It looks like the Times’s chief reporter, Tom Baldwin, is an avid reader of the New Statesman.
Compare the intro to his story on Labour’s manifesto this morning . . .
A few miles from the distractions of Westminster last weekend, sustained by little more than HobNob biscuits and mugs of tea, Labour began to piece together its pitch for a fresh start with the electorate.
During a five-hour Sunday strategy meeting at the North London home of Ed Miliband, who is charged with drawing up Labour’s manifesto, scant mention was made of a “fourth term in government”.
. . . with James Macintyre‘s from this week’s magazine:
It was, in many ways, a classic New Labour gathering: a minimalist north London drawing room, freshly squeezed orange juice and mineral water being served, fruit and HobNobs being eaten, and top of the agenda for a five-hour Sunday strategy meeting were the key manifesto messages for the election. Ideas were distributed, and those attending were expected to turn up with notes, not just on party policy but, inevitably, on the Conservatives as well.
There was one important difference between this and any equivalent meeting in election campaigns gone by: it was attended, indeed run, by a new generation of Labour power brokers. This is a generation looking to forge a new agenda for the new decade, not one wishing to frame the coming election as a bid for a “fourth term”.
Follow the New Statesman team on Twitter.
Content from our partners
Related
