Labour infighting: Miliband has ‘missed open goals’

Labour leader Ed Miliband has “missed open goals” one of the party’s senior figures, John Prescott said today in an article for the Sunday Mirror.

Lambasting Labour’s achievements over the summer, the former Deputy Prime Minister said that the Conservatives had set the agenda, and Labour politicans had spent too long on holiday.

“This summer, we massively failed to get our case over to the public and hold the Tories to account. We missed open goals!” he wrote.

“The Tories worked hard to put together a planned communication grid of issues and activity, fronted by their Cabinet ministers and led by the PM.

“But Labour put out a second team of junior spokespeople with most of Ed’s Shadow Cabinet on holiday at the same time.”

And the media has been marching to the Tories’ tune, not Labour’s.

“Bar a push on the cost of living, we didn’t set agendas, we followed the news and got nowhere. Even Shadow Cabinet ministers stopped tweeting at the end of July.”

‘The hairdryer treatment’

Throwing a jibe at Tom Watson, Mr Miliband’s former head of campaign, Prescott said he was too “obsessed” with the media and had done nothing to rally the team. Prescott urged a more rough and ready approach to under-performers on the Labour front bench:

“If Shadow Cabinet members aren’t pulling their weight, give them the hairdryer treatment and kick ’em out.”

Mr Miliband also came under criticism from former adviser Maurice Glasman in the Mail on Sunday who said that the leader had lost his way:

“When Ed Miliband was elected, many people in the Labour Party, including me, were inspired by his pledge to turn his back on the failed policies and philosophy of New Labour. His promise to attack ‘predator’ capitalists struck a chord with millions. But he has not followed his instincts, which were so sound.”

But Caroline Flint, the Labour Shadow minister for Climate Change and Energy said in the Observer Sunday that personal popularity ratings of a leader weren’t a good measure of a party’s strength. “Individual popularity poll ratings are always given prominence, but the truth is that, when it comes to the election, that’s not always a significant factor.”

Ms Flint said that the Prime Minister David Cameron had been talking a lot all summer, but often about inconsequential topics, such as the teachings of Jesus Christ and making pancakes with his children. “He’s talking crepes, we’re talking the costs of living,” she said.

Votes at 16

In another interesting move, Labour have said they want to lower the voting age to 16. Something that would “reinvigorate politics” according to Sadiq Khan, the shadow lord chancellor.