Ed Miliband Savaged in Phone-in
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has been savaged in a radio phone-in, with callers telling him he is not up to the job and will never be prime minister.


Mr Miliband faced several personal attacks from callers to BBC Radio Five Live. He also endured the embarrassment of a caller mistaking him for his brother, David.

Despite opinion polls putting his party neck-and-neck with the Conservatives, the Labour leader has faced persistent questions about his performance since defeating his brother to take the leadership in 2010.

His appearance on the Victoria Derbyshire show today was meant to highlight his call for greater pride in British goods and manufacturers.

However, it rapidly became a litmus test of his personal appeal, as several callers strongly criticised his performance and abilities.

One caller told Mr Miliband he was “a laughing stock” who could not win the next general election. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Listen to BBC Radio Five Live programme here

Blair Returns with Plea for Labour to Be Pro-business
LONDON EVENING STANDARD: Tony Blair has made a return to British politics by giving private briefings to Labour MPs on the need to be pro- business.

After five years focusing on the Middle East and Africa, the former prime minister is said to be interested in shaping Labour's future thinking. Speaking at one meeting with seven Labour MPs, he said the party must fight from the centre ground and be seen as pro-businesss to be taken seriously. » | Joe Murphy, Political Editor | Monday, February 13, 2012

Tony Blair is like one of those bad pennies – it just keeps turning up! – © Mark

Ed Miliband 'Has No Strategy as Leader’

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ed Miliband has shown “no strategy, no narrative and little energy” as Labour leader and failed to “break through” with voters, one of his closest political allies has said.

Lord Glasman, a political theorist who has advised Mr Miliband, passed a damning verdict on his performance as Labour leader, saying he is losing the argument with the Coalition on the economy.

The peer said Labour was in thrall to “old faces” from Gordon Brown’s era committed to the former prime minister’s economic policies.

“On the face of it, these look like bad times for Labour and for Ed Miliband’s leadership,” Lord Glasman said. “There seems to be no strategy, no narrative and little energy. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Labour Party Conference 2011: Ed Miliband Pledges 'New Bargain'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Labour will offer a "new bargain" to the people of Britain to end the "fast buck" culture of the last 30 years and reshape society so that hard work and responsibility are rewarded, the party's leader Ed Miliband said today.


In his keynote speech to Labour's conference in Liverpool, Mr Miliband said he wanted to become Prime Minister so he can "write a new chapter in our country's history".

Launching a scathing attack on "unjustified rewards" at the top of companies, asset-stripping "predators" in business and bankers who profited even as their mistakes caused economic meltdown, Mr Miliband said that a Labour government would use tax breaks, regulation and contracts to reward firms which contribute to their community.

And he said he was determined to reform the welfare system to ensure that it pays to work, to end "cosy cartels" which set top pay, break up the "rigged market" which allows energy companies to charge high prices and rebalance Britain's economy away from the reliance on financial services and towards production and manufacturing.

Against the backdrop of opinion polls suggesting voters do not see him as a potential prime minister, Mr Miliband sought to shake off the legacy of the last two Labour leaders to hold power, telling the conference: "I'm not Tony Blair. I'm not Gordon Brown either... I'm my own man and I'm going to do things my own way."

And he declared that he was ready to take risks to break away from the "something for nothing" culture which has taken root in Britain over the past three decades and created a "quiet crisis" where those who do the right thing no longer believe they will be rewarded for it. Read on and comment » | Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Labour 'Got It Wrong' on Immigration, Says Ed Miliband

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Labour “got it wrong” by introducing an immigration policy which allowed hundreds of thousands of foreigners to move to Britain, Ed Miliband admitted today.

The Labour leader insisted that the party had not set out to mislead the public over immigration but that the party’s policies had “effects on people right up and down the country” and that not enough was done to protect British workers.

Mr Miliband made the admission in an interview on the first day of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool during which the party is under pressure to admit to mistakes made during its time in Government.

In the interview, the Labour leader also refused to criticise trade unions for threatening to strike in a dispute over pension reform.

Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, was recorded during the last election campaign criticising a pensioner expressing concern over immigration – an incident which is credited with characterising how Labour fell out of touch with the concerns of its supporters.

Yesterday, Mr Miliband was asked if he accepted that Labour had “lied” over the impact of its immigration policies.

“I don’t agree that we lied but I do agree that we got it wrong. I think we underestimated the level of immigration from Poland, which had a big effect on people,” he said[.]

In another interview, he said: “I think we did introduce, we did allow the entry of Poland into the free movement of labour too quickly, and that clearly had effects on people right up and down the country. We’ve clearly got to learn those lessons for the future when it comes to future accession…if you have a more open economy in Europe, you’ve got to put in the right protection for people, for workers.”

The previous Labour Government allowed virtually unchecked immigration from eastern Europe to Britain. » | Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor | Sunday, September 25, 2011

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: The Labour Government ‘Covered Up’ on Immigration »

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Ed Miliband Won’t Call People Who Defraud the Welfare System ‘Cheats’ »

Related »

Labour’s Embarrassing Immigration Secrets Revealed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Reports kept under wraps by Labour showing that immigrants who came to Britain from Romania and Bulgaria had low education levels and were more likely to claim out-of-work benefits are to be released for the first time by ministers.

The figures are contained in five separate controversial studies commissioned by the last Labour government but never published - amid claims the party wanted to avoid a damaging row about its record before last year’s general election.

Ministers accused Labour of a “disturbing cover up” and promised to publish the reports - which cost the taxpayer a total of £165,000 and have now been seen by The Sunday Telegraph - in full within days.

The documents also contain revelations that immigrants from all countries into Britain are more likely to be out of work than the native population - and are less likely to engage in any form of “civic participation.”

More than one third of London’s population, moreover, has now been born outside the UK. » | Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, September 24, 2011

Labour Apologises After Peer Insults 'Bloody Denmark'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Labour was forced to apologise after its former security minister Lord West branded Denmark and Belgium second-rate countries.

Lord West, formerly First Sea Lord, said the UK was still a first-rate military power, "not like bloody Denmark or Belgium".

His comments came as Labour delivered the findings of a 10-month review into defence procurement, aimed at getting better value for money from buying equipment for the UK's armed forces.

Speaking in a question and answer session with 100 journalists and guests from the defence industry at Labour headquarters in central London, Lord West said: "This business of a second-tier power - we are probably, depending on what figures you use, the fifth or sixth wealthiest nation in the world.

"We have the largest percentage of our GDP on exports, apart from the tiny countries around the world, we run world shipping from the UK, we are the largest European investor in south Asia, south east Asia (and) the Pacific Rim, so our money and our wealth depends on this global scene.

"We are a permanent member of the (United Nations) Security Council and I think that gives us certain clout and certain ability.

"These mean we are not a second-tier power. We are not bloody Denmark or Belgium, and if we try to become that, I think we would be worse-off as a result. » | Thursday, September 22, 2011

Labour Attacks Nick Clegg Over Social Mobility Plan
BBC: Nick Clegg has come under fire over his plan to improve social mobility, with Labour claiming it is "mission impossible" with him at the helm.

In an angry Commons exchange, deputy leader Harriet Harman accused Mr Clegg of "betraying a generation of young people" by raising tuition fees.

But the deputy PM said Labour had failed to improve social mobility despite doubling public spending.

He said the coalition's "overriding mission" was to make society fairer.

The deputy prime minister faced questions in the Commons after unveiling the government's social mobility and child poverty strategies – entitled Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers.

He said he wanted to stop people getting on in life purely because of "who they know" and has announced that informal internships for young people in Whitehall would be banned.

"They should get an internship because of what they know," he told the BBC.

"It's not just because of someone who's met somebody at the tennis club or the golf club, who's whispered something into someone's ear and they've got an internship for their son or daughter." (+ video) » | Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Ed Miliband: I Would Raise Taxes Higher Than Gordon Brown
THE TELEGRAPH: Ed Miliband’s Labour Party will push for increases in taxation at a higher rate than that proposed by Gordon Brown at the last general election.

The new leader said that he wanted to do “more” from taxation, adding that plans by Alistair Darling, the former chancellor, to cut the deficit over four years were only a “starting point”.

Mr Miliband, who joined in the traditional singing of the Red Flag at the close of Labour conference, has hit out his characterisation as “Red Ed” after he defeated his brother for the party leadership with the support of the trade unions.

But in a break from the New Labour era, when Tony Blair’s ministers shied away from advocating tax rises, he made clear that he was unafraid of being labelled left-wing. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tony Blair’s Revenge on Gordon Brown Puts Labour on Brink of Civil War
THE TELEGRAPH: The ferocity of Tony Blair's attack on Gordon Brown threatens to plunge Labour into a fresh civil war and send the party into the electoral wilderness.

The revelations in Blair's book could cause civil war in the Labour Party. The Telegraph
Published on the day Labour members received their leadership ballot papers, the former prime minister's detailed and sustained criticism of Mr Brown in his memoir was greeted with dismay and astonishment by senior figures in the party.

They said it risked reopening the wounds that scarred the New Labour era and could be "very, very damaging" as the party tried to move on from a general election defeat.

Figures close to Mr Brown accused Mr Blair of being "delusional" and warned that the book could unleash a course of "mutual destruction" and dominate the current leadership election. >>> Andrew Porter, James Kirkup and Robert Winnett | Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Labour Party: Streit im Hause Miliband eskaliert
Bild: Die Presse
DIE PRESSE: Die Brüder David und Ed kämpfen immer verbissener um die Labour-Führung. Beide arbeiteten für Tony Blair und Gordon Brown. David hält bis heute an „New Labour“ fest, Ed sieht das anders.

LONDON. David und Ed Miliband sind auf dem Weg, die beiden Brüder mit dem schlechtesten öffentlichen Verhältnis seit Kain und Abel zu werden. Beide bewerben sich um die Führung der britischen Labour Party und je näher die Entscheidung rückt, desto erbitterter wird die Auseinandersetzung. Ex-Außenminister David, mit 45 Jahren der ältere der beiden Brüder, warf Bruder Ed, 40 Jahre jung und zuletzt Energieminister, vor, naiv zu sein und die Partei „in der Wohlfühlzone“ einzulullen.

Ed wies das umgehend zurück und warf David umgekehrt nicht nur „schlechtes Benehmen“ vor, sondern ein „Verharren in der Wohlfühlzone von New Labour“. Bei soviel Vorwürfen des Wohlfühlens ist es kein Wunder, dass sich mittlerweile keiner der beiden mehr richtig wohlfühlen kann. Der Bruderkampf der Milibands schadet nämlich dem Image beider Protagonisten und verhindert eine Auseinandersetzung mit ihren inhaltlichen Anliegen. >>> Axel Reiserer | Freitag, 27. August 2010

Heaven Forbid That We Should Ever Be Led by This Firebrand! John McDonnell Says He Would Like to 'Assassinate' Margaret Thatcher
THE TELEGRAPH: A candidate for the Labour leadership has said that he would like to go back in time and assassinate Margaret Thatcher.

John McDonnell drew loud applause from an audience of union members as he described himself as a victim of the former Conservative Prime Minister's policies. Having worked for the Greater London Council and National Union of Mineworkers, Mr McDonnell, MP for The Hayes and Harlington, said he would be glad to "go back to the 1980s and assassinate Thatcher".

Debating together for the first time at a hustings, five of the six MPs bidding to take over from Gordon Brown sought to appeal to the left wing tendencies of their audience. >>> | Monday, June 07, 2010

Ed Miliband Wins Crucial Backing from Neil Kinnock in Labour Leadership Race
THE OBSERVER: Party's influential elder statesman shuns favourite David Miliband, saying that his brother has greater leadership qualities

The race for the Labour leadership explodes into life today as the party's revered elder statesman and former leader, Neil Kinnock, shuns the favourite, David Miliband, and formally endorses his younger brother, Ed.

In an exclusive interview with the Observer Kinnock, who led Labour from 1983 to 1992, says Ed Miliband has all the vital gifts necessary to put the party back in power and possesses more leadership qualities than his brother. "I would say he has got the X-Factor, especially where the X is the sign you put on the voting slip at election time."

Asked directly if Ed is better suited to the job of Labour leader than David, Kinnock replies: "Yeah." While he insists that he admires and rates David "very highly", he adds: "In addition to his [David's] high intelligence I think the party needs leadership qualities, and Ed's got more of them."

The former party's leader's decision to go public is a serious setback to the former foreign secretary, who is seen by some in the party as lacking the common touch and to be too closely associated with the Tony Blair era. >>> Toby Helm, political editor | Sunday, May 23, 2010

Labour Party: Diane Abbott Enters Leadership Race

Analysis: Liberal Democrats Switch Support to Labour After Tory Coalition Deal
THE TELEGRAPH: The Liberal Democrats have clearly taken an electoral hit as a result of their decision to enter into a coalition with the Conservatives, writes John Curtice.

At 21 per cent, their share of voting intentions is down three points on what they secured in the ballot box just ten days ago.

Only around three-quarters of those who voted for the party on May 6th say that they would vote for them now. In contrast nearly everyone who voted Conservative or Labour would do so again.

Moreover, most of those who have defected from the Lib Dems have switched to Labour. This has helped push Labour up three points to 33 per cent, though the Conservatives have edged up a point to 38 per cent too.

Yet this result may still be greeted with some relief at Lib Dem headquarters. The party might have feared the electoral fallout from last week would have been much greater. The Lib Dems' current rating is still above what the party polled during most of the last parliament.

The Lib Dems will also be encouraged by the finding that the public might vote in favour of a switch to the Alternative Vote system in the proposed referendum, the key concession Nick Clegg obtained from David Cameron. As many as 56 per cent say they would back a switch. >>> John Curtice | Saturday, May 15, 2010

Ed Miliband to Throw Hat in Ring for Labour Leadership
THE TELEGRAPH: Ed Miliband is expected to announce on Saturday that he will challenge his older brother, David, for the leadership of the Labour Party.

Ed and David Miliband. Photo: The Telegraph
The shadow energy secretary, an ally of Gordon Brown, is thought to be planning to use a speech at a conference organised by the Fabian Society to set out his stall – and launch an attack on the former government's failure to reform the banking sector.

He will argue that Labour supporters should be proud of the party's achievements under Mr Brown, and will urge them not to react to the election loss by drifting to the Right on issues such as crime and immigration.

But, he will say, the party needs to be honest about why it fell from power, by having a "serious debate" about its values and reconnecting with those who were put off by issues such as the expenses scandal and the decision to go to war in Iraq.

And, in words that will be interpreted as an attack on the former prime minister and Lord Mandelson, the former business secretary, he will argue that Labour lost its "radical edge" by allowing bankers' pay to spiral.

"We lost touch with the lives of the people we represent," he will say. "We lost touch with the progressive ideals that characterised the earlier years of the government." >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Friday, May 14, 2010

David Cameron and Nick Clegg: A Special Relationship
THE TELEGRAPH: A week ago, as Britain prepared to go to the polls, it was a scene that few voters, let alone David Cameron and Nick Clegg, could ever have imagined.



But on Wednesday, in the sun-dappled Downing Street garden, the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties stood side by side to unveil formally the country’s first coalition government for 65 years.

The two men declared that they were now “colleagues not rivals”, repeatedly pledging to act “together” in a five-year partnership. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Miliband Speaks Out

David Miliband Odds On To Succeed Brown

Gordon Brown Clings On: A Bleak Day for British Democracy
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The Liberal Democrats are holding the country to ransom while an unelected leader of the Labour Party remains Prime Minister.

It is a measure of Gordon Brown’s loose grip on reality that he sought to depict his decision to stand down later this year as a noble act of self-sacrifice made in the national interest. The truth is that this was an act of quite staggering cynicism based on naked party advantage. With the incomprehensible connivance of Nick Clegg – whose reputation will surely never recover – Mr Brown is effectively seeking to nullify the result of last week’s general election. Blinded by his tribal loathing of the Conservatives, he is ready to risk everything – and we use that term advisedly – to keep David Cameron out of Downing Street.

This unelected leader of the Labour Party will remain Prime Minister, even though his party secured two million fewer votes and 48 fewer seats than the Tories. He will then hand over at a time of his choosing to a new Labour leader. At that point, the United Kingdom will find itself governed by a Labour prime minister the country has not elected, succeeding a Labour prime minister neither the country nor his party elected. Even by Labour’s standards, this is self-serving and unscrupulous. >>> | Monday, May 10, 2010