Miliband blasted by Crudas

LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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‘Dead-hand’ Miliband blasted by top adviser

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1428253.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_06_28
ED MILIBAND’S policy chief has launched a coded attack on the Labour leader for creating “cynical” policies designed only to “chime with focus groups”.

Jon Cruddas accused Miliband’s inner circle of wielding a “profound dead hand at the centre” to stop the party adopting bold policies.

He attacked Labour’s plans to cut jobseeker’s allowance from those aged 18 to 21 unless they undergo training as “punitive” and suggested welfare cuts had been adopted only to placate the media and floating voters.

When your own policy chief accuses you of being "cynical" you really do have problems

Comments

  • Jayceef1Jayceef1 Posts: 3,515
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    LostFool wrote: »
    ‘Dead-hand’ Miliband blasted by top adviser

    http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1428253.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_06_28



    When your own policy chief accuses you of being "cynical" you really do have problems

    Miliband's trying to be all things to all men and ends up being nothing to anybody
  • HowardessexHowardessex Posts: 2,072
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    Jayceef1 wrote: »
    Miliband's trying to be all things to all men and ends up being nothing to anybody

    He has succeeded in being a geek and weird though .
  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    He's not going to win an election with a manifesto stuffed full of unpopular policies.

    So......
  • barrcode88barrcode88 Posts: 6,849
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    The Times out for Miliband, derrrrrrrp, as Arrow said above, why adopt unpopular policies?
  • Jol44Jol44 Posts: 21,048
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    Policy chief questions and discusses policies shocker.
  • Jol44Jol44 Posts: 21,048
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    One policy that clearly isn't working is the right wing one to use every single bit of scraps to rubbish Miliband.

    The guy can't score any lower in the popularity stakes and the Tories still look nowhere near in a million years of getting a majority.
  • karapote monkeykarapote monkey Posts: 3,688
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    I like John Cruddas, he is alright. I wish I had him as my local mp like I used to instead of Margaret Hodge. He sees constituants unlike her, who instead uses work experience minions and does nothing to help you. I feel she is awfully lazy in that department. John has a surgery every couple of weeks where as Margaret doesn't have one at all.
  • radio4extracrapradio4extracrap Posts: 2,933
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    I like John Cruddas, he is alright. I wish I had him as my local mp like I used to instead of Margaret Hodge. He sees constituants unlike her, who instead uses work experience minions and does nothing to help you. I feel she is awfully lazy in that department. John has a surgery every couple of weeks where as Margaret doesn't have one at all.

    This ▲▲▲
  • jenziejenzie Posts: 20,821
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    so

    the POLICY chief is complaining about the POLICIES .....

    hmm
  • LyricalisLyricalis Posts: 57,958
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    If I didn't know the name of the person he was criticising, I'd think he was talking about any recent PM or opponent from the larger parties. Hence the main reason for much of the apathy amongst potential voters.

    Not exactly inspiring when the country is run by managers rather than leaders.
  • Sniffle774Sniffle774 Posts: 20,290
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    creating “cynical” policies designed only to “chime with focus groups”.

    Isn't that most parties seem to operate these days ?
  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    Sniffle774 wrote: »
    Isn't that most parties seem to operate these days ?

    Yes, none of them implement policies that are required by the economic situation.

    At best they only create bitty policies that create more problems than they solve.

    What irks me most about parliament is the fact that they introduce laws at all, they have to, its what parliament does. Yet every new law restricts freedom a little more.
  • LandisLandis Posts: 14,849
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    Is this a story?
    What is it doing on the front page of the Sunday Times?

    I think we can assume that after trawling through hours of tape of the the left wing think tank meeting, this is the worst they can find - Cruddas saying the same in private as he said in public in his New Statesman interview last week:
    Cruddas is not certain that his vision will survive contact with Labour’s political machine, speaking of “tripwires”, “cross-currents” and “tensions”. He identifies the “essential conservatism” of organisations and the party’s “centralised” and even “authoritarian” tendencies as the main obstacles to change. “Have we got the political agility and the game to mainline it into our formal policy offer and the architecture of the party?
    And, with admirable modesty, the doctor of philosophy adds, “It’s up to the clever people to work out the campaign.”


    Translation - not everything in the Condition of Britain Report will make the Manifesto.

    http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/06/jon-cruddas-gramsci-westminster
  • StykerStyker Posts: 49,542
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    I don't think that was dissing him at all. Its just the right wing media so desperate in not wanting to see Labour win, try and come out with any old clap trap to try and brainwash us on.

    Cruddas is a former Tony Blair advisor don't forget but he too realises that Labour needs to redress the balance for its real voters who got shafted by the Blarities while they were falling over themselves to please Tory swing voters. SIMPLE STUFF to read/see through!
  • tony321tony321 Posts: 10,594
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    News Int. sticking the knife in, more they, the Mail, Express etc do it the more worried they must be about Labour winning the election.

    No matter what Cameron and his supporters do they cannot overhaul Labour in the polls key alone get a lead to get them a majority.

    I expect more mud slinging and personal attacks as the election nears
  • gummy mummygummy mummy Posts: 26,600
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    According to ITV he was recorded calling Labours announcement to cut JSA for 18 - 21 punative.

    A recording of the head of the party's policy review made at a meeting of the left-wing Compass group captured him attacking recently announced Labour plans to cut Jobseeker's Allowance for 18 to 21 year olds as "punitive".

    http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-29/policy-chief-blasts-milibands-cynical-reforms/

    Has the Sunday Times (not unexpectedly) turned it into something else.?

    ITV also report on what Ed Balls has to say about it
    The shadow chancellor told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "I talked to Jon a couple of days ago and he's not frustrated, he's excited about his policy agenda.

    "He's frustrated by the way in which one report of 250 pages gets reduced down to one headline."

    He added: "Jon Cruddas, with me and Ed and others, has been working for years on big reforms, they're going to come out in the next few months, people will see the policy review he has led has been a big deal."

    http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-06-29/jon-cruddas-labour-policy/#ed-balls-jon-cruddas-excited-by-labour-reforms_377714

    For me the only way to get to the truth is to interview Cruddas himself and hear what he has to say.
  • InspirationInspiration Posts: 62,694
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    It was all caught on tape:

    http://order-order.com/2014/06/29/listen-dead-hand-ed-candid-cruddas-concedes-central-cynicism-to-compass/

    I suppose the fear for Labour will be that the election is fought at the local level by candidates and grass roots groups who simply don't have any clear message or permission to go out and fight at a particular level because everything has to pass through the camp in Westminster which acts as a paralysis by trying to win the GE with sound bites, media friendly messages and simple policies at a Westminster level.

    And if someone as important and high up as Cruddas is thinking that... what is everyone else thinking. These people have to knock on doors.. make phone calls etc. If they feel they're being gagged by a "dead hand" approach from Westminster.. that's not a good recipe for election victory.. it's a recipe for election disaster. It will all come down to which party has the clearest message and which party can go out and win the votes. If Ed and his team aren't ensuring the grass roots Labour people have a clear message and freedom to express it.. they're in trouble.
  • gummy mummygummy mummy Posts: 26,600
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    It was all caught on tape:

    http://order-order.com/2014/06/29/listen-dead-hand-ed-candid-cruddas-concedes-central-cynicism-to-compass/

    I suppose the fear for Labour will be that the election is fought at the local level by candidates and grass roots groups who simply don't have any clear message or permission to go out and fight at a particular level because everything has to pass through the camp in Westminster which acts as a paralysis by trying to win the GE with sound bites, media friendly messages and simple policies at a Westminster level.

    And if someone as important and high up as Cruddas is thinking that... what is everyone else thinking. These people have to knock on doors.. make phone calls etc. If they feel they're being gagged by a "dead hand" approach from Westminster.. that's not a good recipe for election victory.. it's a recipe for election disaster. It will all come down to which party has the clearest message and which party can go out and win the votes. If Ed and his team aren't ensuring the grass roots Labour people have a clear message and freedom to express it.. they're in trouble.

    Maybe someone should interview Cruddas and get him to explain his thinking behind these comments that apparently different media sources,including Sky News who have also managed to obtain the recording.

    The critical comments by Jon Cruddas were made at a meeting of a left-wing think tank. A recording of the comments has been obtained by Sky News.



    http://news.sky.com/story/1291420/policy-chief-hits-out-at-milibands-leadership


    Maybe there should also be an investigation into how all these different media sources obtained this recording.
  • northantsgirlnorthantsgirl Posts: 4,663
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    Yes the Sunday Times has a very anti-Miliband agenda. Bearing in mind the nonsense the editor used to spout when he was a columnist in it is a hardly a shock though.
  • JillyJilly Posts: 20,455
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    [QUOTE=Jol44;73415795]One policy that clearly isn't working is the right wing one to use every single bit of scraps to rubbish Miliband.

    The guy can't score any lower in the popularity stakes and the Tories still look nowhere near in a million years of getting a majority.[/QUOTE]

    Oh dear it's what you do with every scrap bit of news against the Conservatives.:confused:
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    Owen Jones runs to the defence of Cruddas' complaints about a "dead hand" and it's name id Ed Balls:
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/29/ed-balls-blocking-labour-bold-policies
  • flagpoleflagpole Posts: 44,641
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    LostFool wrote: »
    Owen Jones runs to the defence of Cruddas' complaints about a "dead hand" and it's name id Ed Balls:
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/29/ed-balls-blocking-labour-bold-policies

    I do not like owen jones.

    but you have to laugh:
    Some policies are so wretchedly gimmicky, so blatant in their cynical political positioning, so insulting to the intelligence of the average punter, that it is tempting to drive to the nearest field and howl at the sky in exasperation. To mark Armed Forces Day, Labour trumpeted its plans to make it a "specific criminal offence to assault a member of the armed forces". As most of you are probably aware, it is already against the law to assault a soldier, or indeed anyone. Existing sentencing guidelines take into account aggravating factors. Why assaulting a teacher, nurse or firefighter is not made a specific criminal offence is left unexplained.

    How do labour come up with policy now. is it literally the media team sitting down in the morning and brainstorming?
  • solenoidsolenoid Posts: 15,495
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    I saw this story on the BBC news website.

    Nah only kidding.
  • paulschapmanpaulschapman Posts: 35,536
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    flagpole wrote: »
    How do labour come up with policy now. is it literally the media team sitting down in the morning and brainstorming?

    In order to come up with coherent policies - you have to stand for something, and to be perfectly honest I have no idea what the modern Labour Party actually stands for. As some have suggested if the Unions want a party which will represent the worker then perhaps they should form it - of course they did that 114 years ago and look where it got them - New (No, we dropped the New, it is a toxic brand) Labour.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    In order to come up with coherent policies - you have to stand for something, and to be perfectly honest I have no idea what the modern Labour Party actually stands for. As some have suggested if the Unions want a party which will represent the worker then perhaps they should form it - of course they did that 114 years ago and look where it got them - New (No, we dropped the New, it is a toxic brand) Labour.

    The Unions don't represent the workers just their own vested interests. How are they standing up for the workers when they stop people getting to work to earn some money, going away on a well deserved holiday or deny their children a day's education?
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