Should Ed Milliband Resign?

[William of Walworth]

It is the middle classes that will decide whether Miliband gets Number 10.
Labour has been distancing itself from workers, the poor and the unions since 1979. By not supporting the strikes from the late 70s onward, by letting the local Labour groups in the communities go to seed and denying local Labour Party members the chance to choose their own candidates, not repealing the anti trade union laws and generally trying to carry out Thatcherite type policies. Miliband is leader, it would be ridiculous at this time for him to resign. People where I work including ex miners and union members are seriously considering and some may have already voted for UKIP. That's how shot the system and political landscape is. No matter who is in charge the millionaire funded media will tell the public who to vote for and like lambs they will continue albeit with smaller turnouts to isolation from Europe and social devastation at home.

I agree with a lot of that as an analysis, and I believe what you say, but I just don't really grasp how any committed union person can even consider voting UKIP. It's a massive shoot yourself in the foot of a protest surely -- Farage is as pro-corporate as the rest of them.

They's be better off not voting/spoiling the vote/voting for a fringe-left party for all the good it would do. UKIP! Fucks sake ....

 

[not-bono-ever]

DC got a 1st didn't he? I think the Telegraph once emphatically assured me that he was a very good student.

both got 1sts, EB was the 4th best ever apparently

 

[Awesome Wells]

He's not going to resign, not at this point. all this is going to do is show yet again labour scurrying around like frightened mice, played like suckers by the right wing press.

 

[marty21]

Too late for a new leader, a divisive leadership campaign 6 months before the big one is a bad idea.

 

[prunus]

One of the few things less credible than Ed milliband is the Labour party managing to elect a new leader inside the next 6 months

Basically this.

He's crap, but no he shouldn't resign.

 

[butchersapron]

They've been played into a cowardly corner by the polls. It looked for a long time like all they had to do was sit tight and keep quiet and the election would fall into their laps via Lib-dem voters going over to Labour and tory voters going over to UKIP. Even a pathetic vote of 34-35% would have given them a working majority. But that suddenly doesn't look so likely and some of them are panicking.

Some of them? Bollocks. It;'s the right wing internal bloc allying with the seat sniffing papers.

Every time the polls tighten they jump on it and it requires people like you to say but there are questions to push the bike over.

 

[butchersapron]

What kills parties electorally?

Fucking pathetic.

 

[coley]

I agree with a lot of that as an analysis, and I believe what you say, but I just don't really grasp how any committed union person can even consider voting UKIP. It's a massive shoot yourself in the foot of a protest surely -- Farage is as pro-corporate as the rest of them.

They's be better off not voting/spoiling the vote/voting for a fringe-left party for all the good it would do. UKIP! Fucks sake ....

Sorry but sprockets post is about 95% spot on, there aren't many 'committed union activists' around these days.

 

[butchersapron]

Sorry but sprockets post is about 95% spot on, there aren't many 'committed union activists' around these days.

There's tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

denying local Labour Party members the chance to choose their own candidates, .

Local Labour party members do mostly choose their own candidates, certainly for local and general elections.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

Sorry but sprockets post is about 95% spot on, there aren't many 'committed union activists' around these days.

There are at least 100,000.

The vast majority are Labour voters as well, and a number are Labour party members - For example probably about half Labour councillors are proper union activists as well.

ETA: which is not to deny a number of union activists are going UKIP or indeed that a number are Tories and always have been

 

[skyscraper101]

He's a humourless PR robot surrounded by other PR robot dicks like Douglas Alexander and Andy Burnham and being constantly hen-pecked by self-righteous elders like Harriet Harman. Anyone with any sense will keep their distance from his inner circle until they can elect someone who can actually lead a party. He'll be lucky to win by a small margin in the next election and if he does he'll be instantly made to look weaker than John Major in the dying days of his leadership.

 

[butchersapron]

Hen-pecked. Jesus christ.

What political world do some of you live in that you can be led so easily?

 

[SpackleFrog]

Local Labour party members do mostly choose their own candidates, certainly for local and general elections.

Do they?

 

[Grandma Death]

He should resign but too little too late. Who would want to step into his shoes 6 months away from a GE. Milliband is a muppet-he simply isnt convincing at all.

 

[butchersapron]

Lots of individual reactions here. But not much political reasoning.

 

[brogdale]

Who would want to step into his shoes 6 months away from a GE.

You saying amongst the other 256 there's no other psychopath ?

 

[SpackleFrog]

I suppose one option would be for someone to take over and then if they lose the election say its all Millibands fault, be LotO for 5 years and hope for economic recovery.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

Do they?

Yes

 

[Looby]

Sorry but sprockets post is about 95% spot on, there aren't many 'committed union activists' around these days.

Horseshit.

 

[coley]

Horseshit.

No it's not though I should mebbes have qualified it with "compared with the 70s or 80s
They have closed all of the heavy industry around here over the last few years with very little in the way of active resistance, mebbes different in your part of the world?

 

[butchersapron]

No it's not though I should mebbes have qualified it with "compared with the 70s or 80s
They have closed all of the heavy industry around here over the last few years with very little in the way of active resistance, mebbes different in your part of the world?

Heavy industry is all that you can see?

 

[coley]

Heavy industry is all that you can see?

It was the most visible,however union activism and political activity around here seems to be at its lowest point that I can ever remember.

 

[Looby]

No it's not though I should mebbes have qualified it with "compared with the 70s or 80s
They have closed all of the heavy industry around here over the last few years with very little in the way of active resistance, mebbes different in your part of the world?

Maybe you should have qualified it. It's still wrong though, the industries might be different but the activists are still there. Thousands and thousands of them. Yes it's a very different political environment and in the civil service, industrial relations are pretty poor.

Anti Union laws and union leaders/TUC that seem unwilling or unable to act are fucking us up. There is also a problem with apathy amongst members in some areas (like mine) but I know Union branches in the north of England that are consistently getting 95-100% turnout on strikes and those members are ready to do more and are really fucking angry. I know activists that never get a day off and are making themselves ill. Reps are facing the sack for being activists, reps that are targeted and threatened by the far right for their anti-fascist activity.

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

I know reps across the country who are slogging their guts out for their members - and putting their shoulders to the wheel in Labour as well.

 

[nino_savatte]

Miliband isn't going anywhere; it's all too late for that (as others have said).

But do the Tories who are behind this story really think Cameron is some kind of political genius? Fuck's sake, the man's a bully and a total moron. He won't even answer questions at PMQs. He's also as superficial as fuck. There really is no substance to him. This Tory media campaign could easily backfire.

 

[Grandma Death]

Miliband isn't going anywhere; it's all too late for that (as others have said).

But do the Tories who are behind this story really think Cameron is some kind of political genius? Fuck's sake, the man's a bully and a total moron. He won't even answer questions at PMQs. He's also as superficial as fuck. There really is no substance to him. This Tory media campaign could easily backfire.

The way the media is banging on about Millibands standings in the pools seems disingenuous giving the standing of Clegg and Cameron in the polls. Labour are actually doing better as a party in the polls.

 

[Dogsauce]

Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis...

 

[co-op]

Every time the polls tighten they jump on it and it requires people like you to say but there are questions to push the bike over.

Nope, read it three times, not got a clue what you're on about.

 

[skyscraper101]

Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis Cost of living crisis...

get round the negotiating table, put away the rhetoric, these strikes are wrong, negotiations still going on, get round the negotiating table, put away the rhetoric, these strikes are wrong, negotiations still going on, get round the negotiating table, put away the rhetoric, these strikes are wrong, negotiations still going on... malfunction, malfunction, malfunction!



what a fucking tool