A Rather Interesting Red Ed. (On Miliband’s Conference speech)
This article was republished on the same day on the blog Left Foot Forward . Ed Miliband’s Labour Conference speech was full of interesting and important ideas, so let’s get stuck in. As Daily Mirror hack Kevin Maguire said on Twitter during the speech, “Red Ed is back.” It’s a rather interesting Red Ed though –not the 1970s socialist stereotype that right-wingers have been lambasting. Certainly state intervention is back on the table in serious form. The energy companies will be subject to much greater control if Labour gets into government, land speculation will be curtailed in favour of development, and state schools will permanently extend opening hours to make life easier for working parents. Each of these policies are potentially problematic, and I have my fingers crossed they have been thought through properly and Labour has got its defences and counter-attacks planned well for the assault that began immediately even while Ed was talking. The headline-gra...