Ed M was brilliant last night

[30somethingm]

I have never had much of an opinion on Ed Miliband, but he was amazing on the Free Speech programme last night. He came across as normal and likeable and actually engaged with ordinary members of the public. I feel that we have been told by the media to think he is useless, but this is a pleasant surprise and I have changed my views on him. Did anyone else watch this?

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b055tx34/free-speech-series-4-1-im-ed-miliband-ask-me-anything

It is well worth watching even if you don't agree with his views.

Perhaps he was, but Labour are not going to inspire anyone to vote for them without a clear set of policies outlining a more positive future promoting fairness, education and health.

At the moment, the only mainstream party I can see which has a positive and progressive of the future is the Green party.

Austerity and austerity light will lead us no where except more misery, poverty, inequality, and economic stagnation.

I watched it and agree with you. He dealt really well with the questions and didn't just come out with sound bites. He gave the impression that he really enjoyed engaging with people and being given the opportunity to talk.

In general I thought the programme was really good and I'll definitely be watching it again. They gave time for answers but didn't allow things to get bogged down (even with cannabis girl and shouty man).

He was great and seems very genuine.

"seems very genuine"

Hmm.

I felt that the Oxbridge spin doctors had got to him. Everytime anyone asked a question,it seemed that Ed had been primed by the Oxbridge teenage think tank whizzes to ask

"What was your name?"

after which Ed dropped the name into his reply a la Westminster School, Cambridge and College of Europe master tactician, Nick "fairness" Clegg.

I felt the hand of the spinners in some of Ed's replies such as "cool" when describing some audience members' questions.

It seemed that Ed hadn't thought out his position on cannabis and even Saudi Arabia well enough. It seemed he was just reeling out the same old, same old line to many questions and one audience member got to the heart of the matter when he asked

"is that just words or is it a promise?"

and of course, it was a "promise".

There ws nothing really new and nothing that would convince non-Labour voters. It seemed like promises but possibly empty ones.

The Ed "I'm open to that" type line on the use of twitter type electronic voting is again not thought through enough in my opinion.

People know that electronic voting runs the risk of being manipulated and there is a risk that people may begin to distrust any system based on it.

All in all, it was uninspiring promises but top marks for asking questioners "what was your name?" That is listening a la Nick "fairness" Clegg.

Ed brilliant? I don't think so.

If you want brilliance and guts then wait for Farage. The audience will be anti, the Establishment will be anti, the teenage think tank whizz kids will be anti, but the people will be for him.

Here is an example of the courage that the spinners lack

'None of this is ever discussed by the political classes — there is no debate or criticism countenanced. There are huge problems with the NHS, deep structural ones, but, as I have said, I know more than most what that means on a personal level. When I had cancer, the incompetence and negligence of the NHS almost killed me, but it has also saved my life. I am certainly not taking any flak from gutless politicians who claim that I am no fan or supporter of the NHS. '

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11466515/Nigel-Farage-Cancer-a-lemon-sized-testicle-and-how-the-NHS-failed-me.html

and of course not only will Farage have the courage to go against twitter electronic style voting, but he even has the courage to scrap some of the current postal voting system

"Nigel Farage has called for the "bankrupt" first past the post electoral system to be scrapped after new research found the UK Independence Party will come second in 100 seats but only win half a dozen MPs.

The Ukip leader told The Telegraph he wanted the proportion of votes a party wins across the country to be reflected in the number of seats it has in the Commons and hinted it might be a manifesto pledge.

Mr Farage also said that the party would propose scrapping the Electoral Commission and ditching the current postal vote register because there were too many “fraudulent” names on the list."

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11457471/Nigel-Farage-attacks-bankrupt-voting-system-after-predictions-Ukip-will-come-second-in-100-seats.html

"What was your name?" won't fix things, only courage will do.

To be genuine, you need courage. Genuine change requires courage. I don't know if Ed really has enough of it, but Farage certainly does.

"seems very genuine"

What about two kitchens Miliband and the footage shot in the small kitchen?

Was that the hand of the Oxbridge teenage whizz kids again? Can Ed escape the spinners and be real? It takes courage to escape them, it takes courage to be genuine. It takes courage to say

"Oi, oxbridge teenage spinners, no!"

Farage is genuine, he laughs at the teenage thinnk tank twitterers, he tells them where to go.

Tune in when Farage is on. The whole Establishment will be against him, but he is with the people and will bring the spinners low.

"seems very genuine"

Will Farage be filmed with his family and children? Will he be filmed walking in the park holding his wife's hand?

Of course he won't. He is genuine, he respects the public too much. He tells the Oxbridge teenage think tank spin gurus where to go.

Yes, that format really suits Ed.

Thought he did extremely well. Those who are desperately looking for something to criticise will of course find something, but I was impressed with his answers and thought he came across as very genuine and humble. No wonder Cameron seems scared to debate!

He came across pretty much as well as could be hoped for, I thought. I wasn't terribly surprised though;- having heard him do a couple of interviews previously, I never thought he was weak, ineffectual or lacking in coherent policies. Blimey, it's almost as if the majority of the media had a vested interest in painting him thus, isn't it? .

He's not ground breaking, he's no intellectual (half hearted Labour supporter here), but I think he'll make a perfectly adequate PM.

Another thought that occurred to me last night- he's not particularly charismatic- just normal (and slightly geeky!). Personally, I don't think we want charisma in a politician. The last charismatic PM we had was Blair, and look where he led the Labour party .

The only charismatic party leader we have at the moment is Nigel Farage. Say no more....

'He came across pretty much as well as could be hoped for,'

That is the problem. This is the most important election in decades as the Establishment is facing an SNP insurgency in Scotland, a people's insurgency in England and Wales with UKIP and a Green insurgency too. And even with all of that, the public is not yet really interested in this election as one poster said in another post when she said how surprised she was that this section is so quiet for such an important election.

"half hearted Labour supporter here"

The whole public is "half hearted" because apart from the insurgency, all the Establishment parties just trot out the same uninspiring lines and promises and photoshoots with their spouses in their kitchens etc. No one believes the spinners any more, no one cares what they say because they don't believe they have the courage to make real change.

People are turned off politics because it is dominated by spin and professional spinners and whizz kids who patronise the public.

The people are looking for someone, anyone who is "genuine". Are the PPEs genuine, are they genuinely interested in the people or just in the Establshment and the old, tired, established ways?

Ed will lose this election because he can't inspire people. His personal poll ratings are low and he can't reach the public outside of the core Labour vote and even much of the core Labour vote is "half hearted" and disaffected with Labour.

It takes courage to be real and think policies through and go against the established Establishment wisdom or the established teenage think tank employees. Ed has had five years to think things through and come up with policies that inspire the people and he has failed which is why everywhere you look, you see a people's insurgency of SNP, UKIP and Greens.

The Ed debate with the yoof was full of whooping from the yoof and Ed thought some of the questions were "cool" and wanted to know of every single questioner "what was your name?"

But the whooping just shows how out of touch these programs are with the public. There is no "whooping" about politicians in the public. The public are turned off.

There will absolutely no "whooping" at all when Farage is on, there will be jeers and boos and the Establishment will turn the volume of those up. But you have to feel sorry for the Establishment, because even they know that out in the country among the people, the story is completely different. There is an insugency of the people everywhere except on the BBC.

"Yoof"?

"Yoof"?
Yes, the "whoopers"

'The closure of BBC3 is to be proposed by the BBC director general, the Guardian understands, bringing the curtain down on the youth-oriented TV channel after 11 years.'

www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/05/bbc3-axed-director-general-plans-tony-hall

The debate was on BBC3 where the BBC puts a lot of its yoof content. The whoops and the "cool" questions will only achieve marginal viewing figures.

The public are fed up of marginalisation and the population being ignored and segmented into different interest groups. The licence fee payers want value for money, and the yoof content seems to be facing cuts.

Are the BBC going to show a debate with Ed and an audience of pensioners?

Will Ed say that their questions are "cool" and wil he ask every pensioner "what was your name?" or will the pensioners tell him to mind his own business? Will the pensioners "whoop"?

Farage is genuine

Farage wants to remove equality laws and create a country where racism and sexism thrive. He sits in Europe with bigots and racists. Farage is a genuinely scary man.

Farage wants to cut maternity rights for women and equality legislation and will be incredibly bad for women

I just think he is either completely lacking in common sense, or is terrible at choosing suitable advisors. And neither of those things make for a good leader.

EM that is. No words for what I think of Farage.

'I just think he is either completely lacking in common sense, or is terrible at choosing suitable advisors.'

One follows the other. It is really all about conviction and caring about issues which necessarily leads to having thought issues through and taking advice that makes sense.

Cameron is very similar to Miliband in lacking real conviction, but Cameron has the advantage of being Prime Minister. Ed needs to do much better to convince the public to make a change and topple the incumbent and go back to the old Ed Balls economic team. Iit doesn't look like Ed has what it takes to inspire enough of the public. Scotland is a food example. It is generally socialis, but Labour is facing electoral annihilation in Scotland. Something has gone terribly wrong with Labour policy and strategy.

Is this the same mr farage who has said today that "an Indian" dr nearly killed him?
And that private medicine is better than the NHS?
I have experienced both and the NHS wins hands down.
They saved the life of my 38 year old bil last week who had a heamorragic stroke.
Mr farage is a political Jeremy clarkson.
I.e : moron.

This is what Farage said

"In the NHS, the system is so battered and poorly run that unless you are really lucky, you will fall through the cracks. The NHS is, however, astonishingly good at critical care. But what testicular cancer taught me is that the NHS will probably let you down if you need screening, fast diagnosis and an operation at a time that suits you.

I know how sacred the NHS is to the people of Britain; everyone is frightened that it will be taken away. But the cost of that fear is that the political classes are terrified of even criticising it. The standard of debate about the NHS on programmes such as Question Time is risible. No one — whether Tory, Labour or Liberal Democrat — will have anything but praise for the doctors and nurses of the NHS. Then they get a round of applause and that is it. It is as if you cannot support something and criticise it at the same time. I have now had three near-death experiences — cancer, an accident and a plane crash — and I’ve seen the best and worst of the NHS. I am better qualified to criticise and defend our health care system than most politicians."

Is that the NHS he wants to replace with a US style insurance system?

UKIP are the most politically incorrect party that tell the truth which takes courage and is "genuine" but don't be fooled that that means that UKIP supporters like Clarkson. They don't like rude or uncouth behaviour. They are principled and are not hypocrites.

"Loud-mouthed, boozy, right-wing - you'd think it would be UKIP voters who'd come out most strongly for Clarkson. But it isn't."

"Clarkson fans across the country are petitioning for the loud-mouth presenter to stay on the show.

You might be surprised that PM David Cameron is one of them. And Nigel Farage isn't.

But you shouldn't be - it really is posh British Conservatives that love Clarkson the most.

Ukip-pers, who love a boozy outspoken right-winger, are less likely to be fans of the car-loving Clarkson even though it'd seem that way.

They are more likely than Tories to want the BBC get rid of Clarkson, with 37% versus 31% of Tories saying the presenter should get the sack.

So makes sense that Mr Farage is saying that it's up to the BBC, and that punching a colleague as Clarkson is accused of doing, is a serious matter."

www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/jeremy-clarkson-divides-britain-politically-5320191