Red Ed Rides Again

Following Ed Miliband's speech at the Labour Party conference last week, many journalists were pointing to the fact that he was making a grab for the centre vote, following in the footsteps of Tony Blair.  He was careful during his speech to use the term “friends”; he also refrained from class demonisation and appeared to have made a complete u-turn on his previous speeches.

So who is Ed Miliband really trying to appease?  The Unions are high up on the list; since he became leader of the Labour party, 81% of their donations have come from unions.  When you look at this, the majority of union members are public employees, meaning the tax payer is actually funding the majority of the Labour party! Is Mr Miliband looking to appease his main contributors, then, in the shape of business and tax payers?  No - he is intent on rubbing their noses in it.  Whilst the private sector struggle in a tough economic climate, Mr Miliband believes that supporting a union led march against austerity is the way to go!

Why is this?  My belief is that Red Ed realises that without the current high number of public sector employees, Labour would need to seek funding from additional sources, and as private business are suffering as a direct result of the spend culture under the previous Labour administration, do you think any large business would stump up further funding for Labour?

Ed's speech in the party conference was very carefully written and choreographed.  However, only a couple of hours later, his true colours began to show when party delegates were referred to again as "comrades", unlike the term "friends" that was used previously.  So, Mr Miliband is truly madly and deeply Red Ed through and through.  Welcome to the return to the 70s, folks!

S

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