Ed Milliband
By common consent Cameron gave Ed a drubbing at PMQ’s today. Since returning from paternity leave Ed’s leadership has lost its shine. Labour is getting worried. All these policy reviews are fine, but they are to take two years. Two years? A week is a long time in politics. Two years is a generation.
Of course it makes sense to look at policy. Ed has already, correctly, declared a break with New Labour. The problem for him is he has not shifted gear from a leadership campaign to leadership itself. A campaign is about themes. Leadership is about decisions. It is not very bad for a leader to call for a review of policy without setting out what the policy should be. It is, after all, much more democratic. But it is not very good either. Leadership is about follow me, not where do you want to go?
Ed could start by getting to grips with the economy. Labour is outgunned at present on this. Blamed for everything, the profligate spending party which lost control. So far all we hear from the former party of government is spend more for longer. We have had Ireland now. People are no longing listening. What is needed is something new. Not focus group stuff but great wisdom from a great mind. Ed’s mind.
He could begin by exploring the positives of the current taxpayer (sounds so much more personal than state) ownership of bits of the banking system and the rail network and asking whether this idea might not be extended to energy, for instance. Not on the basis of bailing out loss makers, but on the basis of investing to earn profits to pay for public services. People hate the energy market. They know it is rigged and that they are in the hands of speculators when they turn on the gas. He could ask himself whether taxation is the smart way to pay for the NHS? Might compulsory insurance be cheaper and better?
Labour has to think out of the box and re-interpret socialism in a modern context. It has to do it now. Muck about for two years and Cameron and Clegg will be too far ahead to catch.