The knives are out for Ed Miliband. A full glistening assembly of sharpened weapons, desperately trying to prevent him reaching the Treasury. They come from right and left, businesses and trade unions, from the Tory party and even inside Labour.
Over the last few days, it feels as if half the newspaper headlines were aimed at trying to frighten Andy Burnham off making him chancellor. “Miliband as chancellor would be ‘noose around neck’ of job creation, says biggest union,” the Observer reported. “Markets would take Miliband chancellor appointment ‘worse’ than Streeting, predicts Cavendish chief,” City AM said. “Ed Miliband as chancellor risks market revolt, ministers warn,” The Times claimed.
A FTSE 100 chief executive told the FT that the Burnham/Miliband combination would be his “worst nightmare”. Another executive said his aversion to the energy secretary came because of his speech on “predators versus producers” as Labour leader – a full decade and a half ago. Another chief executive said: “I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather keep the consistency of Rachel Reeves.”
These comments demonstrate something profound and under-discussed: that the lack of seriousness in British politics is not simply the fault of politicians. It is also the fault of trade unions, the business sector and the press. These are just not serious contributions to the issue. They are the product of people who have not thought about what they are saying. They have no understanding of politicians’ relative skills or experience, or of their success or otherwise in office. They’re pure vibes. And it is on vibes alone that they give us their opinion.
