The Unions Think They Won

OK, how many of you were smart enough to put their money on the younger of the Miliband dynasty?  Roughly 10% of you were right in my poll.  I do hope the payout allows to have an enjoyable evening.

As a prize I'm sure this will delight you.  As for many of us, EM being ex-climate change secretary doesn't bode well, but then again he did say he would listen to the people in his acceptance speech - yes I watched it and have no excuses except the standard one - I was on a gardening break. Full steam ahead for the carbon footprint scam then.

So there we have it.  Banana man has lost when he thought he had it made, yet I doubt if he's too disappointed as the brothers aren't a cigarette paper apart in my opinion.  The unions may think they are but all they've got to do is wait. Let's be honest, the unions don't hold anything like the power then did 20 years ago, so to have a leader who is in hoc to them doesn't leave Ed Miliband much room for negotiation.

What will the tories and libdems think?  The opposite of what they say tomorrow.

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The Fibbing Five

It's the last week of the most gripping/tedious political event to have taken place in the past months since the general election.

Not being a Labour party member thankfully I don't have to vote but thousands do - and many, like Mr and Mrs Harman, will vote early and vote often.

Hasn't it all been rather courteous so far?  False courtesy of course but fibs are the common factor in Labour elections.  Just this weekend Miliband Jnr was saying he was anti the war in Iraq.  He wasn't even an MP then but a wee fib to the faithful doesn't hurt.  After all, all politicians do it - some are just better at it than others.

Neil Kinnock's in on the act now.  You just can't keep a champagne socialist down.  The Labour supporting Scottish Sunday Mail refers to Kinnock as a 'Labour statesman' who is accusing Miliband Snr of smearing his brother Ed and being "deeply resentful" that his younger brother is standing against him.  He has also claimed David's team have spread "bloody bile" about Ed being too left-wing and in the pocket of his union backers.  David is Darling's choice.  "There is a good field but David has a very clear sense of direction and what the government can do to help people get on and help themselves and their families."  To me Miliband Snr has a little touch of the Mr Bean about him.

If you have a minute to spare vote in the Poll in the right hand column. It's only fun and no labour supporters should take the results seriously. Then again...

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How to Choose

After wasting an hour of my life watching Question Time last night, I thought this would be appropriate this morning.

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Thank You Mr Haig, Thank You

Dear Mr Hague

I know you've been under intense pressure in the past 24 hours regarding your personal life but I would like to thank you for saving my sanity during that period. Your timing was perfect.

Yesterday a man published a book about himself and in the past week or so thought he'd spoken to everyone he surmised would be valuable to the success of his book launch. Yet you dominated the headlines. Excellent.

By yesterday evening you were still headlines and Channel 4 News' Labour leaders' debate drifted into oblivion (the only place for it). Again I thank you for saving me from the endless media analysis of the Not Famous Five.

Your sexuality doesn't interest me in the least but your capabilities as the country's Foreign Secretary do. In your position sharing a twin room with a male colleague was rather a silly thing to do, but people like me are forced to do it regularly, even with strangers. Only last year I was enrolled on a training course and arrived to find I was sharing a twin room with a total stranger - female of course. It could have spiced the weekend up a little if it had been some unknown male, but alas, I'll never know.

Now you've given your detailed response the matter should be laid to rest and you get on with the job which we pay you to do. Time to come up with some answers about the transfer of powers to the EU and to give us a vote on these. Time to clarify how the changes in the EU justice system will affect us. Lots of problems for you to resolve.

My sincere thanks once again.

Yours

Subrosa

PS May I suggest you buy a camper van for your personal use during campaigns? I know they're advertised as having room for two, but from experience the space is only enough for one plus a decent sized TV. Don't buy one if you're in the least claustrophobic.

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The UK's Brothers Grimm

Lots of talk this weekend about the Miliband brothers putting themselves forward for the position of the Labour party. David is said to be a Blairite while Ed is referred to as a Brownite (for some strange reason the page in Wiki has been deleted).

As many of you will know I have never been impressed in any way with the public performances of David Miliband. Although his party supporters insist he is highly experienced and a man suitable to be prime minister, I cannot visualise it. His demeanor is that of an overgrown schoolboy having been given the important task of being in charge of the school lunch queue.

This weekend I watched his younger brother Ed deliver his candidacy speech to the faithful and I have to admit I was taken by his communication skills and his capacity for connecting with his audience. Although he stuck to the party line he deviated to make it sound personal rather than parrot-like.

One of my non-political friends asked me if having brothers at the top of a party would cause problems. I have no idea what effect it would have. The workings of the labour party are not what I want from political representatives.

Are they the UK's Brothers Grimm? The original Brothers Grimm are famous for their folk tales from Europe and fairy tales such as 'The Frog Prince' and 'Cinderella' among many others, while the Milibands' stories to date are 'Fairness' and 'A Movement for Change'. Undoubtedly there will be more tales in the next months.

Of course the Milibands are only the first to declare their candidacies. We will have Ed Balls declaring his intention to run in the next few days along with Jon Cruddas and others. I think I will be washing my hair quite often this week.

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