Europe, public spending, union power grabs...Labour have plenty of splits of their own

By Mark Wallace
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The media is intent on a "Tory splits" narrative. Given the obsessive focus on any hint of disagreement on the blue side of the House, it is surprising that there has been so little reporting of Labour's splits.

They do have them - three in the last four days, in fact. Here they are:

The EU

Yesterday, various figures from the left and right of the Labour Party launched Labour for a Referendum - only days after Ed Miliband publicly rejected the idea of giving the people a say on Britain's EU membership. The rebels aren't just eurosceptic "usual suspects" like Kate Hoey, they include Brussels fans like former Europe Minister Keith Vaz.

How has Ed Miliband's sixth re-launch progressed so far?

By Matthew Barrett
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A week on from Ed Miliband's sixth re-launch, it would be timely to review his progress. Has he managed to persuade the public of his credibility at last? Has he managed to thrash the Coalition in the polls? Is his Party settled and united behind his leadership? It seems not. 

• Ed Balls' big policy speech hinted at Labour wishing to earn economic credibility: "In a speech to the Fabian Society on Saturday, Balls said he accepted every spending cut being imposed by the coalition and endorsed George Osborne's public sector pay freeze, adding that it might need to continue beyond the end of the current parliament."
• Ed Miliband then supported this stance: "Ed Miliband has backed his shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, saying he cannot promise to reverse any spending cut at this stage, and dismissed criticism of his own leadership as "part of the gig"."
• ...But at the same time, Miliband said Labour opposes the cuts the Coalition is making: "If Labour was in power now we wouldn't be making those changes. We wouldn't be cutting as far and as fast as the government."
• Perhaps this best explains what Miliband's position seems to be: "Labour's newly calibrated position is that it opposes some spending cuts, on the basis they slow recovery, but cannot promise to reinstate any of them ahead of an election."

Ed Miliband's latest relaunch avoids policy details and economic credibility

By Matthew Barrett
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Ed Miliband's much-talked-about relaunch speech today (his sixth relaunch, which is Iain Duncan Smith territory and worse than John Major) is, on the face of it, an attempt to square the social democratic principle of redistribution (or "fairness") with the harsh reality of there probably not being much to redistribute after the next general election.

The speech was lacking in specific policies, because Mr Miliband decided to pull his punches:

"In short, where the Government is stripping demand out of the economy, we would go less far and less fast. We call for these things not because we aren’t interested in dealing with the deficit. We call for them because we are. The sooner growth and jobs return the easier it is to reduce the deficit we face. That action to get growth moving must be combined with balanced cuts. And to get Britain’s budget back into balance and the national debt back on a downward path, we will set out tough new fiscal rules. But as I said earlier, the deficit will persist well into the next parliament, well beyond 2015. So today I want to focus on that horizon."

Here we see he has the opportunity to "set out tough new fiscal rules", but then refuses to do so, instead telling us about "the principles which will guide the Labour Party under my leadership" - far safer ground, because it contains no specifics and is subjective. 

In the week of the Autumn Statement, Ed Balls is under attack from business groups, economists, his own party, and the public

By Matthew Barrett
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In the week of George Osborne's Autumn Statement, you might think the Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, would be able to score the open goals and publicity that Opposition politicians can usually manage. 

Instead, Ed Balls and his economic plans are under attack from all sides. From the left, the Shadow Cabinet and Labour insiders are trying to set the Labour Party on a different economic course. Economists and business groups continue to support the government and reject Balls' alternative economic plans. The public still blames Labour for the economic crisis. 

Labour blogger Dan Hodges tweeted this morning: "Just spoke to a shadow cabinet member; "Ed Ball's strategy is hurting but it isn't working"." Shortly after that tweet, he added: "The shadow cabinet's concern about Labour's economic stance is about to become a story".

Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary adopts "mature patriotism" towards Europe

By Matthew Barrett
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Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, has written for the Guardian today, on Labour's new policy of "mature patriotism" towards Europe. Alexander writes: 

"Our task is instead to tell a new story about Britain and Europe, rooted in the need for reform revealed by new economic and political realities. To cut ourselves off from a market of 500 million customers wouldn't just imply we had lost faith in Europe, it would suggest we had lost faith in the ability of British companies to outcompete their European rivals. High-value services and high-skill manufacturing need to be underwritten by common standards and competition laws."

Labour's five-point economic plan would add over £20billion to the deficit

By Matthew Barrett
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In a Parliamentary Question released on Thursday, the official Treasury estimate of the cost of Labour's five-point economic plan was given - it totalled more than £20 billion, which would be added to the budget deficit. 

Michael Meacher, the veteran left-wing Labour MP, asked:

"To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the contribution by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 12 October 2011, Official Report, columns 366-82, what evidence he considered in concluding that adoption of the five-point plan would (a) increase the deficit by £27 billion and (b) raise interest rates by one per cent."

Chloe Smith, the recently appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, replied to Mr Meacher, listing the Treasury's estimation of the deficit-expanding measures featured in Labour's plans:

• Reducing the rate of VAT for a year "would increase the deficit by around £12.4 billion."
• A temporary reduction in VAT on home improvements would increase the deficit by £2.2bn
• A temporary reduction in employer national insurance contributions for small businesses taking on extra workers is estimated to increase the deficit by around £1bn
• "The cost of bringing forward capital spending would depend on the specific proposal. The estimate given in the debate reflected an illustrative assumption that the policy would imply no real terms cuts in capital departmental expenditure limits in 2011-12. If this were the case, the increase in the deficit would be £5.5 billion"

Labour Shadow Education Minister argues for the abolition of private schools

By Matthew Barrett
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Stephen Twigg, a Blairite reformer, was appointed to the Shadow Education brief in Ed Miliband's last reshuffle. As a former Education Minister who helped the drive for academy schools in the New Labour years, it was hoped his appointment might signal Ed Miliband's support for the Coalition's Free Schools programme. 

Indeed, Twigg said earlier this month:

"On free schools, I am saying that we need to apply a set of tests, that we are not going to take an absolute policy of opposing them. The tests should be: will the school raise standards for pupils and parents, will it contribute to a narrowing of the achievement gap between rich and poor and what is the wider impact of that school?"

Unfortunately, any credibility that Twigg may have in his brief will be undermined by the class war, anti-rich sentiments of his deputy, Kevin Brennan (pictured above), who last night spoke in favour of abolishing private schools - a proposal last seen in Labour's 1983 manifesto, aka the "longest suicide note in history".

Brennan was speaking at the Oxford Union, where he proposed the motion "This House Would Abolish Private Schools". Brennan had previously spoken in favour of the same motion in his debut speech to the Oxford Union - as a student.

Media reaction to Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet reshuffle

By Matthew Barrett
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Following Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet reshuffle this afternoon, we can take a look at some of the reaction in the press:

• The Spectator's James Forsyth: "The Labour reshuffle is an attempt to bring more energy and aggression into Ed Miliband's top team. It is also a recognition that the party has failed to cut through on public service reform, hence new shadows at both health and education. Chuka Umunna's rapid promotion to shadow Business Secretary will, I suspect, dominate coverage of the reshuffle."
• The Daily Telegraph's James Kirkup: "Lord (Stewart) Wood is an old Brown hand who was already in the shadow cabinet. He’s joined there by his former office mate Michael Dugher ... stepping up from Ed’s PPS. Jon Trickett, the new shadow for the Cabinet Office, was also Mr Brown’s PPS. ... And the most interesting move of all is the arrival of the new Labour Party Deputy Chair and Campaign Coordinator: ladies and gents, I give you Mr Tom Watson." 
• Former education advisor to Blair, Conor Ryan: "It is good news that Stephen Twigg, an unashamed fan of academies, has been appointed by Ed Miliband as his new shadow education secretary. Andy Burnham never really regained the initiative having started badly"
• Iain Dale: "On balance, I would say that this reshuffle does indeed make Ed Miliband’s team stronger, especially from the point of view of getting on the media. That may seem a false priority, but if a politician can’t get on the media in opposition, they’re not much cop."
• The Daily Mail's Tim Shipman: "Tom [Watson] and Michael [Dugher] will both deny that they were part of the 'forces of hell', the group of Brown briefers who spent as much time denouncing their colleagues as their political opponents. But it is a fact that they were both close to Damian McBride before he disgraced himself. It is also worth remembering that McBride was also a brilliant Westminster operator before he got carried away. These guys understand the dark arts and they are good at them."

Ed Miliband to open up Labour leadership elections to the public?

By Matthew Barrett
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Will Ed Miliband open up Labour's leadership elections to the public? Not quite. Mr Miliband has tabled proposals at a meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee to create "tens of thousands" of "registered supporters" who will be eligible to vote in future leadership elections. However, the "registered supporters" would be included in the part of Labour's electoral college which includes the unions and affiliated socialist societies (the Fabian Society, Christian Socialist Movement, Labour Students, etc), which means - on the face of it - the unions’ share of the leadership votes will be cut.

Contrary to how this news might be reported, the proposal is modest and does not mean ordinary folk will really be able to influence elections. The reality is that non-party members have always been able to vote - the affiliated societies section can include non-members, and the trade unions section already includes plenty of non-Labour members. For example, members and supporters of the Conservatives, who were also union members, were allowed a vote in last year's Labour leadership election. 

The next Scottish Labour leader... Tom Harris MP?

By Matthew Barrett
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The BBC is reporting that Scottish Labour MP Tom Harris "has stated his interest in becoming the new Labour leader in Scotland.". Harris is firmly on the centre-left, and was one of Labour's star bloggers before leaving the blogosphere last year. He also stood, unsuccessfully, for the Shadow Cabinet elections after Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour Party late last year. 

The Scottish Labour leadership election has, so far, failed to look particularly professional, and this seems to be one of the reasons for Harris' entry into the race. The Scotsman has more details:

"Mr Harris, speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme today, said he had put his name forward because of the lack of candidates to emerge from Labour's ranks at the Scottish Parliament.

He said: "The reason I have allowed my name to be mentioned in the speculation about this is purely and simply because we lost in May, Iain Gray announced he was standing down in September, which is next week, and I don't even know if that's going ahead."

Mr Harris added: "I am raising the possibility - the very slim possibility of my candidacy - because there are ideas that I have that I think the party should at least be debating, because by the time the next Scottish Parliament elections come up in 2016, we need to know what type of party Scottish Labour will be.""