The knives are out for Ed Miliband. A full glistening assembly of sharpened weapons, desperately trying to prevent him reaching the Treasury. They come from right and left, businesses and trade unions, from the Tory party and even inside Labour.
Over the last few days, it feels as if half the newspaper headlines were aimed at trying to frighten Andy Burnham off making him chancellor. “Miliband as chancellor would be ‘noose around neck’ of job creation, says biggest union,” the Observer reported. “Markets would take Miliband chancellor appointment ‘worse’ than Streeting, predicts Cavendish chief,” City AM said. “Ed Miliband as chancellor risks market revolt, ministers warn,” The Times claimed.
A FTSE 100 chief executive told the FT that the Burnham/Miliband combination would be his “worst nightmare”. Another executive said his aversion to the energy secretary came because of his speech on “predators versus producers” as Labour leader – a full decade and a half ago. Another chief executive said: “I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather keep the consistency of Rachel Reeves.”
These comments demonstrate something profound and under-discussed: that the lack of seriousness in British politics is not simply the fault of politicians. It is also the fault of trade unions, the business sector and the press. These are just not serious contributions to the issue. They are the product of people who have not thought about what they are saying. They have no understanding of politicians’ relative skills or experience, or of their success or otherwise in office. They’re pure vibes. And it is on vibes alone that they give us their opinion.
As Jonathan Portes, former chief economist at the Department for Work and Pensions, said: “I’ve had two journalists today asking if Miliband as chancellor would be a ‘Liz Truss moment’ and find it difficult not to just respond “are you on crack?”.
Far from being inexperienced or amateurish, Miliband has a long record of working at the Treasury. He is one of the few people in the Labour parliamentary party with extensive experience of the department. He was special adviser to chancellor Gordon Brown from 1997 to 2002. He was then appointed chairman of the Treasury’s Council of Economic Advisers, with responsibility for long-term economic planning.
He also has extensive experience running a department. He left the Treasury in 2005 to run for parliament, became energy secretary three years later and then returned to the job under Keir Starmer. In an administration notable for its complete failure to plan, Miliband was the one secretary of state who delivered. He knew his brief. He had specialist knowledge and deep domain expertise.
The results speak for themselves. Miliband lifted the de-facto ban on new onshore wind farms, accelerated the roll-out of clean tech, scrapped guidance which hampered solar development, increased the clean power budget, accelerated clean energy auctions, introduced a radical overhaul of planning rules, ensured the fiscal rules allowed for low-carbon investment, launched Great British Energy, funded the Sizewell C nuclear project, introduced a Warm Homes Plan and confirmed a Future Homes Standard for default inclusion of solar panels and heat pumps, to name just a few.
CBI Economics estimates that the UK’s green economy is now worth over £100 billion a year with nearly half a trillion pounds in investment in the pipeline. It maintains over a million jobs – 308,000 people in direct employment and the rest in supply chains and related business. Net zero workers earn £43,000 a year on average, compared to a national average of £39,000.
This was a government department which worked, run by someone who knew what they wanted to do and how to do it – a vanishingly rare quality in Westminster. Does that mean he would make a good chancellor? Maybe not. Sometimes someone is suited to one job and not another. But it clearly demonstrates that he is a qualified candidate for the chancellor position. The idea that he’s Chairman Mao is ridiculous.
Much ink has been spilled over Burnham’s need to keep the bond markets happy, with the associated suggestion that a left-wing chancellor would help trigger a panic. This is just self-interested ideological desperation masked as financial analysis.
First, Miliband is not that left-wing. He is certainly less of a threat to business than Boris Johnson, whose entire business strategy was “fuck business“. After years of Brexit vandalism the idea that Miliband is a threat to British economic standing because he gave a perfectly sensible speech about predatory practices 15 years ago is absurd.
Second, you want a chancellor who is politically aligned with the prime minister. It may seem very tactically clever to choose someone from a different wing of the party, like Wes Streeting, but it threatens long-term dysfunction. The Treasury is vast, with thousands of members of staff and vast amounts of expertise. It holds the purse strings. Downing Street has hardly any staff and no expertise. Government breaks down when the prime minister and the chancellor are pulling in different directions, because the centre stops being able to function. Burnham and Miliband share values. They would make a decent pair.
Third, the crucial quality in maintaining market confidence is not about left or right wing. It is about having a responsible plan, articulating it clearly and sticking to it. It is about creating a sense of confidence. The correct person for that job is someone who understands the Treasury and has experience delivering in a department. In other words, someone much like Miliband.
It’s easy to blame Starmer for all our problems. But in reality, our politics fails because we do not ask the right questions and we do not set the correct expectations of politicians. We need people with knowledge of government and experience of getting things done. On that criteria – of operational competence, not vibes – Miliband would make a good choice for chancellor.
He may not get it. And if he does get it, he may not be good at it – politics is strange like that. But the criticism of him from the press, the trade unions and the business sector is inane. We will not get a better class of politician until we ask better questions about the types of politicians we want.
Hence then, the article about everyone is acting like ed miliband is chairman mao it s deranged was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Everyone is acting like Ed Miliband is Chairman Mao – it’s deranged )
Also on site :