Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Politics
Original poster

Milliband's bloody awful isn't he?

26 replies

CogitoErgoSometimes · 20/07/2011 18:01

Every time he opens his mouth it sounds like the sixth form debating society. No gravitas whatseover, just wall to wall sarcasm delivered with a perpetual sneer. I don't get it. How did he win the leadership and not David?

OP posts:
aquashiv · 20/07/2011 19:04

God only knows but the tool in charge is hardly setting anything alight either.

chipstick10 · 20/07/2011 19:10

I was cringing today watching him in action across the despatch box. He just doesnt have it, its desperate.

aliceliddell · 20/07/2011 19:19

Well, it's all relative. Bloody awful in comparison with whom? On the plus side - no actively criminal involvement. On the minus - no political vision, no support for the people who put him there.

CointreauVersial · 20/07/2011 19:19

Sorry, remind me who he is again?

Panzee · 20/07/2011 19:21
:o
TheCrackFox · 20/07/2011 19:25

He is crap.

ragged · 20/07/2011 19:33

Sorry, I know it's petty of me (not to mention un-PC), but I really don't like Milliband's Lithp. I could get over it if he were both hard-hitting & amusing (William Hague style)... but he's neither.

niceguy2 · 20/07/2011 19:35

I watched the Youtube clip of him about the strikes and cringing. He is awful. Long may he continue!

TheCrackFox · 20/07/2011 19:41

I haven't noticed his lisp but his adenoids really need to get sorted.

Paul88 · 21/07/2011 07:30

Worried now, tories?

Labour has maintained their lead in the polls for a long time and now Ed is beating nice Dave in leader ratings ukpollingreport.co.uk/

Without the Murdoch press to deliver the personal attacks on a larger scale how are you going to turn this around - I mean I am not saying that mumsnet isn't influential but you are going to have to do better than this...

Original poster
CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2011 09:56

'Worried'? Nah... Labour may be ahead in the polls but, being brutally honest, any opposition that wasn't ahead in the polls in the middle of a parliamentary session making the most hard-hitting cuts in public spending for a couple of decades should pack up and go home. Their performance was disappoint in the local elections and were gubbed in Scotland. 2015 is still a long way away politically speaking and I don't think Milliband Minor will last that long.

OP posts:
ebbandflow · 21/07/2011 10:08

I agree he does seem a bit awkward, but I was just thinking the other day that he has kind eyes.

Hassled · 21/07/2011 10:18

Agree that Labour's lead in the polls has far more to do with the current Government than it does Ed M's leadership qualities or dynamic repartee.

I didn't vote for him, as I remind people smugly on a regular basis. I voted for Ed Balls, and still wish he'd won - anyone who Dave C thinks is thinks is "the most annoying person in modern politics" has to be doing something right. He's likeable, he's bullish, he's quick, he has charisma. I'm sure EdM is a very nice man and yes, he does have kind eyes; kind eyes aren't ever going to win an election or get Labour back on track though.

We're spending too much time saying what the Tories are doing wrong and not nearly enough time saying what we'd do right - this policy review is just going on and on and bloody on. 19 headings then restructured into 4 so Ed can fill in his blank piece of paper - I appreciate we need to get things right, but at this stage Labour needs to be seen to be way more proactive.

Original poster
CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2011 11:02

I actually sympathise Hassled. I quite enjoy it when the PM and opposition leaders are evenly matched. Brown vs Cameron was always far more fun than Thatcher vs Kinnock. :) And the Conservatives had their pick of disappointing leaders before settling on Cameron - IDS, say no more. And you're quite right... less 'you didn't want to do it like that' and more 'we'd do it like this' would be welcome at the moment. Think Milliband also gets it wrong when he goes on about getting back into power. If he made getting the country back on its feet his top priority... that would sound more statesmanlike and less self-serving.

OP posts:
breadandbutterfly · 21/07/2011 11:17

As someone who would vote Labour (but didn't last election as I was v ed up with Blair followed by Brown), I think he's doing a pretty good job, and yes, it would persuade me to vote Labour again.

Out of interest, how many of those who posted anti-Ed comments would ever vote Labour, whoever the leader was?

If not, your opinions are a bit irrelevant.

TheCrackFox · 21/07/2011 11:23

I am a floating voter (I think all political parties are crap) but at the moment, no, i wouldn't vote Labour partly due to lots of illegal wars and partly due to the fact I think Milliband is crap.

Original poster
CogitoErgoSometimes · 21/07/2011 12:08

I'd never vote Labour but I don't think that makes my opinion irrelevant... I think good democracy relies upon strong government and also strong opposition. If the leader of the opposition is weak, ineffective or doesn't have the support of their MPs, that affects the outcome for all of us.

OP posts:
niceguy2 · 21/07/2011 14:24

I totally agree Hassled. This policy review seems to be a never ending story. We need the opposition to define what they would do instead. Otherwise there is no choice. Labour simply is not credible at the moment as they are opposing every cut whilst not proposing any alternatives yet agreeing that cuts are necessary.

Paul88, I'm actually amazed that Labour are not further ahead and I think they should (and are) incredibly worried. What the Tories/Lib Dems are gambling on is by the time the next election comes, the economy has recovered, ppl will feel good again and vote for the coalition who have delivered them through this tough time.

If they pull it off then Labour are screwed. If not, judging by current polls there's a good chance of another hung parliament.

porcupine11 · 21/07/2011 14:31

I agree with the OP, he may be ok in future when he's grown up, but he's much too young at the moment. At the moment Labour could do with a leader who is a good bit older than Cameron and comes across as a real statesman type, able to play on Cameron's relative lack of experience and poor judgment over Coulson. Labour ought to be soaring ahead in the polls at the moment.

sproggaaaaah · 21/07/2011 14:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CandiceMariePratt · 21/07/2011 14:38

I so wish David M was the leader, he is absolutely stunning Wink

chipstick10 · 21/07/2011 18:59

I dunno about stunning, i just see banana man. Grin

Mellowfruitfulness · 24/07/2011 19:54

Hassled Thu 21-Jul-11 10:18:56

Unfortunately I don't think it would make any difference if he said what the Labour Party will do when they win the next election. Who would believe them? The lies of Cameron 'the NHS is safe with me' and Clegg 'no rise in tuition fees' have destroyed people's confidence in politicians.

Imo, the only ways to decide which party to vote for is to look at what they did last time they were in power, and if they haven't been in government for a while, to look at what the individuals concerned are doing in their own constituencies. The tragedy for Labour was that so many good things were happening locally that just didn't manage to fight their way through the (largely) Murdoch press into the national consciousness.

EdithWeston · 24/07/2011 20:00

Miliband simply doesn't come across well, and I find it hard to see that he can now rectify this. Some of this is just his personal style, but it's also because the Labour Party is a policy-free zone, so he has nothing to work with.

Unless/until Labour comes up with an alternative agenda (with a price tag for it), it's difficult to see them as proper players at all.

Does anyone know when the policy review is due to be completed?

GiddyPickle · 25/07/2011 19:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.