Thursday, April 18, 2013
More grumbling about Ed Miliband
Just when the Labour leader thought that things might be settling down in his party after unsolicited advice from Tony Blair, another MP puts his head above the parapet and suggests that he is getting it wrong.
The Telegraph reports that Ed Miliband has been accused by a senior party figure of “resting of his laurels” and placing the Labour Party in a “stupid place” over welfare reform:
Mr Miliband is facing growing anger from colleagues who are warning that he risks turning Labour into a party of protest.
The Labour leader has called for public loyalty from his MPs and warned his critics that they risk throwing away the chance of winning the next election.
However, one senior party member yesterday told The Telegraph that the party’s response to the Coalition’s welfare reforms had been “complete nonsense”.
The MP warned that the leadership is in its “comfort zone” because of the “inadequacy of the Coalition”.
“There’s quite a lot of feeling that we’re resting on our laurels because of the total inadequacy of the Coalition Government,” the source said. “We are assuming that that will see us through to office.
Mr Miliband has opposed many spending cuts, including the £26,000 a year cap on welfare per family, cuts to housing benefit for families with a spare bedroom and a below-inflation increase in most hand-outs.
However, the Labour leadership is coming under increasing pressure as polls suggest two thirds of voters support the need for reform.
The senior Labour source added: “We [appear to be] against the welfare reforms because the real answer is to give everybody a job. That is complete nonsense. We’re placing ourselves in a stupid place.
“I’m with those who think that we have got to [do more]. I’m with the modernisers.”
Time for a rethink perhaps?
The Telegraph reports that Ed Miliband has been accused by a senior party figure of “resting of his laurels” and placing the Labour Party in a “stupid place” over welfare reform:
Mr Miliband is facing growing anger from colleagues who are warning that he risks turning Labour into a party of protest.
The Labour leader has called for public loyalty from his MPs and warned his critics that they risk throwing away the chance of winning the next election.
However, one senior party member yesterday told The Telegraph that the party’s response to the Coalition’s welfare reforms had been “complete nonsense”.
The MP warned that the leadership is in its “comfort zone” because of the “inadequacy of the Coalition”.
“There’s quite a lot of feeling that we’re resting on our laurels because of the total inadequacy of the Coalition Government,” the source said. “We are assuming that that will see us through to office.
Mr Miliband has opposed many spending cuts, including the £26,000 a year cap on welfare per family, cuts to housing benefit for families with a spare bedroom and a below-inflation increase in most hand-outs.
However, the Labour leadership is coming under increasing pressure as polls suggest two thirds of voters support the need for reform.
The senior Labour source added: “We [appear to be] against the welfare reforms because the real answer is to give everybody a job. That is complete nonsense. We’re placing ourselves in a stupid place.
“I’m with those who think that we have got to [do more]. I’m with the modernisers.”
Time for a rethink perhaps?
