Well on that performance I am not sure the Conservatives have an awful lot to worry about. I genuinely thought Ed Miliband would rise to the occasion, but right from the off he seemed to be very downbeat. He wasn't helped by the autocue appearing not to start on time.
Miliband can be a great platform speaker when he's doing his own thing. But today he was clearly speaking the words of others. And it showed. The speech was ponderous, lacked pace and at times you could see the audience wondering when it was going to finish. He said the things he was expected to say, but said very little that was a surprise. I don't know what the top line from this speech was. Do you?
At one point I expected him to mutter something about the quiet man turning up the volume. Ed Miliband needs to make speeches in the style he is most comfortable in. And that is not behind a podium or reading from an autocue.
24 comments:
The top line was 'let's fix the old broken New Labour'.
The speech started with a load of mawkish sentimental twaddle and then went down hill.
Nah..leave him behind the podium on auto cue...It`ll do just fine.
Interesting. I have not seen heard the speech - indeed am totally not bovvered - but you have good judgement in these matters. Labour ('new' 'old' 'different' younger' 'confused' ?) should be a bit worried I think.
Yes - thats it ... New Labour is dead; welcome to 'Confused Labour'.
Milliband Minor claimed in his speech that the politicians he most admires are:
- Lloyd George
- Keynes
- Beveridge
One of them screwed everyone around him, the other favoured massive tax'n spend and the last one favoured screwing the country by tax'n spend.
Read about poor Milliband's recent fraternal tribulations here:
Bedtime Stories With the Millibands
The delivery certainly left a lot to be desired and there were some rather annoying ticks that he had such as an excessive amount of lip licking.
For all he claims to represent the "new generation" he still hung on to that absurd labour pace of cuts argument. Perhaps this speech was written before yesterday's IMF report? Perhaps he does deserve the tag "Red Ed" because after that speech and some of its ill founded and popularist statements, I was left remembering that old soviet phrase: "Meet the new boss same as the old boss".
He simply seemed to be saying everything that his audience in the hall and country wanted to hear with absolutely no conviction.
He has already sold his soul to the unions to get elected.
Who will he sell it to next?
Bit unfair. Wasn't bad for a first effort and tickled all Labour's funny bones. Would be worried about Kinnock's gushing support, though.
Anyway real life begins when the shadow cabinet members are elected.
Just how is Ed going to rid himself of the Ballses and that band of thugs who whipped the ordinary Labour member senseless?
Suspect Milliband senior might feel well out of it - if he goes.
"Red Ed? Come off it, we need to have a proper grown-up debate..."
Cue a standing ovation, bizarrely.
Ed's speech gave life to the word "soporific". Or rather, didn't.
@Peter Spot on. His face did not look like he is passionate about what he was saying. If he believed what he said, it was the speech of his brother. Then why did he stand for leadership? He is a far lefty- Red Ed, and dishonest and is waiting to see how the cuts are played out in the country when government annouces them. He is ofcourse sold out to the unions. Falconer and Straw were struggling to say anything, the only oe who was impressed in that bunch was the Welsh Windbag loser Kinnock.
I do not like Adam Boulton lapping it up whatever any one said- particularly that champagne leftie Tony Benn.
He was for years Brown's adviser when Brown kept on repeating he fixed boom nd bust and was 3 years as cabinet minister, not a new generation. Bogus person.
Our best podium speaking leaders were Foot and Kinnock. There may be a moral in there somewhere.
Although no world-beating orator, I do think you ought to stop hi-5ing each other and learn to try and watch with a little more objectivity.
For a start, try and understand that the speech was certainly not aimed at dyed in the wool Conservatives.
@Troymolloy Are you really that dim that you can't spot a soundbite specifically designed to play on every news bulletin to neuter the first - and rather infantile - form of attack? Oh and it will play with a huge ovation, who'd have thought?
@Norman
Try writing something coherent
@PhilClemo
Of course he stuck to that line - that's the difference between the government and the opposition. Did you expect him to say "Oh and by the way, that Osborne's got it all right on the economy."
@Peter
Yep, you got it. He made that simple error of saying things that would make his audience clap. Of course he also said many things that many of them found remarkably uncomfortable - wrong about Iraq, wrong to claim the end of boom and bust, Wrong to close post office branches. It's no wonder that some of the old guard were a little bit reticent to over praise, but I suspect he will lose little sleep over that if those messages reach even a small part of the electorate that moved away from Labour since 2005.
@Jimmy
Good point, and one again that Tories should bear in mind. It is often the case that the great orators who can charge their own side up are those who do not inspire the public to back them. What many politicos may see as lack of passion can come across as calm sincerity to voters.
Oh and Ian
You surprise me. I tend to agree with you about the delivery but;
"I don't know what the top line from this speech was. Do you?"
Well yes of course I do, because I listened.
In short - Not Red Ed, New Labour is a thing of the past, New Generation, Optimistic.
The final part - which was as subtle as a Wolves tackle - recalled directly the victories that Labour enjoyed when they and the country were looking forward optimistically to build a new society.
Of course you are welcome to dismiss Miliband, but you might like to consider that many Labour supporters did just that when Cameron won the Tory leadership.
@ Jimmy said...
"Our best podium speaking leaders were Foot and Kinnock. There may be a moral in there somewhere."
They both got their butts kicked in general elections.
Everybody seems to treat him like he has rose through ranks by being a superb leader. He has got where he has through sycophancy, luck, and because of his father's position within the socialist/communist community within this country. Now he has been pushed to the fore and has to stand examination by those outside the Labour party he is found to be wanting. Why are you people so surprised?
It should be obvious to everybody soon that Milband is just a placeholder until the next Labour leader or the one after that.
Don't give us any twaddle about new, young or different Labour. Labour has been hanging out chez Miliband for years and young Ed is as much a part of the ancien regime as any other minister.
After all, he hardly rose without trace to being a Secretary of State because of his charm, wit or charisma. It was because he was brought up surrounded by the Labour hierarchy.
Understand that when Red Ed said the Iraq war was wrong, Harriet Harmon applauded wildly and that Big Brother Miliband was seen to ask her why she was clapping as she voted for the war.
You still don't get IDS, Iain.
The 2003 Party Conference speech was one of the most exciting moments in politics, never repeated since, when someone dared to throw off the shackles and start genuinely attacking the Westminster consensus. The audience loved it.
If blogging had existed in 2003, IDS would have survived the 1922 committee challenge, and history could have been very different. But faced with wall to wall media assault, Conservative MPs crumbled. I am sure that if Guido and you had been active to today's extent, IDS would have survived.
That's quite funny, because I also thought of the "Quiet Man" during the speech. He seemed to me a total plonker - a sort of wierd posh boy, chucked in as Head Boy against his expectations, somewhat out of his depth and hoping a teacher would come and rescue him. He was clumsy, strained, cliched and dull. Even the jokes were wooden.
The story that David didn't applaud and scowled when Iraq was mentioned isn't quite right - a quick study of the BBC video at that point shows DM applauding at the end of that bit. Somewhat strange given his vocal support for the war originally.
Has anyone scoured Hansard yet to see what young Ed said about Iraq before his leadership hopes? I imagine his opposition has not been quite so plainly stated in the past.
@ Tapestry said...
"
You still don't get IDS, Iain."
I always thought that Blue Rinse Socialism summed up IDS rather well.
“I am applauding because he is the leader and I support him” – perfect.
The whole episode put me in mind of Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Speech
with loyal (surely “supine”) members of the politburo not knowing whether to applaud or not –surprised not to have seen the comparison made more widely!
@ comradepowell said...
"The whole episode put me in mind of Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin."
http://tinyurl.com/3ymvxzm ?
You're right about it not being as good as he can sometimes be, and that he certainly needs more practice with the autocue.
I also think he and his speechwriters still have a lot to learn, as hinted at here http://su.pr/2DHI7d - where I've majored on something else that no one seems to have noticed, namely that the audience withheld or delayed their applause when he made claims on the 'centre ground'.
Could have been amateurish speechwriting, but more likely it was because they either didn't agree or didn't believe him (given his relentless onslaught on New Labour since the start of his leadership campaign).
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