What Ed needs to do next
I’m reminded of the final scene in a film called “The Candidate” [my review here] where, after (unexpectedly) winning a hard-fought election, the Robert Redford character turns to his agent and pleads: “What do we do now?” Now that Ed Miliband has (just) won the leadership of the Labour Party, he has a lot to do fast.
“Observer” political commentator Andrew Rawnsley is always shrewd in his judgments and has advice in a “Dear Ed”-type piece in today’s newspaper.
Rawnsley’s offers this daunting assessment:
“You may have thought that fighting a brother for the leadership was as tough as it can get. Believe me, that will prove to be a walk in the park compared with what faces you now.”
For me, the most compelling comment is:
“You must be prepared for the possibility that the coalition will endure being unpopular, last the distance, recover and go into the next election offering some tax cuts and spending boosts as the pay-off for the earlier austerity. If you have not been careful about how you oppose them now, you will then find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the big political argument.”