Ed miliband

Saturday

James Forsyth

The coming battle for legitimacy

Jonathan Freedland has written a compelling column on the challenge that Ed Miliband will face to establish his legitimacy if he becomes Prime Minister despite Labour not having won the most seats or votes. But I suspect that whoever becomes the government after May the 8th will have difficulty in persuading everyone that they have a right to govern. The Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition could claim that 59 per cent of voters had backed its constituent parts. It also had a comfortable majority in the House of Commons with 364 out of 650 seats. Now, unless something dramatic happens, no governing combination is likely to have anything like that kind of

Friday

Mark Gettleson

No. That poll didn’t put Ed ahead in the Prime Minister stakes.

An hour and a half watching Ed Miliband debate four people who are not going to be Prime Minister. That is the ordeal you had to go through in order to be qualified to answer Survation’s post-debate poll, which included the ‘sensational’ result that respondents preferred Ed Miliband to David Cameron by 45% to 40%. The figure set some even seasoned commentators agog at Ed’s miraculous turnaround on the preferred Prime Minister stakes, following years of languishing twenty or so points behind the Conservative leader. Everyone should hold their horses. People who watch debates are, at the best of times, the electorally aware and highly partisan, largely tuning in to

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 20 days to go

The third week of the election campaign looks set to end with a day of reflection. Last night’s opposition leaders’ debate provided plenty of things to ponder, not least how messy any post-election coalition negotiations will be. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Nicola + Ed According to the snap poll, Ed Miliband ‘won’ last night’s TV debate, followed closely by Nicola Sturgeon and then Nigel Farage. That says all you need to know about where the action was. As James Forsyth summarised last night, Miliband’s gamble paid off. For the most part, he came across as statesmanlike; he

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The Tories have fallen for their own spin on Miliband

Believing your own hype is a dangerous thing in politics (and elsewhere). So is falling for your own spin. Spin is a message you craft that bears a tenuous link to the truth but is the line you want others to believe. You say it because something else is true, but it doesn’t suit you. You hope that the people you’re directing your spin at pick up at least some of its thrust and start seeing things the way you want them to be seen. If the Tories fail to make it back into government after this general election, one of the things they will have to come to terms

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

My decision to vote Labour – a further explanation

Missing from my column this week, for reasons of space etc, was this simple point: I am a Socialist. I am not a liberal. Liberalism, or what it has become, makes me heave; I loathe it. More often than not, liberalism is economic self-interest cloaked in faux concern. I do not mean the economic liberalism of Margaret Thatcher (although I’m not keen on that either. Her foreign policies, yes. Her domestic agenda, no.) I mean the totalitarian political correctness and acquired victimhood of the London pretend-left. Yes, that idiotic Thornberry woman and Harman and maybe Ed Miliband included. But that doesn’t quite negate Labour as a party for me. I

Thursday

Peter Jones

Demosthenes vs Michael Fallon

Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon’s claim that Ed Miliband, having practised on his brother, would also stab his country in the back by not renewing Trident has not gone down well. As a classicist, Mr Fallon should surely know there is a more effective rhetoric at hand. When an ancient Greek wanted to attack a political opponent, two particular angles were popular: whose interests does he have uppermost in his mind — his own or the city’s? And has he any track record of being useful, (or as we might say, ‘adding value’), to the city? Both angles were superbly marshalled by the Athenian statesman Demosthenes in 330

David Starkey

Diary – 16 April 2015

To the dentist. And for an extraction. I hadn’t had a tooth out in decades. But the twinges when I bit on a nut warned me that my problem molar — much abused by a badly fitted bridge in the 1970s — had finally given way. My usual dentist confirmed as much with a poke and an X-ray. Then came the surprise. ‘I’m going to hand you over now,’ he said. Having a tooth out has ceased to be a hazard of life to be borne and grinned at. Instead it’s become dental surgery. And it requires a specialist. Mine was a man with a mission. ‘My job is to

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 16 April 2015

Home Launching the Conservative party manifesto, David Cameron, the party leader, told voters he wanted to ‘turn the good news in our economy into a good life for you and your family’. The Tories promised: to eliminate the deficit by the end of the parliament; to provide 30 hours of free child care a week for working parents of three- and four-year-olds; to grant a right for housing association tenants to buy their properties; to increase the inheritance tax threshold for married couples from £650,000 to £1 million (paid for by nobbling tax allowances on pension contributions for those earning £150,000); to raise the threshold of the 40p rate to £50,000 by

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ed Miliband’s gamble paid off but the Scottish question still haunts him

Ed Miliband took a risk by turning up to this debate and until the last question it looked like it had definitely paid off. Miliband avoided conceding too much to the anti-austerity alliance to his left of Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood and parried Nigel Farage’s attacks on Labour pretty effectively. On Trident, he sounded statesmanlike as he explained why in an uncertain world, Britain needed to renew its nuclear deterrent. All the while, he got in regular attacks on David Cameron both for his record in government and not being at the debate. But the last question was about hung parliaments and it is this which caused

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Ed Miliband is taking part in tonight’s TV debate

Tonight Ed Miliband takes one of the big risks of the campaign. He debates with Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Leanne Wood and Natalie Bennett. All of these leaders will be aiming to score points off Miliband. Those close to the Labour leader give several reasons for why he is taking part tonight. They argue that he does well whenever he’s given the chance to speak to voters directly. But the main reason for Miliband’s doing this debate is the Scottish situation. Labour feared that without Miliband present, this debate would have turned into a clash between Sturgeon and Farage — which would have benefitted the SNP north of the border.

Steerpike Steerpike

Why Ed Balls doesn’t deserve to be compared to Gromit

Last week’s cover of the Spectator featured Ed Miliband and Ed Balls drawn in the style of Wallace and Gromit by Peter Brookes. However, the image of the shadow chancellor as Gromit the dog has caused concern for one reader: Balls is no Gromit Sir: Your front cover illustration depicting Ed Miliband and Ed Balls as Wallace and Gromit (11 April) is only partially justified. In the animated film, Gromit is a quick-thinking and highly resourceful companion who rescues Wallace from difficult situations. On the available evidence, Ed Balls does not fit that description. Frank Tomlin, Billericay, Essex Should Balls wish to make the case that he is a quick-thinker, Mr S advises

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour aide picks up Ed Miliband’s drink bill

Taking a break from preparing for tonight’s debate, Ed Miliband has been out about in Hornsey, north London. Trying to look normal by visiting Riley’s Cafe (with an entourage and security detail, just like all normal people), it looked like the Labour leader had dropped the first big election clanger of the campaign. Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick tweeted to say that Miliband had failed to pay for his coffee: It turns out Crick’s story was a bit frothy. Mr S understands that an aide picked up the tab to avoid an awkward row. Still, no word yet on whether Miliband’s coffee drinking skills rival his aptitude for eating bacon

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour MP suggests Ed Miliband is not speaking frankly about NHS spending

This morning Sir David Nicholson criticised Ed Miliband for failing to commit an extra £8 billion a year towards the NHS. The former head of the NHS said that Labour needed to follow the example of the Tories and Lib Dems by signing up to the pledge. Now, Frank Field, the Labour MP, has come out in response. However, rather than rush to Miliband’s defence, he has claimed that each main party leader, including Ed Miliband, is not being frank about NHS spending. Field says in a press statement that it will only be after the election that Labour, along with the other major parties, will be able to seriously discuss their plans for the

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 21 days to go

Now that all the manifestos are in the public domain, we are back onto more conventional campaign territory. The big event of today is at 8pm this evening, when the ‘opposition leaders’ will debate each other on the BBC in the final televised debate before polling day. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Here come the insurgents Tonight’s TV debate represents an opportunity for the smaller political parties to give Ed Miliband a good kicking. Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood will all relish the chance to turn on Miliband — the

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: the rise of left wing populism and Julie Burchill vs. Katie Hopkins

What do Ed Miliband, Hillary Clinton and Nicola Sturgeon have in common? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Jamie Kirchick, Fraser Nelson and Alex Massie discuss the rise of left-wing populism in Britain, Scotland and America. How has Ed Miliband managed to harness the anger of mob to build-up momentum in the general election campaign? It’s a similar situation in Scotland, where the SNP has harnessed this angry mob to make it a one-party country. Across the Atlantic, Hillary Clinton has kicked off her 2016 presidential bid with a newfound populist side — is this at all credible? And will these stance eventually put all the three leaders into power? Julie Burchill and Katie Hopkins also go head-to-head on whether

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Mob rules

A spectre is haunting Europe — and knocking on the door of Downing Street. It has installed a president in France and a mayor in New York. It is causing mayhem in Spain and Greece and insurgency in Scotland and it may yet halt Hillary Clinton’s march to the White House. This idea — left-wing populism — is a radical, coherent and modern response to the financial crisis and the hardship suffered since. It is being effectively harnessed by Ed Miliband, taking him within touching distance of victory. And it may well become the creed that guides the next five years of British government. The Labour manifesto that was published

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron must show he’s not too posh to push

At 5.45 a.m. Lynton Crosby holds the first meeting of the day at Conservative campaign HQ. The aim is to work out what threats need to be neutralised that day and what opportunities should be capitalised upon. The early start isn’t macho posturing but a reflection of the modern media environment. The news now moves at such pace that a lie can go all the way round the worldwide web before the truth even has its boots on. The political weather is rarely more changeable than in a close election campaign. In this environment, the trick is to work out what actually matters: what might determine the election. But after

Robert Philpot

Jews against Miliband

When he was seven, Ed Miliband was taken to visit his grandmother in Tel Aviv. Pointing to a black-and-white photograph in her home, young Ed demanded to know who ‘that man in the picture’ was. He was told the man, David, was his grandfather and had died in Poland many years before he was born. Only years later did Miliband realise that his grandfather had been murdered by the Nazis for being Jewish. Miliband’s parents only narrowly escaped a similar fate: fleeing Belgium as the German armies overran it in 1940, his 16-year-old father caught the last boat from Ostend to Britain. In Poland, his mother — together with her sister

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Did the £20 million Norwegian’s pay row make BG cheaper for Shell?

Helge Lund was widely expected to go into domestic politics when he ended his successful tenure as head of Statoil, the Norwegian state oil and gas company. Instead, he was hired to run BG Group, the troubled former exploration arm of British Gas, but on a promise of such ludicrously rich terms — up to ten times his Statoil salary — that shareholders, the media and Vince Cable howled in protest. An embarrassed BG board had to scale back the offer, though it remained pretty fat and as I wrote at the time, ‘no mention of Lund, however good he turns out to be, will ever omit a jibe at