The answer must be yes. Not least because to embark on the convoluted marathon which is Labour’s election process, in the run up to the General Election would be a suicide jump for the Party. Ed Milliband has done much to make Labour a very effective Opposition, as well has pulling the party together after its defeat in 2010. Is he a popular choice of Prime Minister- in- Waiting? Hardly. Can you imagine the BBC news running a clip about the Prime Minister with Ed in the frame? No. So is all lost? No again, but it will not be won by tinkering around with unemployment benefit.
Whether the announcement today about Labour’s plan is good or bad is neither here nor there. It will not add up to any significant swing one way or the other. What is needed is not tinkering with bits of the Welfare State, nor populist price freezes. What is needed is Labour’s BIG IDEA for change, social justice, and empowerment. In a country where the rich get richer at the expense of the poor and the middle class is squeezed for the first time for generations, there is need of a BIG NARRATIVE. So far Labour has just not delivered one. If Ed can come up with a clear clarion call that inspires and gives hope he will be Prime minister. If he comes up with a lot of fussy little recipes for changes at the margin he will be toast.