Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Miliband Comes up Short in Opposition Leaders' Debate

If the opinion polls are accurate, the next British government is most likely to be formed by a party that has no majority in the House of Commons. This journal believes that Labour will finish the election with the largest faction in the House, but it will be a dozen or two seats shy of what it needs to govern. Last night, Labour leader Ed Miliband showed why this is so as he "debated"the leaders of the UKIP, Green Party, and Scottish and Welsh Nationalists. He's offering "Tory-lite" and not a courageous alternative to austerity.

The affair itself was a weird event unlikely to be repeated in future elections. Because the British have taken to the American idea of televised political debates, a series for this election was always in the cards. However, Prime Minister David Cameron had no interest in any, which is usually how an incumbent running away from his record acts. As a result, the media have cobbled together an uneven quartet of events for the whole of the UK (the Celtic countries have their own in addition). In March, Jeremy Paxman interviewed Messrs. Cameron and Miliband back-to-back, and earlier this month, there was a joint press conference (not really a debate) among the seven largest mainland parties (Ulster parties, especially the Democratic Unionists, should have participated but were not invited).

Last night's affair featured the five mainland parties that are represented in Commons but which are in opposition. Thus, Mr. Cameron was absent, by his own choice, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats did not participate owing to the fact that his junior partnership in the coalition gave him a way out of defending a government in which he is only an accessory. This format, therefore, offered Mr. Miliband the opportunity to score points against parties that have no hope of forming a government, and who therefore are presumed by Labour to be poaching Labourite voters.

Instead of landing heavy blows and scoring points, Mr. Miliband was upbraided by Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood. They essentially complained that Labour wasn't offering a Labour program. Ed Miliband's election as leader was meant to be a step back from Tony Blair's New Labour Red Toryism. In point of fact, it has been a half-step at best.

Fortunately for Mr. Miliband, Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party was also on stage, and so, Labour was not the only target for the three women leaders. Ms. Sturgeon proved herself the most able debater when she told Mr. Farage that blaming everything on immigrants was wrong, and she further noted that EU immigrants make a net contribution to the UK's economy.

That said, having Mr. Farage as the sole right-wing speaker damaged Mr. Cameron. Although the audience was not all lefty, despite Mr. Farage claiming so to a round of boos, the audience at home who waver between voting Tory and Kipper heard only one side of the argument on the right of the spectrum. One expects that the Tory vote count will be lower after last night than it would have been had Mr. Cameron shown up.

With three weeks to go till polling day, it is difficult to see what might move the needle short of a disastrous scandal. The collapse of the SNP vote that so many have predicted will, at most, be mild, and Nats will be Scotland's largest party. Whether that means 30, 40 or 50 seats remains to be seen. Because there is but one Tory north of Hadrian's Wall, that means those seats are going to come mostly from Labour. It is the loss of support in Scotland that will cost Mr. Miliband a majority.

Labour needs to learn a lesson from this if it is to regain its stature in Scotland and Wales. Left-wing voters owe Labour nothing. Labour must go out and win over those voters during each and every campaign. The strength of the Nationalists and the Greens stems from Labour not taking the interests of those voters seriously while taking their votes for granted. A stint as a minority government might just be the medicine Labour needs

© Copyright 2015 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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