Why did Karen Buck win Westminster North? Why did Andy Slaughter win in Hammersmith? One striking feature of the Labour leadership contest so far is how a new more honest line on immigration is emerging. At the Fabian Society conference this morning, Ed Miliband declared that ‘immigration is a class issue’. Pointing out that, “If you want to employ a builder it’s good to have people you can take on at lower cost, but if you are a builder it feels like a threat to your livelihood. And we never had an answer for the people who were worried about it." In the Guardian,Ed Balls sounds a similar note. He tells... After today, there can be little doubt that Ed Miliband is running as the candidate of the soft left of the Labour party. He claimed that ‘the state can do... Representation in politics does matter. It... Foreign Secretary William Hague’s trip to the US set the right tone by calling the... But the similarities don't end there. The passage where Ed Balls argues in favour of "progressive universalism" – a welfare system which stretches to the middle classes – echoes an interview that Ed Miliband gave to...Saturday, 15th May 2010
A lesson for all new MPs
FRASER NELSON 5:20pm
Ed Miliband has given a surprisingly good speech this morning: free from all the junk language that his older brother has a weakness for. But he raises an interesting question:Why did Gisela Stuart win in Birmingham Edgbaston?
Might it have been because all three of these politicians were, at one point, thorns in the flesh of their government? That they all at times campaigned, on principle, against the Labour government? As I said...Labour leadership candidates move towards the Cruddas position on immigration
JAMES FORSYTH 4:47pmA contest that sets brother against brother
JAMES FORSYTH 3:03pm
Ed Miliband was on impressive form at the Fabian Society conference this morning. Early on, he defused the tension over the fact that he was running against his brother with a well-delivered joke about how, given her politics, he his mother would be voting for Jon Cruddas. Throughout he showed a real lightness of touch when addressing the brother against brother question.The equality dilemma
KATE MALTBY 2:50pm
Spare a thought for poor Theresa May. Judging by the reaction so far, she now faces the unenviable task of shouldering almost everyone’s preconceptions about Tory women in government – with Caroline Spelman, Baroness Warsi and the lower-profile Cheryl Gillan for back-up. She will no doubt continue to disappoint feminists and irritate reactionaries, and she will do so while responsible for the notoriously unwieldy Home Office, which has rapidly taken over from the Department of Health as the ministry where political careers go to die.Building on the coalition's good start
DANIEL KORSKI 1:01pm
A week in, and I am loving the Conservative-led government. The new line-up of Secretaries of State is very impressive and, though a few solid Tory politicians missed out on Cabinet posts, the inclusion of the Liberal Democrat bench has swelled the government’s talent quota. David Cameron has infused No 10 with energy and purpose. You can just feel the umpf. As the former MP John Gummer said, there is now “smile on the face of Britain”.Ed Balls follows Ed Miliband's lead
PETER HOSKIN 10:38am
So fraternal rivalry it is, then, as Ed Miliband prepares to announce his leadership bid at a Fabian Society conference today. And, reading his interview with the Guardian, it's clear that Ed Balls is soon going to follow suit. Two Eds, two leadership bids, and much shared rhetoric about "listening" to voters.
Sunday, 16 May 2010
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