Jests aside, I think this week we saw the death of New Labour. The courting of business by Labour is clearly over. It is not just the utilities that are unhappy about price freezes. What other industry will next be the target?
What surprises me most about the proposal is not that it is a populist gimmick (there are plenty of other ways to pay voters £120 per household), it is how poorly worked up. Ed was Energy minister, yet did not have answers to simple and obvious questions such as "how would you ensure continued investment in new power generation?" or "What happens if wholesale prices increase dramatically during the freeze?" Time will tell if any of the other policies are equally shallowly developed.
Speeches and standing ovations count for little. IDS got one 6/52 before his defenestration.
Mr Fox - you're spot on. We're a world away now from the days when even the Mail was supportive of New Labour. This speech may be a flash in the pan but if Miliband continues down this route there will be other consequences:
1) The Conservatives will have no trouble raising election funds and will be able to seriously outspend Labour (and that's without any union reforms) 2) Miliband risks retoxifying the Labour brand in the long term - he might be able to squeeze into No 10 with 35% but at some point the boundary reforms will happen and then he might well need Worcester Woman again.
You'd think with a PR voting system there'd be a successful anti-EU party there.
I don't think there are ANY parties in Germany favouring withdrawal, even on the extremes.
That's what surprises me. There's a 31% chunk in favour of leaving the EU, and no party has emerged to represent that opinion.
Yes, it's odd now you mention it. I think partly it's seen as a non-live issue - that's why I compared with the death penalty here. People are for or against, but nobody thinks it's really coming back. I think a party which majored on withdrawal would be seen as unserious - a deadly accusation in Germany. Also, the German party landscape is quite solid because of the high 5% threshold (in Denmark where it's 2% parties come and go a bit more readily), which is not that easy to beat, as both AfD and FDP have found.
If Germany left the EU, it would fundamentally change it in a way Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or even Britain would not since they are very much Europe's heart/vital organ.
If Europe is a man, losing Britain would be akin to losing a hand whereas Germany would be like losing the heart or brain.
Comments
1) The Conservatives will have no trouble raising election funds and will be able to seriously outspend Labour (and that's without any union reforms)
2) Miliband risks retoxifying the Labour brand in the long term - he might be able to squeeze into No 10 with 35% but at some point the boundary reforms will happen and then he might well need Worcester Woman again.
If Europe is a man, losing Britain would be akin to losing a hand whereas Germany would be like losing the heart or brain.