Miliband fights to maintain Oldham momentum
By Ian Dunt
Ed Miliband has warned unions off striking on the royal wedding day, as he fights to maintain momentum from his Oldham East and Saddleworth win.
Asked about reports that London Underground workers could strike on April 29th, when Prince William and Kate Middleton get married, the Labour leader told the Andrew Marr programme: “I am appalled at the idea of strikes to disrupt people going to the royal wedding.
“It alienates the public, and it is not the way to make the political argument we need to make.”
The Labour leader is expected to reiterate the warning to union leaders this week.
The statement will be seen as a further effort to rid himself of the ‘Red Ed’ moniker.
Over the weekend, Mr Miliband tried to wrestle the idea of the ‘big society’ from the Conservatives, telling a Fabian Society gathering that people should be “be liberated to have the real freedom to shape their own lives”.
Mr Miliband envisaged the process taking place through greater funding for community projects, rather than leaving local work to charities and voluntary organisations, however.
In a revival of the rhetoric which saw him win the Labour leadership election, Mr Miliband also criticised the Labour government’s record on civil liberties and its failure to properly regulate the market.
The party allowed itself to support “the bureaucratic state and the overbearing market”, he said.
The speech showed that the Labour leader was moving even further away from the ideas of his predecessor, although a later radio interview revealed that he still talked with Gordon Brown and, interestingly, Tony Blair.
“This job is such a hard job that it is right that I keep in touch with the people who had done it, so I talk to Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Neil Kinnock,” he said.
“It’s only when you have been in the job [that] you can really understand the pressure it involves, so I get advice from lots of people.”
Mr Miliband also reiterated his offer to cooperate with Liberal Democrats both inside and outside parliament to defeat the coalition’s economic agenda.
“The decision of the Liberal Democrats to join a Conservative-led government was a tragic mistake, and I hope they come to see that in time,” he said.
“Forgive me if I decline to join those who are gloating at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, because their mistake means they are part of a government attempting to shift politics to the right.
“There are many Liberal Democrats who have decided to stay and fight for the progressive soul of their party. Most of them do not want to see their progressive tradition sacrificed for personal ambition. I respect their choice too and I understand how painful it must be to watch what is happening to their party,” he continued.
“We do not doubt that they hold sincere views and we will cooperate where we can in parliament and outside, with those that want to fight the direction of this government.”
But comments about working with Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes on saving the educational maintenance allowance (EMA) prompted an irritated response.
While the two men had discussed their mutual support for the payment, Mr Hughes lashed out at Mr Miliband for “using misleading rhetoric in television interviews for cheap political point-scoring”.
