By Steven George-Hilley, Parliament Street
Labour HQ has been on autopilot this summer, missing every single opportunity to fill the news vacuum with exciting and engaging stories to help persuade voters they are ready for Government once again. This is bizarre behaviour from a man who is supposed to be seeking to convince the country he is ready to be our next Prime Minister, with a would-be Cabinet in waiting to change Britain for the better. Mr Miliband brushes off his sleepy performance over the past few weeks by claiming he’s working hard on his speech for Labour conference. A comical excuse that ignores the fact the Conservatives have snapped up Lynton Crosby and Jim Messina, Obama’s election strategist, whilst Labour haven’t a clue who will run the campaign.
I hear rumours that Miliband’s press operation is dubbed ‘the crèche’ due to its amateur and reactionary staff currently on duty. This is after all a Miliband media team that agreed to send Chris Bryant onto the Today Programme to be interviewed about a speech which he hadn’t given yet and mistook Essex for Kent in the press release. Can we get the basics right?
Likewise, the Conservatives have had Ed Miliband dancing to their tune over Falkirk row – a local and reasonably isolated issue that wasn’t ever going to be as a big a story as it appeared. All it took was David Cameron to reference the Unite Union during all of his responses at Prime Ministers Questions and sure enough, a shaky Ed Miliband took the bait. I would imagine Conservative strategists couldn’t believe their luck when a few Unite Union comments from Cameron triggered Ed Miliband to renegotiate his party’s entire national relationship with the trade unions, costing him millions in donations and members.
One of Ed Miliband’s many other problems is that he doesn’t look like a Prime Minister, he doesn’t act like a Prime Minister, in fact, he doesn’t particularly sound like he wants to become Prime Minister. His delivery of message during Prime Ministers Questions has all the gravitas of a spotty sixth former at the school debating society arguing theoretically, academically and without passion. Worse still, his team around him can’t even be credited with being cardboard cut outs, as we don’t know who they are, what they do or what they think. The only person anyone seems to recognise in Red Ed’s team is that sinister specimen Ed Balls, who conjures up images of Dr Evil plotting his next move. Contrast these faceless figures against Blunkett, Reid, Straw and co. – yes they had an elevated profile and they weren’t my favourite politicians, but at least you knew damn well know who they were.
Labour have changed their economic strategy, they are flip-flopping on welfare and are showing a soft approach to immigration and crime. Nobody knows who their shadow cabinet is or what they do. A stark contrast against Hague, Gove, May, IDS, Grayling and a whole host of other Ministers at the absolute top of their game and making genuine progress for the country.
Labour’s alternative is lacklustre, uninspiring and wrong for Britain. As Conservative delegates prepare to head to Manchester this year they should do so with some fire in the belly and a genuine hunger to deliver a majority that our country so desperately needs.
