a referendum on Lisbon. It'll probably be far easier to win a referendum on the EU than a referendum on the next EU treaty. (Although it could be a long time until one comes along).
Obviously the political downside is that short-term it sounds a bit lame to say we should have a referendum, but not now. I suppose they could pretend to agree with the Tories, who are pretending to think that there's going to be a full EU treaty in the next parliament.
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
Says the bloke who wanted to believe so much that votes for women were delayed in 1906 by a bombing campaign in 1914 that he put it in a header.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
Says the bloke who wanted to believe so much that votes for women were delayed in 1906 by a bombing campaign in 1914 that he put it in a header.
@edmundintokyo posted - Obviously the political downside is that short-term it sounds a bit lame to say we should have a referendum, but not now. I suppose they could pretend to agree with the Tories, who are pretending to think that there's going to be a full EU treaty in the next parliament.
Edmund,it's going to be more than lame if ed is just offering a referendum lock ;-)
I've seen more tweets about Labour demanding a written apology from Ian Katz than I have about what EdM actually said in his speech.
They've managed to create a Streisand Effect story and eclipsed their own main PR event of the week.
Epic - trebles all round. Who is running this bunch of numpties? Really?
Labour's media management is definitely on the blink. And it used to be highly effective. Yet it's hard to put a finger on why they look so inept.
Has someone crucial left the team, a la Coulson, or is it just everyone in Labour panicking at how Ed Miliband is, indeed, a bit crap, after a period when they fondly believed he was not that crap after all?
SMukesh's bizarre comments on here today incline me to the latter.
You think am part of Labour`s media management team.Am not even a member of the party.
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
Great - consensus on Europe reduces it's influence on the election.
Where the tories go,labour follow,at this rate labour might as well just copy the tories 2015 manifesto ;-)
They'll only do that after they've criticised all the policies first. Then they'll sign up to them.
Alan,if this is true about labour and a EU referendum pledge,tim should be fuming after his non stop attacks when Cameron offered one ;-)
TJ 19 months to a GE and still no-one has a clue what Labour's for. Even the LDs are confused with Cleggy saying he doesn't what they stand for. When the LDs accuse you of being a bit wishy washy you've got a problem.
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
That`s quite an opaque post even by your standards!
Thought @david_herdson called it right earlier when he said Ed Balls is less to blame for theTory lead in the economy than the economic improvement... (Bizarre to blame improvement, hope you know what I mean)
Surely no marriage could survive one spouse replacing another in a high profile job of any kind?
Thought @david_herdson called it right earlier when he said Ed Balls is less to blame for theTory lead in the economy than the economic improvement... (Bizarre to blame improvement, hope you know what I mean)
Surely no marriage could survive one spouse replacing another in a high profile job of any kind?
That sort of depends. If one half has done what they want to do they make way for the other. Denis Thatcher would be an example.
I haven't found any journalist who's praised this speech so far - damp squib is the most charitable. Mr Hodges has his steel toe caps on.
"...Back in July he did so in the following terms. “I am here to talk about a different politics”, he said, “a politics that is open. Transparent. And trusted. Exactly the opposite of the politics we’ve recently seen in Falkirk. A politics that was closed. A politics of the machine. A politics that is rightly hated. What we saw in Falkirk is part of the death throes of the old politics.” But today in Bournemouth, when finally face to face with the architect of the reviled politics of the machine, the words of condemnation froze upon his lips. Miliband, not to put too fine a point on it, bottled it.
Those who thought Miliband has come to town looking for trouble were wrong, he said. He hadn’t started it, it was all the fault of that nasty David Cameron. He was the one the unions really wanted to have a fight with. “He doesn’t just write you off, but oozes contempt for you from every pore”, he said. This from the man who less than two months ago had raged “Instead of defending what happened in Falkirk, McCluskey should be facing up to his responsibilities. He should not be defending the machine politics involving bad practice and malpractice that went on there, he should be facing up to it”.
But that was from the safety of a warm TV studio. Here, confronted by the stony faces of McCLuskey and his delegation, Miliband chose to sing a different tune. Don’t pick on me, he pleaded; “It is you who have been telling me year after year about politics that is detached from the lives of working people.” There was no more talk of people having to “face up to their responsibilities”. Instead, Miliband soothed “I respect those who worry about change. I understand...” http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100235287/ed-miliband-strode-into-the-tucs-house-and-then-he-bottled-it-and-ran-away/
@edmundintokyo posted - Obviously the political downside is that short-term it sounds a bit lame to say we should have a referendum, but not now. I suppose they could pretend to agree with the Tories, who are pretending to think that there's going to be a full EU treaty in the next parliament.
Edmund,it's going to be more than lame if ed is just offering a referendum lock ;-)
It'll sound the same to the voters, won't it?
Cameron: There's going to be a treaty in the next parliament, and when there is we'll have an in/out referendum. Ed Miliband: There's going to be a treaty in the next parliament, and when there is we'll have an in/out referendum.
The only difference their positions would be if they were both lying about the treaty, which they would be, but nobody's going to tell the voters that...
Quite apart from anything else, he doesn't appear to have noticed that David Cameron is already Prime Minister, having got more votes than Blair got in 2005 and almost as many as Blair got in 2001:
We know from recent experience what happens to political leaders who write off whole sections of a country. That’s what Mitt Romney did when he talked about the 47 per cent of people who would never vote for him. And look what happened to him.
They didn’t.
Friends, my job is to make sure that’s what happens to David Cameron as well.
And what on earth was all the guff about Lord Derby intended to achieve?
Also, why did he go out of his way to criticise Labour's record of pushing for university degrees for the many?
"Some of Miliband’s predecessors have been prepared to walk through fire in their attempts to drag their movement to the brink of power. In 1985, in this very same hall, Neil Kinnock launched his famous assault on Militant. And boy, he did assault them. There was no attempt to cajole, or convince or conciliate. Kinnock rolled up his sleeves, and went for them.
The contrast with today’s effort couldn’t have been more stark. Kinnock threw down the gauntlet. Miliband, having already thrown it down, picked it up, dusted it off and handed it meekly to McCluskey, exclaiming “sorry Len, I think this is yours”.
Thought @david_herdson called it right earlier when he said Ed Balls is less to blame for theTory lead in the economy than the economic improvement... (Bizarre to blame improvement, hope you know what I mean)
Surely no marriage could survive one spouse replacing another in a high profile job of any kind?
That sort of depends. If one half has done what they want to do they make way for the other. Denis Thatcher would be an example.
I meant directly replace someone who didn't want to go
On the topic of Miliband replacing Balls with someone else, it should also be noted that replacing Balls, who was himself a replacement for Alan Johnson, would put Balls in the same league as the notorious Ali Dia who came on as a substitute for Southampton in the first half of his only match, but was himself substituted in the second half after only 20 minutes on the pitch.
Not that I would complain, because I loathe and fear Balls, but the embarrassment might not be something that Balls could live with, which would have consequences for Miliband.
Personally I'd believe that headline more if it said 'Labour perilously close to voters knowing what they stand for'
Well it's fun times. Here we are 19 months from a GE and Labour are filling the airwaves with their internal issues. And this will rumble on for another few weeks over conference season. So on pure displacement theory Labour are displacing attacking HMG and nobody there should worry. Sit back and buy popcorn imo. Only that eejit Osborne with his" look at me" speech yesterday was stupid enough to try and take the limelight from them. If HMG have good news they can play it long and to suit themselves.
And then very soon it's conference over and it will be 2014 with Euros and Indyref to distract everyone and in the meantime Ed will still not have defined himself, nor his policies, nor his party. He's sticking to his 35% plan and hoping UKIP get him in but if he has one slip he's dead meat.
Quite apart from anything else, he doesn't appear to have noticed that David Cameron is already Prime Minister, having got more votes than Blair got in 2005 and almost as many as Blair got in 2001:
We know from recent experience what happens to political leaders who write off whole sections of a country. That’s what Mitt Romney did when he talked about the 47 per cent of people who would never vote for him. And look what happened to him.
They didn’t.
Friends, my job is to make sure that’s what happens to David Cameron as well.
And what on earth was all the guff about Lord Derby intended to achieve?
Also, why did he go out of his way to criticise Labour's record of pushing for university degrees for the many?
Let's consider this post, and what it says about Labour.
SMukesh said: "Gosh.Miliband looks like and sounds like a statesman.Has he changed his make-up woman and undertaken speech therapy?"
Any party that thinks this kind of desperate astroturfy gibberish might help perceptions of its leader obviously thinks that perceptions of its leader are so bad, they might as well try anything, however stupid.
It's like me coming on here and saying
"Gosh, I'm quite surprised by how good I am at writing now, this latest thriller coming out next week for £5.99 at Sainsburys is amazing, why have I suddenly got so exciting and unexpectedly brilliant?"
If you said that, we'd just chalk it down as your usual exaggerated hyperbole (though grounded in a bit of truth). Whereas Miliband-supporters, like the man himself, don't do humour, self-awareness or parody (or at least, not intentionally). Even if you were to suggest that there might be a Nobel Prize for Literature in it, we'd still just assume that you knew full well there wasn't. Milibanders, by contrast, always sound as if they believe everything they say - or would do if they wished hard enough.
That`s quite an opaque post even by your standards!
Thank you.
Let me translate: when Sean says something preposterous, it's because he's having a laugh, winding someone up or exaggerating - because I get the strong sense that he has quite a well-developed sense of self-awareness and of the absurd (of which there is some overlap). When Miliband, or his supporters, say something preposterous, you sense that they genuinely believe it, or that they genuinely want you to (and believe you might).
UK’s Labour opposition mulls in/out EU referendum pledge
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
Great - consensus on Europe reduces it's influence on the election.
Where the tories go,labour follow,at this rate labour might as well just copy the tories 2015 manifesto ;-)
They'll only do that after they've criticised all the policies first. Then they'll sign up to them.
Alan,if this is true about labour and a EU referendum pledge,tim should be fuming after his non stop attacks when Cameron offered one ;-)
TJ 19 months to a GE and still no-one has a clue what Labour's for. Even the LDs are confused with Cleggy saying he doesn't what they stand for. When the LDs accuse you of being a bit wishy washy you've got a problem.
I really wish Miliband would drop the incredibly irritating One Nation Labour phrase.
It doesn't seem to mean anything and is bizarre when Miliband is setting himself against New Labour. Blair's party had much more claim to be "one nation" as it was able to win in places like Putney and NW Norfolk where Ed has no chance
Quick captain, we need a fact based antidote to the spam outbreak.
YouGov polling on Labour's relationship with unions and zero-hour contracts suggests some ideas likely to be addressed in Ed Miliband's TUC speech could resonate with voters
As I said downthread that is the only bit I heard and I lamented that the Coalition had let this one slip past (uncle Vince needs his naps I suppose). The ideas were not new but seem to me a sensible way forward. I hope the tories pinch them.
What I found really odd was that the very small part of the audience you could see (the carefully selected gender/racial mix with an emphasis on youth stuck on the stage) looked bored out of their minds and the bit you could only hear seemed equally uninterested with feeble applause.
And I am really not sure the walking about stuff is good for Ed. He looked a little demented. He needs to play it cooler.
An internet sensation was born in April 2011 when Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls accidentally tweeted his own name as he was typing it into the search engine. An aide had urged Balls to search Twitter for an article mentioning him but he tweeted his name instead. He didn't delete the tweet because he didn't know you could. Two years later people still celebrate the anniversary of 'Ed Balls Day' and it has become a meme. To date Balls's original tweet has been retweeted more than 21,000 times. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10298777/Twitter-gaffes-the-embarrassing-the-shameful-and-the-stupid.html
I really wish Miliband would drop the incredibly irritating One Nation Labour phrase.
It doesn't seem to mean anything and is bizarre when Miliband is setting himself against New Labour. Blair's party had much more claim to be "one nation" as it was able to win in places like Putney and NW Norfolk where Ed has no chance
You find it irritating because he has parked his tank in your lawn.
Why Miliband shouldn't use his conference speech to promise an EU referendum
From the article -
An EU referendum pledge would not prevent him from doing any of this but it would inevitably overshadow the rest of the speech and allow the Tories to boast that a "weak" Miliband had been forced onto their territory. There is a case for Miliband committing to a referendum before 2015 (although I remain sceptical) but next month's conference would be one of the worst moments to do so.
Banks that are legally obliged to invest in their region of the country and their region alone.
Has Ed checked that one with the EU?
That's quite an impressively terrible idea. I wonder if politicians would still come up with these if the EU wasn't there to save them from having to implement their worst policies.
"What I found really odd was that the very small part of the audience you could see (the carefully selected gender/racial mix with an emphasis on youth stuck on the stage) looked bored out of their minds and the bit you could only hear seemed equally uninterested with feeble applause"
Like all parties do not do this. Generally the Tories also have the cabinet sat in front row of the hall listening to Cameron, nodding like they are adverts for Churchill, whilst he could be telling them he has just walloped their grans and wiped his Osborne on their curtains, those heads just keep nodding.
" Brutal dictator One who kills his opponents slowly. If he just has them all shot, use ''ruthless dictator’’. If our government could easily ''topple him’’, but can’t be bothered, use ''tinpot dictator’’.
Clamour We’ve written two editorials about this. If there’s one in today, refer to a ''growing clamour’’.
Coffers Where organisations of which we disapprove keep money.
Considering The all-purpose unfalsifiable policy story. No one will ever be able to convincingly deny that they’ve considered something.
Deepened What happened to people’s difficulties last night.
Eleventh hour The time at which one should start expecting “last-ditch” negotiations or “last-gasp” interventions.
Facing charges They haven’t been charged with a crime, they may never be charged with a crime, but they could be charged with one.
Ill-fated Frankly, it was inevitable that anything that ''started as an innocent day out’’ would turn out to have ''ended in tragedy’’.
Influential Any group that can get a letter printed in a national paper.
Mystery surrounds In time, it may deepen. Right now, we don’t have a clue what’s going on.
Perfect storm Two bad things have happened to someone at the same time.
Pooch A dog, of any size or breed, that has lived up to the best traditions of its species by faithfully leading children out of danger or helping a pensioner cross the road. Not a synonym for devil dog.
Potentially fatal Well, potentially. I mean, a peanut is potentially fatal.
Set to Sounds like it means ''will’’, but if it turns out the story is wrong, you can point out it only actually means ''may’’.
Special Investigation A normal investigation, but with a picture byline for the reporter...
Can I add 'has learned' to the list. Normal usage 'The BBC has learned' = Was in the morning paper..
I really wish Miliband would drop the incredibly irritating One Nation Labour phrase.
It doesn't seem to mean anything and is bizarre when Miliband is setting himself against New Labour. Blair's party had much more claim to be "one nation" as it was able to win in places like Putney and NW Norfolk where Ed has no chance
Also Blair NEVER played Class War - EdM has made me feel like an outsider because my parents worked themselves into the ground and we lived above a shop so I could go to a public school.
Toff Posh Toff Toff Posh Toff - FFS, its like being 9yrs old.
" Brutal dictator One who kills his opponents slowly. If he just has them all shot, use ''ruthless dictator’’. If our government could easily ''topple him’’, but can’t be bothered, use ''tinpot dictator’’.
Clamour We’ve written two editorials about this. If there’s one in today, refer to a ''growing clamour’’.
Coffers Where organisations of which we disapprove keep money.
Considering The all-purpose unfalsifiable policy story. No one will ever be able to convincingly deny that they’ve considered something.
Deepened What happened to people’s difficulties last night.
Eleventh hour The time at which one should start expecting “last-ditch” negotiations or “last-gasp” interventions.
Facing charges They haven’t been charged with a crime, they may never be charged with a crime, but they could be charged with one.
Ill-fated Frankly, it was inevitable that anything that ''started as an innocent day out’’ would turn out to have ''ended in tragedy’’.
Influential Any group that can get a letter printed in a national paper.
Mystery surrounds In time, it may deepen. Right now, we don’t have a clue what’s going on.
Perfect storm Two bad things have happened to someone at the same time.
Pooch A dog, of any size or breed, that has lived up to the best traditions of its species by faithfully leading children out of danger or helping a pensioner cross the road. Not a synonym for devil dog.
Potentially fatal Well, potentially. I mean, a peanut is potentially fatal.
Set to Sounds like it means ''will’’, but if it turns out the story is wrong, you can point out it only actually means ''may’’.
Special Investigation A normal investigation, but with a picture byline for the reporter...
Can I add 'has learned' to the list. Normal usage 'The BBC has learned' = Was in the morning paper..
"The EU doesn't even make it into the top ten of voters' concerns. Miliband's speech should focus on housing, wages and jobs"
Bleeding obvious, it's only the Tory/UKIP switchers who are bothered and as we've seen so many times before that is more influenced by the salience of immigration
and if ed does offer a Eu referendum,it should have the likes of you tim,bloody angry,shouldn't it ?
UKIP's chances in Ribble Valley are pretty slim .I would expect Steve Rush to stand as an Independent in any by election and split their vote in 2 .
Obviously much would depend on whether he did stand, but either way I suspect there are enough punters who'd bet on UKIP out of wishful thinking to shift the odds.
"Delegates are to get vote on whether to force party to renationalise Royal Mail after 2015 general election.
Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary postal, told the Trades Union Congress the union is tabling a renationalisation motion at the Labour conference."
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow Re union reaction to Miliband, some +ive comments, but 2 'disappointing's and 1 'incredibly disappionting' - theguardian.com/politics/2013/…
• A ComRes poll for ITV has found that 68% of people think trade unions should spend less time involved in national politics. Only 12% said they they did not agree with that proposition. But the poll also found general support for unions. Some 49% said they were good for Britain overall, against 22% who disagreed. Asked whether they had too much say over what happens in Britain, respondents were evenly split - with 36% saying yes and 36% saying no.
• Members of the Usdaw shopworkers union have voted by 93% to keep their political fund.
"The EU doesn't even make it into the top ten of voters' concerns. Miliband's speech should focus on housing, wages and jobs"
Bleeding obvious, it's only the Tory/UKIP switchers who are bothered and as we've seen so many times before that is more influenced by the salience of immigration
and if ed does offer a Eu referendum,it should have the likes of you tim,bloody angry,shouldn't it ?
I've always priced it at 50/50, and couldn't care less as it'll be won anyway when the Tory leadership rallies behind staying in the EU. They've got no members left and all their funders want to stay in.
Tim lad,you can't even criticise ed,even when you went on about how Cameron ran away from his backbenche's on giving in to them on the EU with a referendum.
If ed gives a pledge on a EU referendum,who he running away from,the unions ?
I really wish Miliband would drop the incredibly irritating One Nation Labour phrase.
It doesn't seem to mean anything and is bizarre when Miliband is setting himself against New Labour. Blair's party had much more claim to be "one nation" as it was able to win in places like Putney and NW Norfolk where Ed has no chance
You find it irritating because he has parked his tank in your lawn.
Not my lawn Surbiton! I'm not part of the infamous Tory Herd...
Similar to the Tories in the past with non white immigrants and now with Eastern Europeans. Build a party based on despising large percentages of the population and thats what happens
Yes - anecdote alert - I have two constituents, prosperous second generation immigrants, who have told me that they and their large families actively, strongly prefer Tory economic and tax policy. They vote Labour mainly because they think most Tories dislike them on sight. If there was an immigrant-friendly (not even immigration-friendly, just nice to those already here) low-tax party they'd be off in a millisecond.
Generally speaking I think the Tory middle ranks hit the "scorn" button far too often, and it's a main reason why they're disliked as a party. Cameron is aware of that and mostly avoids it except when he's peeved. But it's always easy to find a back-bencher or junior minister who thinks much of the population is basically a bit crap. People's self-image (rightly or wrongly) is that they're doing their best in often difficult circs, and they don't like to be sneered at.
Runs a lot deeper than not being immigrant-friendly, Nick. I grew up on the wrong side of the track in overwhelmingly Tory territory. What you describe is how they feel about people in general. That's why the 'Plebs' business resonated so deeply - people believe it all too easily, even if that particular accusation was a falsehood.
The Conservative party has a mountain to climb where dealing with ordinary people is concerned.
Comments
I wouldn't say that Cameron "oozes contempt" for trade unionists - he just doesn't relate to those of them who are working or lower-middle class, in the way that he would to rich green activists, professional lobbyists, or representatives of ethnic or sexual minorities.
There's a moment near the start of Finding Nemo when his dad starts attempting to tell a joke. The smiles on his recipients' faces gradually freeze and turn to bewildered horror. Nemo looks on with desperate embarrassment. So for me with EdM's speech. It was the worst I've heard in a long while, well at least since Chris Patten's 'we're not going to hurt them a little we're going to hurt them a lot'.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh on EdM but I don't think so. There was a certain acceptance that Michael Howard and IDS would never become PM. Enough people thought the same of the Welsh Windbag.
I'm afraid politics is clearcut and you either have the X factor or you don't. EdM may have been shrewd at getting the job but he will not lead his party to GE victory. He is a minnow.
Instead, his speech can be summed up as follows: "Tories! Nasty, nasty Tories!"
If he hadn't delivered his address without notes, strolling around the bizarrely blue-lit stage, I'd have thought there'd been a simple mix-up. What had happened was that someone had put the speech for party conference – the big address to the nation about how bad the Government are, and what he'd do differently – into the teleprompter instead of the make-or-break speech to the TUC about union relations.
Instead, we were treated to a bizarre historical excursion back to the 19th century, when even Conservatives – such as Lord Stanley and Benjamin Disraeli – respected the working man and the rights of organised labour (really?). Unlike horrid, stinky David Cameron, who "writes you off, he writes your members off, he oozes contempt for trade unionists from every pore of his being". There followed a laboured attempt to compare Cameron to Mitt Romney... >> http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/robertcolvile/100235244/the-speech-to-the-tuc-was-ed-milibands-big-moment-he-flunked-it-dismally/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
If the only credible replacement wasn't his wife, the down-side of moving him against his will would at least be more straightforward. Mr Miliband - let alone the party & wider public - would never know who was 'speaking' when the Shadow Chancellor made an utterance. There would always be the suspicion that Mr Balls was the power behind that throne, at least.
I don't believe this leaves Mr Miliband looking weak - it's just a circumstance beyond his control. Dealing with it is pragmatism, not weakness or strength. In my experience, most large organisations keep spouses, partners or relatives away from each other's chain of command to avoid problems like these. This is more of a family-business situation.
I think he should go for it! From Mr Bean to Stalin.....
Google the laws of supply and demand - supply will increase - can you guess what happens to price ? See the USA if you are unsure of your answer.
Balls was bollocks. Perchance OGH was prescient with this thread.
It wasn't a bad speech at all (and I particularly liked the opening passage about the Earl of Derby, although TUC delegates don't seem particularly interested in nineteenth century Conservative history, and it fell rather flat). But it was a relatively thin speech, and it did not feel like one that will shift the argument on his union link reforms. We did not learn anything about the wider implications. (See 9.15am.) And we did not really learn much about what the TUC delegates think about his plans either. But they did make it clear that they don't like austerity. (See 12.21pm.) http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/10/ed-milibands-tuc-speech-on-labours-links-with-the-unions-politics-live-blog#block-522f085ce4b03cba712fa1a6
It might have been improved somewhat if we could have actually seen them and him..
3 cheers for John Kerry.
Katz should resign. A major gaffe for a TV producer. The fact that she was boring (it's the first time I've seen her and she was dismal) has nothing to do with it. Newsnight is a BBC joke at the moment and they can ill afford liabilities like Katz.
Someone on Twitter was saying there should be an Ignoble Peace Prize for people who try to bring war, cock it up, and accidentally bring peace.
I feel sorry for him too, whoever mentioned that below, but that's a pretty grim state of affairs. How have Labour managed to get two such rubbish leaders in a row? Or is that the inevitable curse of following the mega-successful Blair?
The UK’s opposition Labour party is considering matching the Conservative’s offer of an “in/out” referendum on EU membership in a marked policy shift ahead of the next UK general election in 2015. A decision could be announced at Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton later this month, EurActiv understands.
But if you read on,it looks like labour might offer a referendum lock,from the article -
Labour is unlikely to offer the same formula, but policymakers with the party have told EurActiv that party leader Ed Miliband may instead offer to convert a “referendum lock” on EU laws into an “in/out” referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
The so-called “referendum lock” is a policy of the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, unopposed by the Labour party. It states that where any substantial piece of EU law affecting the UK constitution arises, citizens will be offered a referendum on whether to accept it.
http://www.euractiv.com/uk-europe/uk-labour-opposition-mull-refere-news-530323
According to Skys man on the spot the experts reckon it will take a day to remove and secure just one tonne..that's a thousand days.
Lots to discuss with this one..
Further to my comment about the "Balls Up" at Treasury questions. Oddly I'm no longer surprised by Ed Balls continuing poor performances, that is when he can be arsed to appear in public ....
Edinburgh baby panda or Ed Balls - Who is more elusive ??
" Brutal dictator One who kills his opponents slowly. If he just has them all shot, use ''ruthless dictator’’. If our government could easily ''topple him’’, but can’t be bothered, use ''tinpot dictator’’.
Clamour We’ve written two editorials about this. If there’s one in today, refer to a ''growing clamour’’.
Coffers Where organisations of which we disapprove keep money.
Considering The all-purpose unfalsifiable policy story. No one will ever be able to convincingly deny that they’ve considered something.
Deepened What happened to people’s difficulties last night.
Eleventh hour The time at which one should start expecting “last-ditch” negotiations or “last-gasp” interventions.
Facing charges They haven’t been charged with a crime, they may never be charged with a crime, but they could be charged with one.
Ill-fated Frankly, it was inevitable that anything that ''started as an innocent day out’’ would turn out to have ''ended in tragedy’’.
Influential Any group that can get a letter printed in a national paper.
Mystery surrounds In time, it may deepen. Right now, we don’t have a clue what’s going on.
Perfect storm Two bad things have happened to someone at the same time.
Pooch A dog, of any size or breed, that has lived up to the best traditions of its species by faithfully leading children out of danger or helping a pensioner cross the road. Not a synonym for devil dog.
Potentially fatal Well, potentially. I mean, a peanut is potentially fatal.
Set to Sounds like it means ''will’’, but if it turns out the story is wrong, you can point out it only actually means ''may’’.
Special Investigation A normal investigation, but with a picture byline for the reporter...
Obviously the political downside is that short-term it sounds a bit lame to say we should have a referendum, but not now. I suppose they could pretend to agree with the Tories, who are pretending to think that there's going to be a full EU treaty in the next parliament.
Huzzah for the bearded Scottish nobility !!
LOL !!
Edmund,it's going to be more than lame if ed is just offering a referendum lock ;-)
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/09/nick-clegg-labour-perilously-close-to-voters-not-knowing-what-they-stand-for/
Surely no marriage could survive one spouse replacing another in a high profile job of any kind?
Personally I'd believe that headline more if it said 'Labour perilously close to voters knowing what they stand for'
Fat Cameron spouts rubbish! ITV,Sky-`Yeah great`
Miliband does something significant!ITV,Sky-`Very poor`
We know the score already.
"...Back in July he did so in the following terms. “I am here to talk about a different politics”, he said, “a politics that is open. Transparent. And trusted. Exactly the opposite of the politics we’ve recently seen in Falkirk. A politics that was closed. A politics of the machine. A politics that is rightly hated. What we saw in Falkirk is part of the death throes of the old politics.” But today in Bournemouth, when finally face to face with the architect of the reviled politics of the machine, the words of condemnation froze upon his lips. Miliband, not to put too fine a point on it, bottled it.
Those who thought Miliband has come to town looking for trouble were wrong, he said. He hadn’t started it, it was all the fault of that nasty David Cameron. He was the one the unions really wanted to have a fight with. “He doesn’t just write you off, but oozes contempt for you from every pore”, he said. This from the man who less than two months ago had raged “Instead of defending what happened in Falkirk, McCluskey should be facing up to his responsibilities. He should not be defending the machine politics involving bad practice and malpractice that went on there, he should be facing up to it”.
But that was from the safety of a warm TV studio. Here, confronted by the stony faces of McCLuskey and his delegation, Miliband chose to sing a different tune. Don’t pick on me, he pleaded; “It is you who have been telling me year after year about politics that is detached from the lives of working people.” There was no more talk of people having to “face up to their responsibilities”. Instead, Miliband soothed “I respect those who worry about change. I understand...” http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100235287/ed-miliband-strode-into-the-tucs-house-and-then-he-bottled-it-and-ran-away/
... says Tim '50,000 posts and climbing' Spamalot.
Dan...predictable....never. Wonder when he joins the Tory Party.....so predictable.
Cameron: There's going to be a treaty in the next parliament, and when there is we'll have an in/out referendum.
Ed Miliband: There's going to be a treaty in the next parliament, and when there is we'll have an in/out referendum.
The only difference their positions would be if they were both lying about the treaty, which they would be, but nobody's going to tell the voters that...
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/09/ed-milibands-speech-to-the-tuc-full-text/
Quite apart from anything else, he doesn't appear to have noticed that David Cameron is already Prime Minister, having got more votes than Blair got in 2005 and almost as many as Blair got in 2001:
We know from recent experience what happens to political leaders who write off whole sections of a country. That’s what Mitt Romney did when he talked about the 47 per cent of people who would never vote for him. And look what happened to him.
They didn’t.
Friends, my job is to make sure that’s what happens to David Cameron as well.
And what on earth was all the guff about Lord Derby intended to achieve?
Also, why did he go out of his way to criticise Labour's record of pushing for university degrees for the many?
All very odd.
"Some of Miliband’s predecessors have been prepared to walk through fire in their attempts to drag their movement to the brink of power. In 1985, in this very same hall, Neil Kinnock launched his famous assault on Militant. And boy, he did assault them. There was no attempt to cajole, or convince or conciliate. Kinnock rolled up his sleeves, and went for them.
The contrast with today’s effort couldn’t have been more stark. Kinnock threw down the gauntlet. Miliband, having already thrown it down, picked it up, dusted it off and handed it meekly to McCluskey, exclaiming “sorry Len, I think this is yours”.
Not that I would complain, because I loathe and fear Balls, but the embarrassment might not be something that Balls could live with, which would have consequences for Miliband.
And then very soon it's conference over and it will be 2014 with Euros and Indyref to distract everyone and in the meantime Ed will still not have defined himself, nor his policies, nor his party. He's sticking to his 35% plan and hoping UKIP get him in but if he has one slip he's dead meat.
To me.
But can't they write.
Some proper fecking paragraphs?
Let me translate: when Sean says something preposterous, it's because he's having a laugh, winding someone up or exaggerating - because I get the strong sense that he has quite a well-developed sense of self-awareness and of the absurd (of which there is some overlap). When Miliband, or his supporters, say something preposterous, you sense that they genuinely believe it, or that they genuinely want you to (and believe you might).
Richard, how dare you deliver your own independent critique of Ed Miliband's speech.
Don't you know you're simply expected to spam somebody called Hodges?
Has Ed checked that one with the EU?
Let's start quoting ......@DPJHodges tweets.
McDonnell: "Ed Miliband dug himself into a hole & kept digging...Elements of the Labour & TU movement are now trying to help him out" #WatO
I cannot see Yvette Cooper replacing her husband as Shadow Chancellor without her husband replacing Ed Miliband as Labour Leader.
It doesn't seem to mean anything and is bizarre when Miliband is setting himself against New Labour. Blair's party had much more claim to be "one nation" as it was able to win in places like Putney and NW Norfolk where Ed has no chance
What I found really odd was that the very small part of the audience you could see (the carefully selected gender/racial mix with an emphasis on youth stuck on the stage) looked bored out of their minds and the bit you could only hear seemed equally uninterested with feeble applause.
And I am really not sure the walking about stuff is good for Ed. He looked a little demented. He needs to play it cooler.
There, see, no need to quote Dan at all.
Ed Balls tweets his own name
An internet sensation was born in April 2011 when Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls accidentally tweeted his own name as he was typing it into the search engine. An aide had urged Balls to search Twitter for an article mentioning him but he tweeted his name instead. He didn't delete the tweet because he didn't know you could. Two years later people still celebrate the anniversary of 'Ed Balls Day' and it has become a meme. To date Balls's original tweet has been retweeted more than 21,000 times. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/10298777/Twitter-gaffes-the-embarrassing-the-shameful-and-the-stupid.html
From the article -
An EU referendum pledge would not prevent him from doing any of this but it would inevitably overshadow the rest of the speech and allow the Tories to boast that a "weak" Miliband had been forced onto their territory. There is a case for Miliband committing to a referendum before 2015 (although I remain sceptical) but next month's conference would be one of the worst moments to do so.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/08/why-miliband-shouldnt-use-his-conference-speech-promise-eu-referendum
Well labour wanted to play they silly games,coming back to bite them on the ar$e.
Like all parties do not do this. Generally the Tories also have the cabinet sat in front row of the hall listening to Cameron, nodding like they are adverts for Churchill, whilst he could be telling them he has just walloped their grans and wiped his Osborne on their curtains, those heads just keep nodding.
Toff Posh Toff Toff Posh Toff - FFS, its like being 9yrs old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHmHxSNxOaI#t=51
It's safe for work but maybe not safe for those with taste in music.
Ed Miliband praised Benjamin Disraeli in his TUC speech. Which of these descriptions of Benjamin Disraeli do you think is right?
1. Prime Minister of Israel
2. A well-known rap artist
3. A Conservative Prime Minister
4. The Labour candidate in Bury South
http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-17496-104.htm
Had to tweet a version of that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE
"Delegates are to get vote on whether to force party to renationalise Royal Mail after 2015 general election.
Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary postal, told the Trades Union Congress the union is tabling a renationalisation motion at the Labour conference."
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow
Re union reaction to Miliband, some +ive comments, but 2 'disappointing's and 1 'incredibly disappionting' - theguardian.com/politics/2013/…
• A ComRes poll for ITV has found that 68% of people think trade unions should spend less time involved in national politics. Only 12% said they they did not agree with that proposition. But the poll also found general support for unions. Some 49% said they were good for Britain overall, against 22% who disagreed. Asked whether they had too much say over what happens in Britain, respondents were evenly split - with 36% saying yes and 36% saying no.
• Members of the Usdaw shopworkers union have voted by 93% to keep their political fund.
If ed gives a pledge on a EU referendum,who he running away from,the unions ?
The Conservative party has a mountain to climb where dealing with ordinary people is concerned.