Nearly a week on from the BBC 5 sided " debate" between the opposition contenders, the night is almost forgotten. It was significant though as one more input the voter's decision making.
On the surface it seems to have made not a jot of difference in the polls, so David Cameron may well be congratulating himself on a night better spent elsewhere. Below the surface though he would be mistaken.
Ed Miliband's acceptability to the electorate has been creeping slowly but surely upwards.Carefully tutored, he has been looking more self assured, his suits snappier, and his speaking more passionate.He is looking like a man with a mission and he is one . People's perceptions are shifting from "No way could he be Prime Minister" to "Maybe, just maybe". That is real progress. In such a tight contest every little counts. He can see flashing before him the prospect of leading the most left wing government since the 1940s . His Marxist father would have been proud.
In this debate Miliband stood on the left wing while Nigel Farage stood on the right, a little isolated , rather unloved and rarely listened to by the predominantly left leaning audience. In contrast the Labour leader was able to adopt the relaxed pose of the bull in the field to whom the three ladies of SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens generally addressed their comments in a sort of interview for the position of best coalition partner. The most significant moment of the evening came right at the end after all the talking. First the three ladies went into a strange group hug. Then, one by one they went to shake Miliband's hand as if in an act of obeissance . He accepted the hands graciously. What he was thinking we can only guess at. Was that a flicker of condescension on his lips? Nigel was left alone to shrug and go off to the pub.
In the pub, or wherever he did go, Farage must have shaken his head a little. He alone had underlined that the economy isn't yet fixed and the control of national policy exercised by the EU is excessive but nobody was listening. The studio audience,- whose bias he challenged,- was far happier with shouts of no more austerity (as if we've really seen half of what's necessary), and promises of more borrowing ,endlessly taxing "the rich" and other bogey people who already pay the bulk of the nation's taxes, create the jobs but do so, shock, horror for profit.The Welsh lady had even said,- presumably to Miliband,- "Give us £1.5 billion a year and we won't have to do austerity" and not a murmur of disapproval was heard.
The case for the right, the listing of the coalition's many achievements went unstated and there was no counterweight to Miliband's dominance of the proceedings. Cameron would have had clear field of fire and been able to challenge the myths being put about. We must assume that he had been advised by Crosby not to take part because he sometimes isn't quick enough on his feet to deal with the unexpected and there was the danger of him being led into a costly trap. It turned out to be a mistake and he should have seen that coming.
Many would argue that Nicola Sturgeon's performance was the evening's highlight. As a speaker and leader she is far ahead of the Westminster metro elite duo. She is also on a mission,- and as far as the integrity of the UK is concerned not a good one. South of the border most don't know in any detail what she's really all about but they like her style, the fact that she comes across as a plain speaking, decisive human. That's a far cry from the Cameron and Miliband Oxbridge retinues. Glasgow University Union ("Is there a university in Glasgow?" they might ask) has for decades been the best training ground for aspirant politicians. Its annual five full scale parliamentary debates have no rivals in the UK. They do real down to earth political cut and thrust. That is where she learned her trade. That's why she is making mincemeat of Labour in Scotland in this national UK election. She may not in next year's Scottish Parliament elections but that is a story we will come back to.
Powerful though Ms Sturgeon was in this debate, it didn't really matter.The real winner was Ed Miliband. That final lineup of the three ladies to shake his hand said it all. His cred was just a little higher and the Conservative case against him a little more dented. That's especially true among women voters who had already marked him up a notch or two after the previous week's revelations that he had had a bit of a way with women whilst at university. Over to you David Cameron,- and please don't come up with a mistress or two of the hounds.
Two weeks to go..............
On the surface it seems to have made not a jot of difference in the polls, so David Cameron may well be congratulating himself on a night better spent elsewhere. Below the surface though he would be mistaken.
Ed Miliband's acceptability to the electorate has been creeping slowly but surely upwards.Carefully tutored, he has been looking more self assured, his suits snappier, and his speaking more passionate.He is looking like a man with a mission and he is one . People's perceptions are shifting from "No way could he be Prime Minister" to "Maybe, just maybe". That is real progress. In such a tight contest every little counts. He can see flashing before him the prospect of leading the most left wing government since the 1940s . His Marxist father would have been proud.
In this debate Miliband stood on the left wing while Nigel Farage stood on the right, a little isolated , rather unloved and rarely listened to by the predominantly left leaning audience. In contrast the Labour leader was able to adopt the relaxed pose of the bull in the field to whom the three ladies of SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens generally addressed their comments in a sort of interview for the position of best coalition partner. The most significant moment of the evening came right at the end after all the talking. First the three ladies went into a strange group hug. Then, one by one they went to shake Miliband's hand as if in an act of obeissance . He accepted the hands graciously. What he was thinking we can only guess at. Was that a flicker of condescension on his lips? Nigel was left alone to shrug and go off to the pub.
In the pub, or wherever he did go, Farage must have shaken his head a little. He alone had underlined that the economy isn't yet fixed and the control of national policy exercised by the EU is excessive but nobody was listening. The studio audience,- whose bias he challenged,- was far happier with shouts of no more austerity (as if we've really seen half of what's necessary), and promises of more borrowing ,endlessly taxing "the rich" and other bogey people who already pay the bulk of the nation's taxes, create the jobs but do so, shock, horror for profit.The Welsh lady had even said,- presumably to Miliband,- "Give us £1.5 billion a year and we won't have to do austerity" and not a murmur of disapproval was heard.
The case for the right, the listing of the coalition's many achievements went unstated and there was no counterweight to Miliband's dominance of the proceedings. Cameron would have had clear field of fire and been able to challenge the myths being put about. We must assume that he had been advised by Crosby not to take part because he sometimes isn't quick enough on his feet to deal with the unexpected and there was the danger of him being led into a costly trap. It turned out to be a mistake and he should have seen that coming.
Many would argue that Nicola Sturgeon's performance was the evening's highlight. As a speaker and leader she is far ahead of the Westminster metro elite duo. She is also on a mission,- and as far as the integrity of the UK is concerned not a good one. South of the border most don't know in any detail what she's really all about but they like her style, the fact that she comes across as a plain speaking, decisive human. That's a far cry from the Cameron and Miliband Oxbridge retinues. Glasgow University Union ("Is there a university in Glasgow?" they might ask) has for decades been the best training ground for aspirant politicians. Its annual five full scale parliamentary debates have no rivals in the UK. They do real down to earth political cut and thrust. That is where she learned her trade. That's why she is making mincemeat of Labour in Scotland in this national UK election. She may not in next year's Scottish Parliament elections but that is a story we will come back to.
Powerful though Ms Sturgeon was in this debate, it didn't really matter.The real winner was Ed Miliband. That final lineup of the three ladies to shake his hand said it all. His cred was just a little higher and the Conservative case against him a little more dented. That's especially true among women voters who had already marked him up a notch or two after the previous week's revelations that he had had a bit of a way with women whilst at university. Over to you David Cameron,- and please don't come up with a mistress or two of the hounds.
Two weeks to go..............
