Labour's election nightmare
You might have thought that the Syriza victory in Greece would have given Labour a bit of a lift. After all, here was electoral proof that anti-austerity campaigning worked. In one of the hardest hit countries of them all too. Instead, it provoked a debate about Labour's political caution that then lapped over into their heartland topic of the NHS.
The Guardian's Zoe Williams used the syriza victory to ask why Labour wasn't taking a leaf out of their Greek counterparts' playbook and pursuing a more radical line in "standing up to the moneymen". Must have been music to Ed Miliband's ears. Or not, perhaps, for as the New Statesman's Anoosh Chakeelian noted, Mr. Miliband was slow and cautious in his own response to the triumph of the Greek left.
Then the NHS reared its head. Labour have been playing this as a key election winner for them for ages. Alas, when shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham appeared on Newsnight on Tuesday, it was to give a …
The Guardian's Zoe Williams used the syriza victory to ask why Labour wasn't taking a leaf out of their Greek counterparts' playbook and pursuing a more radical line in "standing up to the moneymen". Must have been music to Ed Miliband's ears. Or not, perhaps, for as the New Statesman's Anoosh Chakeelian noted, Mr. Miliband was slow and cautious in his own response to the triumph of the Greek left.
Then the NHS reared its head. Labour have been playing this as a key election winner for them for ages. Alas, when shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham appeared on Newsnight on Tuesday, it was to give a …