BY BRAD JAMES
Ed Miliband has been wading through the obscurity surrounding his own potential, by making one hell of strident come back in this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Opposition Leader opened proceedings with a swipe the PM’s broken promises, where his campaign bid vowed: “if I don’t keep my promises, vote me out in five years time.”
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David Cameron’s response was to answer in kind with the promises he has kept, ranging from free TV Licences for the elderly and a raise in funding for cancer care. Avoiding the issue yet again, Cameron continued to list virtues of the coalition that no one asked for. Including reducing the nation’s carbon emissions and a reduction in what he deems as wasteful spending, leaning finally on trusty ad hominem to accuse Mr. Miliband of “standing on a soap box to make him look taller.” This was a below the belt jab regarding a picture that appeared to make Ed the same height as a 6ft 3 MP. His jibe did not go down too well with Parliament, but Mr. Miliband asked David Cameron if he was willing to appear in the face-to-face TV debate.
“We are debating now,” David Cameron replied. Mr. Milliband was clearly referring to the televised debate poised to take place in just over three weeks time.
Though it seems the PM is unsure of what Prime Minister’s Questions are. It is not a debate in any format, it is the nation’s leader having MP’s put questions to him. Though David Cameron remained tight-lipped over his participation in the TV debates.
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I am not a fan of Prime Minister’s Questions. I find it to be a raucous, self-serving circus where a bunch of boys, cut from the same cloth, shout, laugh and wave nonsensically with all mouth and no action. Action is what is needed to make the world a better place and though the UK has it better than most, many still suffer as a result of austerity. Those issues are not going to be alleviated by some cheap point scoring, vague assertions alluding what you can do better or the prowess of your political administration when the actions of said government have left swathes of the populace so wanting. Yet it is here that Ed Miliband is becoming so adept, yet does not attain wider notice by a nation that balks when they envision him as Prime Minister.
Such rigorous holding of the Prime Minister to account shows his conviction as a politician. It can also be an ample demonstration of the ease of being able to pick at the foibles of the rivals, without having had the faults of your leadership exposed either. His fervent pressing of David Cameron does show a commitment to his values as Leader of the Opposition and standing up for those on the left feeling unrepresented by aggressive Tory neo-liberalism. Though we are on a battlefield that loves centralization now, an all things to all people quality that no one can replicate, yet has to be attempted for every person a political party governs. Ed Miliband, like every other politician, is trapped by apathy and a sense of no direction in a shrinking voter turnout. What he really needs to commit to is a nature of change, a listening ear and a finger on the pulse. Then perhaps, Red Ed’s Labour Party will become the blood oxygenating Britannia…
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