Why Is Ed Miliband So Dangerous?

Kevan James

October 5, 2024

Various adjectives, expletives, turns of phrase and assorted comments have been made about the UK Labour government and none of them have been complimentary. The current Energy Secretary however, has been lampooned, mocked and generally made a great deal of fun out of. That of course, is in addition to the adjectives and expletives. He has also been described as dangerous (as has the Prime Minister and others now in government).

Ed Miliband has only himself to blame for this. His behaviour since July has been quite manic. He has been seen pretending to play a guitar, heard singing and talking down with the kids. He also has an unfortunate look to his face, becoming a little pop-eyed when getting carried away by his subject. He has shown little or no dignity, a trait that should be a requirement for any member of the UK parliament, never mind that of a government minister.

One has to ask therefore, why? Why the overzealous, seemingly irrational and ‘in-yer-face’ attitude, an attitude which is starting to make some question his sanity.

To gain some insight, one needs to look at his history.

Ed is the younger brother of David, the two being the sons of Ralph Miliband, who fled Belgium in 1940 to escape Nazi persecution. Serving in the Royal Navy during the war, he subsequently became involved in left-wing politics and is said to have made a personal commitment to the cause of socialism at the grave of Karl Marx, who is buried at Highgate cemetery, North London.

Both his sons became Labour politicians, with Ed Miliband being appointed as Energy and Climate Change Minister, a position he held from 2008 to 2010, by then PM Gordon Brown. A slightly gaffe-prone spell as Labour leader then followed, most often remembered for his difficulty with a bacon sandwich.

The sandwich didn’t help of course but the criticism at the time was somewhat unfair – few people look ‘good’ when eating, if we are honest about it.

No, the criticism of Miliband was two-fold; firstly he didn’t project well. During his speeches to the Labour Conference he sounded as though he was pleading, not leading. More to the point was his policies. He wanted for example, had Labour been elected while he was leader, to ‘force people to get fit.’ Ed Miliband’s Labour would bring in a raft of restrictions on what we eat, how much of it and along with a plethora of others, all telling us what we cannot do.

He quickly became known as ‘Red Ed’ for the more extreme ideas and re-opened Labour membership to all-comers, reversing the changes made by Tony Blair. This has been considered as one of the reasons why he was succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn.

Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Miliband returned to government after being appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero by new Prime Minster Sir Kier Starmer, re-affirming the appointment made as shadow minister for the same in 2020.

 Although he had a short spell as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 2007 and 2008 under Gordon Brown, in a sense, Ed Miliband has gone back to where he started in government. And he is quite passionate about it.

Passion is one thing but who remembers the photograph of him gazing in awe at Greta Thunberg, along with Caroline Lucas, Layla Moran and Michael Gove, all of whom also gazed in consummate fondness? Ed Miliband has become entirely consumed by the idea of net zero and his background demonstrates this.

Gone is the pleader of his party leadership days; this Ed Miliband strides about, commanding and demanding that we comply. This Ed Miliband doesn’t take no for an answer and he’s had plenty of practice. This Ed Miliband is in touch with the young – and that’s his primary target audience, hence the stunts and kidadulthood style.

Miliband is not a fool. He is an intelligent man and knows fine well that there are many with the same views, identical to his, working in education, both schools and Universities. He is 55 now, so not quite in his dotage and he still retains a relatively young-ish appearance (although the first few flecks of grey hair have now started to appear). He thinks he can appeal to the young and the young are the voters of now and tomorrow.

Despite his intelligence, his outwardly excitable acts of late are a symptom of a greater malaise – a firm, unshakeable belief that he is right and everybody else isn’t. And remember another thing; one of Communism’s first acts is to separate the young from everybody else. To bring them up with one point of view and one only. And there is plenty of evidence in recent times to show that it has worked, and continues to work in the United Kingdom.

That is why Ed Miliband and those like him are dangerous.

© Kevan James 2024

Image - Lauren Hurley, 10 Downing Street

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