Wednesday 14 September 2011

The hecklers' accolade


Ed Miliband, I’m sure, knew exactly what he was doing when he spoke to the TUC yesterday – being heckled was just a bonus for him.  His words weren’t really aimed at those sitting in the hall, they were aimed at the television cameras, and the hecklers merely ensured that they made the news.
He, and his party’s strategists, will have concluded in advance that the trade union delegates – in England, anyway, which is where the bulk of them live – have nowhere else to go politically.  It doesn’t matter what Labour do or say, they’re not going to turn to the Tories or Lib Dems; their votes are safe.
Outside the hall, however, Labour need to attract back the votes which Blair attracted in three successive elections, and it is to their prejudices and opinions that Miliband needs to appeal, since – like most politicians – he’s more interested in saying what people want to hear than in offering an alternative vision.
I don’t know whether it will work or not, but the accolade of being heckled by the TUC will certainly do him no harm.  It could almost have been scripted.

1 comment:

Spirit of BME said...

Mr Dixon,
You are correct, but HMG will also use any man hours lost in strikes as a reason why the state has slipped back into recession, which we are heading there anyway at a great rate of knots.
The facts can be used by both sides, it’s a bit like young Billy and Kate Battenberg’s wedding, we were told that money from public purse was a good investment in the bash as people will come from far and wide to spend and stimulate economic growth .After the event when the poor economic growth figures came out the bash was blamed, as we were all on holiday. - Can I have my money back?