Listening to Ed Miliband's Q and A session in Hove this morning, I really felt that his approach at this time is right. Of course in the press, Labour can do nothing right, but Ed was elected leader on the basis that he would get back in touch with members of the party and with the broader public. And that takes time - sessions like the one today with hundreds of people of all political persuasions, listening to their concerns and feeding them in, allowing them to steer where we go next. It would be easy to wade in with policy ideas now and risk alienating voters and Labour loyalists all over again. We need to recognise what we got wrong, while at the same time appreciating what we did well, and that is absolutely what Ed is doing.
Ed really shows himself to be someone who cares about doing things right on issues I agree with - reducing inequality, combating climate change and ensuring that we have excellent public services. He is a great Leader of the Opposition for Brighton and Hove, and anyone who would like to see the back of this Coalition government should be right behind him.
Points raised were varied but included - what more can we do to address climate change, NHS funding and staffing, libraries, further education, police handling of protests, and attitudes to people on benefit. On this latter, I was struck by the experiences of someone who advises benefit claimants: we are always hearing about benefit cheats and of course that needs to be addressed, but there are many people out there who are under-claiming, and not getting what they need and are entitled to.
I was there as well. He came across like a real person not a politician. Hope he keeps listening.
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