One Nation is absolutely the right framing for Ed Miliband. In a single phrase the Labour leader has set out a positive vision for Britain, projected a division with the Tories on their own turf and set out a challenge to the Labour Party.
Miliband set out his vision, aping Disraeli, as:
“A vision of Britain where patriotism, loyalty, dedication to the common cause courses through the veins of all and nobody feels left out, it was a vision of Britain coming together to overcome the challenges we face.”
This is clearer and more positive than anything he’s said before and builds on the optimism in Britain following the summer Olympics. It will help address head on poll findings that voters think he lacks a clear sense of the Britain he wants to create.
By borrowing language more closely associated with the Tories, Miliband sought to make himself the heir to a popular tradition of Conservative thought in a similar way to Cameron audaciously painting himself as the “heir to Blair”. In doing so Miliband set out a clear dividing line with the Tories in a subtler way than Gordon Brown, his former boss, could have managed.
This dividing line, surely the theme of the next two-and-a-half-years, is that the government is out of touch and unable to understand the plight of millions of families up and down the country who are seeing energy, petrol and transport prices increase while their salaries stay flat or fall. Osborne’s 50p tax cut has given him the perfect example to support this narrative even if Miliband may get a little flak for claiming all millionaires will get a £40,000 tax cut (it will only be those who earn a million).
Finally, the One Nation theme sets out a challenge to the Labour party. Miliband was explicit Labour had to be the party of the south as well as the north, the party of the private as well as the public sector, and not representative of a single sectional group. That is pretty transparent code a “core vote strategy” is not what he sees as the path to power. His appeal directly to the people who voted for Cameron last time around shows he understands Labour cannot win a majority on disaffected Lib Dems alone.
The only criticism that can be levelled at Miliband is he didn’t address the fiscal crisis Labour will inherit because of the double-dip recession – but his shadow chancellor touched on this yesterday as he himself has done in other speeches.
He will need to come back to this as the election approaches, but if he does that and can make the One Nation theme sing on the doorstep, he may find himself on the steps of No 10.
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20 Responses to “Lab 2012: Miliband’s One Nation vision takes fight to Cameron and challenges Labour”
treborc1
One nation, some how I do not think it’s going to get us going, we are not at war, we are not fighting the Germans, we are being asked by a Millionaire to tighten our belts when these MP’s are earning a wage and living off expenses. While many of the people on the lower earning scale are being told your not going to have wages rises. yes one nation , sadly not all united.
Worse again Bankers are raking it in again, yes yes he will tax them, pity then they did not do it before.
All Thats Left
The beauty of this speech was that it showed the Labour leader brining the centre ground to him, rather than whorishly seeking out the centre ground. The ‘one nation party,’ was extremely clever, but, more importantly it effectively articulated the growing feeling of disaffection and alienation that is felt by so many. I analyse the speech in the following piece: http://www.allthatsleft.co.uk/2012/10/big-gold-star-for-ed-milliband/
treborc1
Labour’s
Liam Byrne has outlined the need to “reinvent social security for
modern times” as he signalled the party intends to make savings in the welfare budget if it returns to power in 2015.
Pointing
to the growing resentment of benefit claimants by some sections of
society, the shadow work and pensions secretary said he believed the
fact that social security no longer enjoyed “widespread support” was
linked to the fact it did not offer the same level of security as it
once did.
He said in an era in which “jobs for life” had gone,
the system needed to work differently to reflect the fact that different
things were needed from social security, with a “much bigger push” to
get people back into work, new investment in areas such as childcare,
and being “much smarter” about how the system set up to help disabled
people worked.
New labour is dead long live New labour…..
Selohesra
I can’t believe he has the cheek to keep peddling the lie that Cameron is writing cheque for £40,000 to all millionaires. Does he really think Brown & co were writing cheques for £80,000 to the same people while they were in power and keeping top rate at 40% for all but a month of their 13 year misrule?
Eddy Boyband
I wonder what Edwards going to spend his 40 grand on ?