Comments on: Miliband calls for social responsibility at the top and bottom

By: Miliband: "Our ambition is to be more than a party; Labour must be a cause" | Left Foot Forward

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:02:40 +0000

[…] public in a speech to Labour activists in Wrexham today. Building on the momentum gained from his speech on responsibility last week, improved PMQs performances and the abolition of shadow cabinet elections, he will […]

By: East End Newham and the game-changer games | london News

East End Newham and the game-changer games | london News — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:06:01 +0000

[…] Ed Miliband mentioned Newham in his big speech in London last week, praising the borough for “looking at” giving some priority when allocating social […]

By: What will Labour’s London housing policies be? | london News

What will Labour’s London housing policies be? | london News — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:04:30 +0000

[…] first quote was from was Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour Party. The second was from Conservative Councillor Ravi Govindia, the new […]

By: East End Newham and the game-changer games | Great UK Blog – UK Finance, Technology, Business, Economy, Entertainment, Sports, Fashion

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:39:59 +0000

[…] Ed Miliband mentioned Newham in his big speech in London last week, praising the borough for “looking at” giving some priority when allocating social […]

By: Leon Wolfson

Leon Wolfson — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:05:29 +0000

Selohesra – Who will they vote for? If nobody will carry their torch, nobody. Because they won’t vote, with a few exceptions, for the libdems again, and if labour move themselves right…

Well, the greens will look good to many of them. (Not for me, since I fundamentally differ on energy and foreign policy, but they /are/ suitably left-wing…)

By: SoapboxL

SoapboxL — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:46:31 +0000

Labour supporter and Ed fan but I personally feel Ed got it wrong from top to bottom today.

He was wrong to highlight individual case. He should not be making personal criticisms.

I felt the speech was transparent and therefore lacked depth and meaning given it was simply designed with rhetoric to pander to people on one of the most talked about subjects in the media at this time, jumping onto the ‘undeserving poor’ bandwagon – because his polling is low.

And I don’t get it. Who was he appealing to? Those who vote Tory wont come to Labour based on a ‘get tough on benefits’ speech. And those who have left Labour wont come back based on a ‘get tough on benefits’ speech.

And what were the solutions to getting tough? A couple of suggestions on jumping the housing queue and helping young people on a Friday night! I don’t think Ed was even convinced these ideas would solve the problem of what is a far more complex situation… so how can the public? It was all a bit, well, wishy-washy, empty rhetoric because he felt he had to say something.. anything.

The reality is there will always be some people on benefits who could work. Governments will never be able to solve the problem completely. I’d like to see politicians being honest about it rather than coming out with the same old rhetoric

Rather than finding his voice, I feel Ed today has tried to look tough on the latest trending story.

By: On housing, while Ed has got it wrong, Boris has the answer | Left Foot Forward

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:38:51 +0000

[…] his speech on social responsibility today, Ed Miliband argued that low income working people and those doing voluntary work should be […]

By: Selohesra

Selohesra — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:04:17 +0000

Leon – will he really lose the core left vote? – who are they going to vote for instead. Its like Dave does not need to appeal to the true Tories – both realise they need to scrap over the waverers in the middle. I really dont think there is all that much difference between Ed & Dave C and get very annoyed with them trying to pretend there are fundemental differences between them.

By: Leon Wolfson

Leon Wolfson — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:55:16 +0000

“Anon” – I’m in work on a seasonal basis, more or less. I’m a university VL, which means 8 months of the year, plus short-term research work (It’s literally week-to-week during the summer if I’m working or not).

The current measures to fight fraud are quite effective. There doesn’t need to be this hate parade. While you always need a base level of discouragement, additional resources should be deployed where they will create the greatest financial effect, especially at the moment. That currently means putting more auditors on tax issues, NOT benefit ones.

And I totally disagree on the concept that only by moving right can Milliband capture votes – he’ll lost the core left vote that way: we won’t have anyone to vote for, and you’ll see a sharp drop in voting participation (and considerably increased militancy).

By: Mason Dixon, Autistic

Mason Dixon, Autistic — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:46:25 +0000

Off-topic but for anyone interested in Mouse’s almost comical performance, the thread is this: https://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/06/welfare-reform-welfare-to-work-companies-atos-g4s-serco/comment-page-1/#comment-115173