This is a nomination for the Bright Green #dick2010 award from Jane Watkinson

Ed Miliband, the flip-flop…

When Ed Miliband (EM) was elected, many on the left believed Labour would become closer to its roots, the labour movement. However, many Greens (sadly, not me at first) rightly had a much more apathetic stance to EM’s election.

EM ran a leadership campaign that attempted to distance himself from his brother. However, once elected, he u-turned protests, joked about supporting the student movement as Caroline Lucas marched on her birthday, whilst maintaining a shocking PR (consider the recent donation reform confusion, for example).

His ‘leadership’ has lacked authority, which only represents the failures of a political system governed by consensus style politics, where the lowest common dominator prevails undermining any hope of an ‘open’ policy review. EM has failed to distinguish Labour from a harmful cut programme, instead campaigning for what McCluskey put so well: ”What do we want? Fewer cuts later on”.

Therefore, EM is a testament to how we shouldn’t rely on party politics alone for systematic change. Only through building an outside movement, aside from party politics, will we construct counter-forces to challenge the prevailing social, political and economic relations.