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Doing the right thing on phone-hacking is no guarantee of success
Ed Miliband's response to phone-hacking is picking up plaudits from the public but losing him friends in the shadow cabinet.
By Dan Hodges Published 11 July 2011 13:55
Ed Miliband's conversion on the road to Wapping may have won him plaudits among the Labour grass roots and the liberal press, but it's starting to generate concern within the shadow cabinet.
On Sunday Labour's leader admitted he personally had not done enough to challenge the excesses of News International, before pointedly stating that Labour had been "too close" to the Murdoch empire. On the same day, the Mail on Sunday quoted, "well placed sources" claiming Tony Blair had urged Gordon Brown to block close ally Tom Watson from pursuing his one man crusade into the phone-hacking scandal. Some people think thing the two events are not unconnected.
"They're attempting to re-write history", said one shadow cabinet source. "They're basically saying Tony sold out to Murdoch but Brown would have stood up to him. It's a fantasy."
"Ed's people feel that for just about the first time in his leadership they've located a profitable seam," said another source. "It's playing well for them at the moment, and I understand why they're going with it, but they're not thinking strategically".
Those worried about Miliband's stance on the issue have two broad concerns. The first is that the attacks on Labour's past relationship with the Murdoch press are really coded attacks on Tony Blair and his New Labour project. Others said it was a direct rebuttal to a speech Blair delivered to the Progress conference on Friday, in which the former Prime Minister directly attacked Brown - "From 1997 we were New Labour. In June 2007, frankly we stopped. We didn't become Old Labour exactly but we lost the driving rhythm that made us different and successful" - and warned Ed Miliband against moving away from his pro-business agenda. Even Blair's own supporters acknowledge the speech was provocative. "To be honest, it was a bit silly," said one former Blair ally. "He didn't really say anything new, and just managed to be antagonistic".
Friends of Ed Miliband robustly reject any suggestion that his comments on Sunday were a response to Blair's speech, or that they constituted a premeditated assault on his New Labour legacy. "That's bollocks," said one. "Ed acknowledged that everyone was playing the game. He doesn't deny he was part of it too. But the world changed last week. This isn't Blair v Brown or Ed v Blair or Labour v News International. It's about doing what's right. There are some people who get that, and some who don't".
The second concern being expressed by some senior colleagues is that the stance on News International heralds a return to the liberal political positioning which characterized Ed Miliband's leadership campaign. "Ed's going back to defining himself against New Labour", said a source, "it's about worrying about what the party thinks of him, instead of what the country thinks of him". Another insider pointed to Miliband's description of the 'new' political centre ground, which he characterized as: "You speak out on these issues of press responsibility, a new centre ground that says that responsibility in the banking system - which we didn't talk about enough when we were in government - is relevant, a new centre ground that says people are worried about concentrations of private power in this country when it leads to abuses."
"We're going back to damn the bosses and eat the rich," said the source.
Another shadow cabinet insider pointed to the attacks on the News International culture. "We're now running around attacking papers like the News of the World for exposing abuses in welfare and immigration. But the problem wasn't that News of the World was writing this stuff, the problem was we stuck our heads in the sand and tried to ignore it when we were in Government".
Again, sources close to Ed Miliband brush aside the criticism. "The premise is false. Ed has demonstrated continuity and clear leadership on issues such as personal responsibility at the bottom as well as the top; on the strikes, where he was the first Labour leader to actually condemn a strike; and on standing up to the unaccountable power of the press. The problem is people are still thinking in old terms of whether something is 'left' or 'right'. What Ed's going to do on this, and all the other issues he confronts, is take a step back and say: 'What's the right thing to do and what's the wrong thing to do'. People are just going to have to get used to the fact that's how he operates."
Ed Miliband has won praise for his response to the phone-hacking crisis. He has been seen to impose himself on an agenda and capture an issue for probably the first time since he became Labour leader.
But in politics, doing the right thing is no guarantee of success.
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75 comments
Hollywood used to pin a lot of its hopes on the 'buddy-buddy' movie.
Newman and Redford really took off when they were paired! Stating the obvious, Batman and Robin continued in this vein.
Tony and Gordon brought this twin approach to political success.
During his long movie career,John Wayne usually had to steady the nerves of a juvenile or two.
Now we have David and Georgie. We'll have to give it room to develop.
Murdoch was so fanatic in his support of Tony and Gordon that his creatures concentrated all their wiles and electronic techiques on uncovering their social, financial and family secrets.
Hate to think of what they have been doing in their pursuit of David and Georgie secrets.
awesom
robjam ,
"a wee bit of critical distance might not go amiss".
No, it's a straight news piece.
Matthew,
It does answer your question, just not in the way you'd like it answered.
If you think Miliband is not fit to lead the Labour party you may as well just say it.
However Miliband has utterly humbled Cameron right before summer holidays. This state of affairs speaks for itself.
The News Corp empire has been diminished and again this state of affairs speaks for itself. Any good liberal ought to be applauding these developments instead of curling up in the foetal position.
Cameron and Murdoch got pwned.
Dan, if your "source" (singular) has not got the courage of his convictions then why are you publicising them for him? If he wants his views heard, he should grow a pair come out and state them or just STFU.
Otherwise he is just another miserable coward.
Dan, it does not. You going from saying the shadow cabinet, to senior members of the shadow cabinet.
Which one is it going to be ?
Mr Hodges
With reference to your title:
Doing the right thing on phone-hacking is no guarantee of success.
NOT Doing the right thing on phone-hacking is a guarantee of weakness/cowardice/failure.
Blair's messianic complex seems to be getting worse. Labour really need to dump some of the toxic elements of his reign (Iraq, surveillance, cosiness with Murdoch) to regain popularity. But every time they try up he pops again to say I was right and you're all wrong and for some reason people in the cabinet still listen to him.
Labour need to be a voice for the common person in this country because the coalition sure as hell won't be. Right now the common person is disgusted by the actions of News International and to stay distant from the whole affair will only confirm fears that politicians are basically all the same.
Alistair Campbell seems to be aware of that but Blair wants the party to pussyfoot around to avoid tarnishing his legacy. Its sounding like he and some of his shadow cabinet colleagues are worried about what might emerge concerning them.
On this, Ed Miliband got the approach absolutely right. He did absolutely the right thing and challenged Murdoch's move towards his Bsky B bid. He pulled it off and all credit to him.
Cameron as always tries to mop up on popularity by some kind of pretence that there was all round cross party consenus. It's certainly not what he was indicating a week or so ago when he clearly wasn't up for the Murdoch probe and block on the bid.
It's good to see Cameron get shafted, but let's not kid ourselves he'll be striking up some kind of a deal with Murdoch. Truth is that without the Murdoch press and those gullable enough to believe all they read, the Tories lose the only prop that's holding them up.
It's certainly not the Liberals or this lot's performance on growth and the economy which is keeping Cameron where he is.
Cameron will be desperate to rebuild his failing media support. Let's hope disgruntled journalists stop writing the trash they do and stop the spin and start telling us the real news.
It's upon this that the nation should be able to see how badly this lot are 'running' the country.
Gracie,
Which anonymous source are you referring to?
There are quite a few.
I ask, because it's my experience that anonymous sources that contradict the political viewpoint of my readers are invalid, whilst those that support them are perfectly fine.
@Dan Hodges
"The first is that the attacks on Labour's past relationship with the Murdoch press are really coded attacks on Tony Blair and his New Labour project."
First, there is David Cameron, who finds himself pitifully trailing in the wake of public opinion on the wretched scandal of phone hacking.
Then there are some even more pitiful Labour dinosaurs, who are so blinkered, so tribal, so out of touch with what is going on in the world that matters to real people, that they peddle absurd nonsense like this, simultaneously making Cameron look like a master tactician in the face of NI's corruption.
And then there's poor wee Desperate Dan, frantically trying to give these pitiful old dinosaurs the oxygen of publicity...so out of touch, so inevitably dredging up the slightest provocation to have yet another pop at Ed Miliband.
I don't know if you were ever interesting, Desperate - but you haven't posted a single interesting, or relevant, blog since you came out & called it for your boy David ahead of the results.
to be fair Dan, I never remembered a clamour to get a bill started.
everyone was happy to go along with it but Brown in particular should have took notice of his mate Tom but with an election coming up, he again got scared of them.
no one ever has to again
[Another shadow cabinet insider pointed to the attacks on the News International culture. "We're now running around attacking papers like the News of the World for exposing abuses in welfare and immigration. But the problem wasn't that News of the World was writing this stuff, the problem was we stuck our heads in the sand and tried to ignore it when we were in Government".]
This amuses me; the trash these paers print about immigration and welfare is unreal. It's worrying if any labour politician believes a word the right wing press says on any of these two subjects.
Let's start looking at the facts rather than grossly distorted right wing headlines.
Your average Tory voter is brainwashed by the tabloids; - it has to stop.
FFS Dan - is everything about New Labour versus not new labour? Can't someone take a moral stance because it's the right thing to do without A N Other 'source' making it into a political left versus right, Brown camp versus Blair argument?
Time political dinosaurs hellbent on destroying the party by infighting and petty spats grew up and acted in the interests of the electorate.
Dan, the key question in all this is whether Ed is right to have a go at News International ?
On that he is agreeing with vast numbers of labour members and the voting public in general. Blair went too far in his relationships, you MUST accept that ?
"Is everything about New Labour versus not new labour?"
Very good question...
robjam,
If non of my blogs are interesting why have you read them all?
Dan, have you gone bonkers?
This has nothing to do with "coded attacks" on New Labour. For goodness sake, you have New Labour on the brain! Give it a rest man.
Ed is absolutely right to speak out about Murdoch.
"Blair went too far in his relationships, you MUST accept that?".
All depends whose perspective you're looking at things from.
Those who were the victims of phone-hacking. Absolutely.
In terms of broader issue of balance between media power and responsibility. Yes, I'd probably agree.
From Blair's perspective, and that of the Labour government. No, I don't agree. Nurturing support from News International was the politically smart thing to do.
As Ed himself acknowledged on Marr.
Lol, you are exasperating at times.
You could make a New Labour issue out of what biscuits the shadow cabinet serve up these days at meetings.
Nic,
Don't want to be defensive, but you do have to distinguish between those thing's that I write that are my own view, and those things that are said to me by others.
Geddon Desperate - your comebacks are as sharp as your blogs.
I'd say keep 'em coming...but I wouldn't mean it.
Tell you what - you try to unhinge yourself from your old dinosaur cronies, get out & about & talk to some people who've got nothing to do with the Westminster Labour machine - you know, do some real work. Try to find out some stuff. Then come back & blog about what you found out.
Go on. I dare you.
Dan, yes you nuture a relationship with the press, thats fair but we honed policies towards them. we should have introduced a bill to make sure NI could never take over BskyB.
Lou,
There are people in the shadow cabinet who see it as an issue.
I'm just telling you what they think.
Would you rather not know they think it?
Ian,
We did hone policies, that's true.
In retrospect ulti-media ownership should probably have been looked at.
But at the time we were just happy to be getting the minimum wage, social chapter, devolution, windfall tax, trade union rights back at GCHQ, etc
You know the drill...
Yes Dan, if they wish to say it out loud in public then sock it to me guys, otherwise stop throwing dummies and toys out of the pram and put up or shut up.
Of course 'they' don't want to say it in public though do they, it might seriously affect their reelction to Shadow cabinet or constituency to be so at odds with the public once again.
So Dan, you would prefer Ed to shut up about phone-hacking and experience the same massive drop in popularity that Dave Cameron is about to, as this crisis exposes him - and Blair - as mere pawns of News International?
Well, good luck with that. For my part, I'd prefer Ed takes the stance that is most likely to win Labour the next election - which is precisely what he's doing at the moment. Good on ya Ed.
dan hodges says " but in politics, doing the right thing is no guarantee of success"
i want you to think about what you have said there dan, and then think about it some more, and then some more, and then ask yourself if this sort of attitude may be why so many people so dislike the political class in this country.
the sun sells about 3m copies a day, though ths may create the impression of a critical mass affecting public opinion because three million people who can be accessed through this medium, the reality is that there are over 47million (based on adults over 15 in uk) who don't read the sun.
why should the owner of a newspaper that is sold to such a small number of adults in the uk have such power over our politicians? especially when the opinions its sells are so somewhat nasty.
sometimes doing the right thing is the right thing, and thats all there is to say. perhaps it is change you fear, dan hodges.
"So Dan, you would prefer Ed to shut up about phone-hacking".
Where do I say that.
Political history is of no value to the present and future.
"Doing what is right" is the correct approach.
What is right is to realize that this entire situation is the fault of the government.
The government failed to stop the consolidation of media holdings within a few groups and then became fearful of those groups.
The solution is a simple law thag mandates that a corporation may own at most one newspaper or one broadcast outlet.
Large media distribution systems, like satellites, should limit any entity to ten percent ownership.
Otherwise, in a few years, the fear of those groups will return and the political class will be forced to seek favor from those groups to the detrimeng of the voters.
Avraam Jack Dectis
Dan your echo chamber are getting weirder and more out of touch every week (and this is apart from their ability to speak in pure tabliodese).
Please can you point me to the place where "we" (and by which I mean Ed, a member of the Shadow Cabinet or a senior Labour figure - not some Socialist Unity style website you happen to have stumbled across) has attacked NOTW this week on immigration and not on the hacking of the phones of dead kids. Not going to happen.
So it's a case of a politician standing up to a news conglomerate on an issue of principle, and some members of his shadow cabinet (scared for their jobs, probably, once Miliband removes elected shadow cabinets) are murmuring that he's wrong.
I'm on Ed's side of the battle here. He's at least big enough to admit that Labour of the past were too close to the media and is moving to rectify that.
I don't like this talk of "strategy" like the only thing that's happening is political brownie-points. It's clear to me that the shadow cabinet aren't lining up with public opinion on this, and Ed would be right to have just as much of a go at them as he is at Cameron et al.
In all this, hasn't Nick Clegg remained rather silent? Not a single word against a Conservative, when we all know that outside of a coalition he'd be all over this like a rash.
robjam,
I keep trying, but I'm just too scared.
You'll have to help me.
Tell me, please.
What's it like out there in the real world?
Frances,
"why should the owner of a newspaper that is sold to such a small number of adults in the uk have such power over our politicians? "
I think you've unwittingly answered your own question.
Those newspaper owners don't influence a small number of adults. They influence a very large number of adults, which is why they hold the power.
Is it right? No.
Is Ed's decision to take them on ultimately going to prove politically astute?
Neither you, I or he know the answer.
"'why should the owner of a newspaper that is sold to such a small number of adults in the uk have such power over our politicians? '
I think you've unwittingly answered your own question."
No. The Sun should not be kowtowed to.
"Those newspaper owners don't influence a small number of adults. They influence a very large number of adults, which is why they hold the power."
You changed the subject. The poster was talking about The Sun. You could broaden that to NI, but Labour have not tended to kowtow to the Daily Mail or Telegraph. NI and Murdoch are pernicious.
"Is it right? No."
Lack of fighting back against NI and News Corp goes beyond right and wrong. It means you are either a coward or getting paid off.
"Is Ed's decision to take them on ultimately going to prove politically astute?
Neither you, I or he know the answer."
Why are you a pundit if you are equivocating? The poster clearly laid out a case and an opinion. You clearly think it's a bad move. Own up to your own opinion. You don't have Miliband's back. You are too busy inserting a stiletto to help.
Emma,
Not sure what conversations, or arguments for the strategy, have been made internally.
But it's obviously what my source has been hearing.
Good, Good and Good. Ed is right, the dinosaurs are wrong and frankly, they need to become fossils - ie be quiet.
Wasn't convinced about Ed til this week, but people are desperate for a voice and Blair just isn't in touch any more. It's obviously hard for him to grasp, but he comes across a bit like Maggie did in 1992-5 - he just can't see that his day has passed.
Here's a previous dagger thrown by Hodges.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/dan-hodges/2011/07/politician-miliband...
disgusting.
Looking back at this article now only a week later, it's almost impossible to believe that (apparently) senior figures in the labour party were briefing against Ed Miliband's approach. Punch after punch is hitting home and now Cameron is on the ropes as well as the Murdochs. Dan would be doing a great service to the labour party to reveal his sources - maybe they can be similarly shamed for their News Corp links and we can finally move on embracing Mr Miliband's winning responsibility. Here potentially is a real vote winning strategy.
People like Mr Hodges are just stooges for the reactionary right which was/is the New Labour project. He has no interests in real Labour values as he is interchangeable with any of the right wing neo-liberals. If he was really interested in and valued the Labour party he would spend his time doing something useful for the old folks or those with little in the constituencies. As it is he is just an apparatchik on an ego trip at the altar of Blair.You hijacked the Labour party and you can't stand it that your time has come and gone and is seen for what it is in the ashes of Iraq.
What's the disgusting part Daniel?
Chris,
Have a read of this and then get back to me:
http://labour-uncut.co.uk/2011/06/14/too-many-coups-spoil-the-plot/
Tony Blair is out of touch, however, one must credit him and indeed his then chancellor for masterminding three election victories. I always suspected Tony was a tory, thats no shame in itself, the shame is he has not got the balls to make the leap as he did when he stopped being a closet Catholic.
@Dan Hodges
"Tell me, please.
What's it like out there in the real world?"
Ok, here's a clue - nobody, but nobody, in the real world would think for a moment that Ed Miliband's attacks on Cameron & NI are coded attacks on Tony Blair.
Nobody, but nobody, would be able to even fathom how they might be construed as coded attacks on Tony Blair.
That's because nobody, but nobody, in the real world gives a flying f*ck about these sorts of dull, arcane, internecine wranglings.
They care about whether they're going to have a job to go tomorrow morning, whether they've got enough money to feed themselves & their kids in the evening...& quite a few of them are sickened by the despicable practices of NI. And a few of *these* people are thankful that Ed Miliband has had the guts to attack Murdoch & all his crime-committing cronies for their vile behaviour.
Come on out, Desperate. Breathe in the air. It's good.
That members of the shadow cabinet are attacking EM, shows just how out of touch the old guard of the party is. EM has done the right thing and has captured succintly the public mood of the country. If LP shadow members are against EM, they should resign. I suspect they cannot believe just how well EM has done on this issue.
The truth is that somebody needed to take a stand against the Murdoch excesses and EM has done the right thing at the right time given all the damaging allegations that have come out. For the Lp to have taken a stand against hacking in 2006 would not have seen the light of day!!
'Tribal'. What is the opposite of 'tribal'?
Or does it just mean 'Someone I disagree with'?
Good grief members of the shadow cabinet wanted to support Rupert Murdoch on this one?
The blairites must really have taken leave of their senses. Ed Milliband has spoken for ordinary voters on this and tomorrow walk into the lobby with the whole of parliament following him in supporting his motion and receiving plaudits from the nation for his courage. He just may have salvaged British democracy. Democracy seems to working for the first time since 1997, people seem to be able to breath freely again. No more cowering from a control freak.
Tony Blair was on CNN today he was equivocating and talking incomprehensible gobbledygook - this is what he has sunk to. He couldn't bring himself to criticize Murdoch. Blair's contortions were painful to watch.
This must all be very painful for Balirites, Ed Milliabnd showed the courage none of them ever did in 13 years in government. Murdoch is all but vanquished and David Cameron has been humiliated by Ed and shown to be "leading from behind". But the Blairites maintain Ed did the wrong thing?
Very sad that these people have lost all their values: Actually why are they in politics in the first place?
This article seems to criticism for the sake of criticism.
I have defended Tony Blair on the NS website, and have no problem doing so, however, attacking Ed Miliband for doing the right thing is not fair.
I can just about put uo with Olly Grender stupidity, without Hodges trying to jump sharks.
This article sums up why you can't be taken seriously on the Labour party. In fact, if you changed the byline to Dean Hedges, it would make an exquisite parody.
Dan Hodges, the Accidental Satirist.
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