Ed’s inbox – April 1st

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

If Ed Miliband could only read five blogposts each day, he’d read these ones…

No ‘no-go’ areas for Labour – Progress
By Benjamin Butterworth

Unsurprisingly, the area is a Conservative stronghold – the local MP is none other than George Osborne, and the relevant council has just six Labour wards, compared to 59 Tory.

Probably even more unsurprising, the area has long been without a local Labour party. When I turned up to the general election planning meeting, I was greeted in the home of our candidate by a table of six people: four of them from outside of the constituency (helping simply out of personal detest for Osborne), one of them the candidate, and the other myself. Not a great start for holding the second in charge of the Conservative party to account. – Read more.

EDL skinheads to meet in gay bar – Political Scrapbook
By Political Scrapbook

The thugs descending on Blackburn for a march and rally by the English Defence League tomorrow will look to fuel their Islamophobia with premium lager and products exported from Central America. To keep them under control, Lancashire Constabulary have restricted licensing to allow just four pubs to open in the centre of the town.

Unbeknown to the skinheads, however, among the few approved venues is one of East Lancashire’s finest gay bars: – Read more.

The media were right about the march – Labour Uncut
By Rob Marchant

There is surely no need to add to the articles on last Saturday’s demo which focus on the actions of UK Uncut and the black bloc. Although it seems uncertain whether these groups were not, in the end, a sideshow to the principal lessons from it all. Perhaps trickier to explain was the laying of any remaining blame, as many did, squarely at the feet of “the media”.

Politicians who complain about the media are, as Enoch Powell once sharply observed, like sailors who complain about the sea. But, although we are not all politicians but mostly activists, this is precisely the conclusion we have largely reached regarding the demonstration last weekend. It’s understandable. It seemed grossly unfair, to those who had in good faith given up their Saturdays for a decent cause, for a peaceful demo to be linked to the violence and disruption of a few idiots. But, the trouble is, it wasn’t unfair – Read more.

Why David Willetts isn’t using his two brains when blaming feminism – Liberal Conspiracy
By Caroline Crampton

‘Two brains’ Willetts should try using one of them.

The universities minister claims that the rise of feminism has ‘held back working class men’. Why exactly does he imagine this is a bad thing?

“Feminism trumped egalitarianism,” David Willetts told journalists during a briefing on the government’s new social mobility strategy. He’s supposed to be a bright chap. How has he got this so wrong? – Read more.

UK Growth Surges – Diary of a Benefit Scrounger*
By Sue Marsh

Figures released this morning show an unexpected surge in UK growth.

Growth, which had previously been falling, surged by a whopping 1.6% in the 1st quarter of 2011.

With unemployment rising, inflation at over 4%, and cuts set to hit the economy from this morning, the UK chancellor, George Gideon Oliver Osborne, heir to the baronetcy of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon said in a statement that :

“This totally vindicates my fingers-crossed economics. – Read more.

Our suggestions for Ed’s inbox are limited by what we read – so if you’ve seen a blogpost that should be in Ed’s inbox, let us know.

* – OK. This one is an April Fool.