The leader of the opposition Labour party, Ed Miliband, is in serious trouble.
He has only been at the helm for nearly nine months, yet already the consensus from many political commentators to the general public see him as extremely ineffectual. Despite the constant policy changes from the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government, he hasn’t been able to land any real punches on neither David Cameron nor Nick Clegg at Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament.
When asked what he would do on the key problems such as the public sector strikes, the situation in Libya, or his relationship with his brother and former cabinet minister David, he is often lost, searching for answers.
Under Miliband as leader, Labour’s record so far has been mixed. In the May elections, although the party gained hundreds of council seats, mainly in the northern urban areas of England, they lost heavily in Scotland as the SNP won overall control of the nation’s parliament. He half-heartedly backed the Alternative Vote referendum campaign, even though electoral reform was not seen as a serious issue. More people continued to back the present government because many thought the problems in the country were created by his party, which is true.
Miliband has a lot of problems inside his party. His shadow cabinet is often stuffed with MPs both most commentators and the public have never even heard of. How many people can name a member of the shadow cabinet? I can’t even remember Miliband’s own name. Many people have criticised the party’s lack of passion when commenting on the government’s policies. There is also of course, the factional infighting which the party is infamous for.
There a lot of things on Miliband’s in-tray right now. The first thing he needs to do, which to my mind he did very little of, is to acknowledge that the record of the previous government, which was in power for thirteen years, was a failure, and had achieved virtually very little. The second is how he would change foreign policy in light of the problems of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the wider Middle East. The third is the problem of population control- we need to know how he would tackle mass immigration into the country, particularly of those from non-European Union countries. The fourth is a typical achilles heel for the party- personal taxation- at a time when ordinary people are being taxed to the hilt, the richest in society continue to put their cash out of reach, which is completely legal, and denying our public services much-needed access to funds to help the most vulnerable in society. Fifth, there’s the economy- the party’s record for competence on this issue has taken a battering during the credit crunch crisis. Sixth, is the issue of law and order- many people feel that punishment doesn’t often fit the crime, and the criminal justice system is perceived to be a complete mess.
In spite of the problems facing the country right now, Miliband simply doesn’t seem to have a clue about what to do. But don’t take my word for it- many of his own members and MPs don’t know what is going on either. Meanwhile, the government is quietly changing the electoral system, which may mean the reduction in the number of MPs, affecting Labour more than the other parties. In 2015, without clear principles and a clear narrative, Miliband, and Labour, could face falling further behind in terms of public support.