The commentators                    14-05-15

...on the Labour party

What Labour needs now is someone who can lead a Labour Party that can offer what no other party can; a left-wing national party, with a proud tradition of a close relationship with the unions, that can offer a real alternative to the politics as usual. This is how Labour was born, and it’s the only way it can survive. Umunna is simply more of the same; a slick politician, whose vision for Labour will see it follow in the footsteps of their Pasok counterparts in Greece, all but wiped out by the time we next hit the polls.
- Michael Segalov, The Independent
The danger now is that a demoralised Labour party will draw the wrong lessons from Cameron’s narrow election victory and go backwards. Despite the swagger, the new government is weaker than it appears. Its small majority will be tested by multiple conflicts over Europe, Scotland, and a slowing economy about to be plunged into the harshest austerity yet. This is no time to be retreating into the failed politics of the past.
- Seumas Milne, The Guardian
Alan Milburn
The burning question in Labour ranks seems to be: “Who is going to be our next leader?” But Labour’s electoral recovery needs more than a change of leader. It needs a change in approach. So the first questions for Labour to confront are far more fundamental: why did we lose and what are we for? Answers here will point us towards the right leader - Alan Milburn, The Times
Any government should want to promote strategies and policies that help reconnect these places to the rest of the nation as it advances. One of Labour’s signal failures was to resist the chancellor’s “northern powerhouse” scheme of devolving power to the cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield while investing heavily in transport links and science in the region. Labour should now embrace and build on the idea, encouraging Newcastle and Hull in the northeast to follow suit.
- David Aaronovitch, The Times
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Comment archive, 2015

Ed Miliband
March 27 Prince Charles's letters
March 26 UK politics
March 25 Cameron's exit strategy
March 24 Lee Kwan Yew
March 23 UK politics
Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour party conference
March 13 UK politics
March 12 Jeremy Clarkson
March 11 UK politics
March 10 UK politics
March 9 UK politics
Rifkind and Straw
February 27 UK politics
February 26 Minor party leaders
February 25 Natalie Bennett
February 24 Rifkind and Straw
February 23 World affairs
Merkel and Putin
February 13 UK politics
February 12 UK politics
February 11 UK politics
February 10 UK politics
February 9 Politics
Alexis Tsipras
January 30 Rape law
January 29 UK politics
January 28 UK politics
January 27 Greece
January 26 UK politics
Hebdo demo
January 16 World politics
January 15 Election debates
January 14 Charlie Hebdo
January 13 Charlie Hebdo
January 12 Charlie Hebdo
George Osborne
March 20 UK politics
March 19 The Budget
March 18 UK politics
March 17 Race in Britain
March 16 UK politics
Boris Nemtsov
March 6 Scotland and the election
March 5 Isis
March 4 UK politics
March 3 Radicalisation
March 2 Russia
Copenhagen
February 20 UK politics
February 19 Chelsea and racism
February 18  UK politics
February 17 UK politics
February 16 Copenhagen 
education
February 6 UK politics
February 5 Isis atrocity
February 4 UK politics
February 3 UK politics
February 2 UK politics
Pope Francis
January 23 UK politics
January 22 Chilcot inquiry
January 21 Page Three
January 20 Anti-semitism 
January 19 Religion and freedom
Charb
January 9 Charlie Hebdo
January 8 Charlie Hebdo
January 7 UK politics
January 6 UK politics
January 5 UK politics
For EI daily digests from June to December 2014 please click here
Comment digest courtesy of
Editorial Intelligence
New Tory MPs
May 13
The Labour party
May 12
UK politics
May 11
Scotland
ballot box
May 8
General election
May 7
General election
May 6
General election
May 5
General election
Picture
May 1
General election
April 30
General election
April 29
General election
April 28
General election
April 27
General election
Sturgeon and Salmond
April 24
General election
April 23
General election
April 22
General election
April 21
Drowned refugees
April 20 
Scottish National Party
manifestos
April 17
General election
April 16
General election
April 15
General election
April 14
General election
April 13
General election
Westminster
April 10
General election
April 9
General election
April 8
General election
April 7
General election
dissolution parliament
April 2
General election
April 1
General election
March 31
General election
March 30
Depression and killer pilot
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