Tuesday 21 July 2015

Is Ed Miliband's legacy the creation of a more left wing Labour Party?

Yesterday's welfare debate, and the last two months of the new parliament have shown conclusively that the legacy of Miliband, and the selection process that was so dominated by the unions, has resulted in a more left wing Labour Party.
This from this mornings Guardian, which makes the case eloquently:

"Labour’s disarray over the government’s welfare policy and the party’s wider divisions over the best response to the general election defeat were underlined when 48 Labour MPs, just under a quarter of the parliamentary party, defied their whips and voted against the welfare bill at second reading. 
Harriet Harman, the interim leader, had urged Labour MPs to send a message to the electorate that they were listening to concerns over welfare payments by abstaining on the welfare bill after voting for an amendment that set out the party’s objections to the bill.
However, Labour whips suggested that as much as 40% of the intake of Labour MPs at the 2010 election had rebelled by voting against the bill, apparently confirming that the parliamentary party had moved to the left during Ed Miliband’s leadership."