The Millibandwagon - Red Ed and his oppurtunism

Ed Milliband has just had his first one hundred days in his job as leader of the Labour Party and in those one hundred days he has opposed and been opportunistic over most of the coalitions policies. Now this is all well and good but what makes this worse and in my view unacceptable is the fact that Ed Milliband has no real plan in tackling the structural deficit that the coalition inherited from his devalued government. If you do not have a plan yourself then you don't really have the legitimacy to criticise a plan.

Take for example the recent rise in VAT to 20% the Labour Party did not rule out a rise in VAT in its manifesto and in fact the only party to rule out the rise in VAT where the Liberal Democrats who warned against a VAT tax bombshell from the Conservatives in a series of election posters. however, after making compromises in the coalition agreement it has been agreed that a VAT rise would be a better option than increasing income tax. I do not think that Ed Milliband has the moral legitimacy to criticise the coalition for making tough decisions in the national interest. Ideally we would not have to put VAT up but we have such a huge structural deficit and the two ways to reduce a deficit like this is by either raising levels off taxation , cuts in public spending or combination of both which is the case at the moment. The Conservative party traditionally stand for low taxes and minimal state interference in are lives so for the Conservative Party to raise the rate of VAT to 20% would suggest serious financial problems.

Furthermore, Ed Milliband tells us he is in favour of a Graduate Tax but we do not even know what this would consist off and it is flawed as many students coming from abroad who would then return to there home country would not have to pay the graduate tax. Alan Johnson the Shadow Chancellor has even admitted that this policy is unworkable and has now done a U-Turn and is apparently in favour of a Graduate Tax, why cant Ed Milliband not work with the coalition in finding a policy that works for all parties that they can all agree on as oppose to what he is doing at the moment. Opposing the coalition when it comes to the deficit for the sake of been partisan and taking a rather populist stance.

We have seen weekly at Prime Ministers Questions Ed Milliband using cheer lines intended to get Labour members cheering there leader and its all well and good having a plan for Prime Ministers Questions but frankly he does not have a plan for the economy and the country in general. It is very easy to jump on the 'Millibandwagon' and oppose the tough spending cuts and taxes implemented by the coalition but as the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne put it:' there is no money left'. When interviewed by the BBC today and asked about his intentions on cutting the deficit he proclaimed that it would be halved in four years when asked how this was going to be carried out he said that a higher bank levy would be introduced. Clearly, this would not be enough to even half the current deficit.

Surprisingly, it looks very likely that Labour will win the Oldham by-election next week where they are using this by-election as a referendum on the coalition. The best outcome i believe for both the Tories and the Lib Dems would be a Liberal Democrat win and you can tell they want it as they are sending out there big guns with Simon Hughes, Tim Farron, Charles Kennedy (stop me if you have heard of one of them) and oh yes Nick Clegg visiting the constituency.

Ed Milliband is also looking to reduce the power that Trade Unions will play in the Labour Party he plans to reduce there stake in the electoral college when electing Labour Leaders and is also looking on introducing a cap on donations. The Labour Party was originally born out of the trade union movement and it has for many years since bankrolled the party and was the reason behind Ed Millibands victory over his brother David and the reason for his nickname 'Red Ed'. With David been supported by the three other groups represented in the two other groups off the Electoral College; MP and MEPs and Party Members.

Going back to the main theme of the post the Labour Party should do well in the elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly but it is often infuriating for me to see the Labour Party oppose legislation in a clear opportunistic way in the attempt to gain popularity. I just hope that the electorate can see right through the big state approach that Ed Milliband would bring to government.