Labour MPs attack Jubilee celebrations as irrational and "a show of opulence by state elites"

By Matthew Barrett
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This morning, Tory MP Greg Hands tweeted: "Still lots of Labour MPs on Twitter carping and trying to find fault - any fault - they can with the Jubilee. Sad, but not surprising."

Hands was referring to the lack of positive tweets about the Jubilee celebrations coming from Labour MPs. A number of them were tweeting about the bad treatment of unemployed people used as stewards for the celebrations. Other thoughts from Labour MPs included:

Contagious infantalism silenced rational argument.

— Paul Flynn(@Paulflynnmp) June 6, 2012

Denis MacShane tried to put this angle on the coverage:

Professor friend abroad calls to say he was struck at all faces in Jubilee events seemed to be white. That right?

— Denis MacShane (@DenisMacShane) June 6, 2012

A LabourList poll suggests a steep decline in popularity for Ed Miliband over strikes

By Joseph Willits 
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Last week we reported some bad news for Ed Miliband, that according to a poll in the Sun, only 1 in 5 Labour voters would back him. Today signals further disappointment for the Labour leader with a poll on LabourList blaming Miliband's handling of public sector pensions strikes on 30th November for a steep decline in popularity.

• Only 26% of those polled consider Ed Miliband to be doing a 'good' or 'excellent' job as leader of the Labour party, compared to 40% in October, and 59% at his peak in July.
• The biggest percentage grouping of 41% felt Miliband's performance was 'poor' or 'very poor'.
• 33% would describe Miliband as 'average'.
• Although 83% of LabourList readers backed the strikes, 67% believed Miliband handled the situation badly. 
• Tom Watson, Yvette Cooper, and Andy Burnham were the three most popular in the Shadow Cabinet.

The poll was conducted between Monday 5th and Friday 9th December. 604 people voted. LabourList's Mark Ferguson wrote:

"It remains to be seen whether Miliband can bounce back in the New Year, or whether the damage done is permanent".