Political reporters do spout some rubbish. Norman Smith of the BBC described Ed Miliband's speech to the Labour conference today as "crucial". Chambers Dictionary's main (ignoring street slang) definition of the word is "testing or decisive; essential, very important". The speech is hardly more testing than the Labour leader's first Prime Minister's Questions session. Unless he makes a complete pig's ear of it, it is not going to be critical for Miliband, given the longevity of Labour leaders and the fact that he is still in the honeymoon period. Given that virtually all Labour's business backers have already deserted and that affiliated trade unions will remain loyal, it is not critical financially.
Electorally, the spring 2012 conferences, before the local government elections, will have more impact. By then, the various internal committees will have reported, and Labour will have a coherent set of policies to be judged by.
No comments:
Post a Comment