Ed Milliband. Still a disappointment.

[mistermack]

I watched Ed Milliband's speech this morning. I meant to watch it all, but couldn't.
He hasn't really improved at all, in style or presentation, or substance.

All I could hear was , "posh boy, posh boy, posh boy" and the same old Gordon Brown attitudes.

Where the fuck did he get that accent?

Anyway, the Labour Party have yet again shot themselves in the foot, by choosing the wrong leader.
Their best bet now it for him and Ed Balls to keep their heads DOWN, or better still, have a spring-clean of the leadership.

[MrJonno]

I doubt leaders or policies will have much affect on the next election, its going to be decided by best marketing strategy, who will voters blame for the economy Labour or the Tories?.

Combine that with the breakup of the Lib Dem's and how well UKIP will do it should be very interesting

[Red Celt]

I watched Ed Milliband's speech this morning. I meant to watch it all, but couldn't.
He hasn't really improved at all, in style or presentation, or substance.

All I could hear was , "posh boy, posh boy, posh boy" and the same old Gordon Brown attitudes.

Where the fuck did he get that accent?

Anyway, the Labour Party have yet again shot themselves in the foot, by choosing the wrong leader.
Their best bet now it for him and Ed Balls to keep their heads DOWN, or better still, have a spring-clean of the leadership.

What does it matter how posh he is? Inverted snobbery? He and his brother went to a comprehensive school. Growing up, he was surrounded by important left-wing thinkers (who socialised with his father) and understands a great deal more about real life than the "posh boy" currently residing in 10 Downing Street.

[mistermack]

What does it matter how posh he is? Inverted snobbery? He and his brother went to a comprehensive school. Growing up, he was surrounded by important left-wing thinkers (who socialised with his father) and understands a great deal more about real life than the "posh boy" currently residing in 10 Downing Street.

His speech sounds affected. And coming from a comprehensive, I would think that his schoolmates would say so too.
His brother is nowhere near as plummy as he is. He must have made a conscious effort to "improve" his speaking, at some time.
( they used to call it "elocution lessons" in my day ).

Yes I'm reverse prejudiced. But considering that all our leaders have been posh boys and girls, there is plenty of direct prejudice in the opposite direction. I'm prejudiced, because of all the previous and existing prejudice against the majority of the population getting a chance to lead.

The only non-posh boy party leader was Neil Kinnock, and what he lacked in poshness, he made up in twatness. Basically, the exception to the posh-boy rule was an insult to the intelligence.

[Red Celt]

Yes I'm reverse prejudiced. But considering that all our leaders have been posh boys and girls, there is plenty of direct prejudice in the opposite direction. I'm prejudiced, because of all the previous and existing prejudice against the majority of the population getting a chance to lead.

2 wrongs don't make a right.

[John_fi_Skye]

You couldn't insert a Rizla paper between Millipede's policies and Camoron's. Most of the policies of each are designed to appeal to the electorate in the English constituencies which are regarded by both parties as key marginals. The "Labour" Party moved to the right after Foot, and kept moving, settling on what those English constituencies would call "the middle ground" in the time of Bliar. As long as Scotland is part of the UK, we will never be governed by a party that is far enough to the left to suit large numbers of Scottish voters. This is the reason why I'm going to vote "yes" in the referendum.

[Audley Strange]

So John, is independence a secondary issue to your disillusionment with the labour party? Have you ever voted for the S.S.P, they are certainly pretty leftist. Good people too mostly, I've had many fun discussions with some of the members. I'd never vote for them personally since my politics are not that far left and I think some of their ideas range from idealistic to absurd, but they are certainly left enough for most Scots.

[JimC]

The labour leader (Daniel Andrews) of our opposition in the state of Victoria doesn't inspire much:

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[John_fi_Skye]

So John, is independence a secondary issue to your disillusionment with the labour party? Have you ever voted for the S.S.P, they are certainly pretty leftist. Good people too mostly, I've had many fun discussions with some of the members. I'd never vote for them personally since my politics are not that far left and I think some of their ideas range from idealistic to absurd, but they are certainly left enough for most Scots.

No, I've never voted SSP yet: I always voted Labour for pragmatic reasons - thinking that a vote further to the left would be no more than a protest. But in the past ten years, when getting rid of the encumbrance of our ten-times-larger, right-voting neighbour has become a serious possibility, I've been voting SNP. If we ever separate, I expect the politicians in Scotland will reflect a spectrum of political ideology, and then I'll choose the party that suits me best, and I'd expect it to be on the left. And I don't expect it to be anything like New Labour, though I might be happy for it to be similar to Foot's party, or maybe even Kinnock's or John Smith's. Maybe it'll be like the SSP.

[Red Celt]

So John, is independence a secondary issue to your disillusionment with the labour party? Have you ever voted for the S.S.P, they are certainly pretty leftist. Good people too mostly, I've had many fun discussions with some of the members. I'd never vote for them personally since my politics are not that far left and I think some of their ideas range from idealistic to absurd, but they are certainly left enough for most Scots.

No, I've never voted SSP yet: I always voted Labour for pragmatic reasons - thinking that a vote further to the left would be no more than a protest. But in the past ten years, when getting rid of the encumbrance of our ten-times-larger, right-voting neighbour has become a serious possibility, I've been voting SNP. If we ever separate, I expect the politicians in Scotland will reflect a spectrum of political ideology, and then I'll choose the party that suits me best, and I'd expect it to be on the left. And I don't expect it to be anything like New Labour, though I might be happy for it to be similar to Foot's party, or maybe even Kinnock's or John Smith's. Maybe it'll be like the SSP.

It still saddens me to think of John Smith. Such a tragedy: that he died so young and that it allowed Blair to be party leader. I've not voted for Labour since Iraq, and I won't again until the party has a leader that opposed that illegal war. Not that it would be guaranteed anyway, now. Depends who is available to vote for (as an independent Scotland or a Scotland within the UK, and that's yet to be decided). Never have voted Tory and never will - they are an anathema to everything I believe in. And that fact alone is a significant "pro" in the "pro v con" columns wrt independence.

[John_fi_Skye]

So John, is independence a secondary issue to your disillusionment with the labour party? Have you ever voted for the S.S.P, they are certainly pretty leftist. Good people too mostly, I've had many fun discussions with some of the members. I'd never vote for them personally since my politics are not that far left and I think some of their ideas range from idealistic to absurd, but they are certainly left enough for most Scots.

No, I've never voted SSP yet: I always voted Labour for pragmatic reasons - thinking that a vote further to the left would be no more than a protest. But in the past ten years, when getting rid of the encumbrance of our ten-times-larger, right-voting neighbour has become a serious possibility, I've been voting SNP. If we ever separate, I expect the politicians in Scotland will reflect a spectrum of political ideology, and then I'll choose the party that suits me best, and I'd expect it to be on the left. And I don't expect it to be anything like New Labour, though I might be happy for it to be similar to Foot's party, or maybe even Kinnock's or John Smith's. Maybe it'll be like the SSP.

It still saddens me to think of John Smith. Such a tragedy: that he died so young and that it allowed Blair to be party leader. I've not voted for Labour since Iraq, and I won't again until the party has a leader that opposed that illegal war. Not that it would be guaranteed anyway, now. Depends who is available to vote for (as an independent Scotland or a Scotland within the UK, and that's yet to be decided). Never have voted Tory and never will - they are an anathema to everything I believe in. And that fact alone is a significant "pro" in the "pro v con" columns wrt independence.

Having benefitted from modern stent technology, I'm always sad to think of Smith's untimely death, which could likely have been averted if it had been possible then for his blocked coronary artery to be diagnosed and treated as mine was.