In Praise Of Ed Milliband.

Over the past few days we've seen in lurid form the benefits of having a calm long term strategy. If you're not a cricket fan it resides in an urn three inches high or you could just youtube the sprinkler dance. Two years ago England were about to lose to the West Indies, a historic power but one who are essentially absolutely awful. England didn't panic, they appointed a new leader to take them in a new direction (fnarr fnarr) that embraced the players that they had and the side that they wanted to be.

Ed Milliband has found himself in a similar situation. An electorate who rejected his party for a bloke who thinks cans of Guiness are an acceptable alternative to draft. A party that's restless and enough daft snipers to give a troop of clowns laser polka dot suits. So far in my view he's done brilliantly. Allowed those of us on the left to protest and describe the full horror of the governement's position without jumping himself, not criticising those with legitimate grievances and generally being a decent human being. If the Labour Party is to recover it must come from those protesting now, or those who moan in pubs and feel genuinely hurt by this terrible government. However to jump in now and form policy based on what are still ideas and movements still in their genesis would be daft. To wait and see what good ideas, political positions* and good old fashioned hard work comes out of the new movements that are fighting the battles now is not only sensible politics it's the only way to rebuild consensus between those who've been wronged and beat the Tories.

*Of course many will be old political ideas but they need to be tested worked on and find their relevance.