A day in the race: July 21st

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

With the exception of a major union nomination, today hasn’t been much to shout about in the leadership race. But that one nomination, from Unison, could have an impact on the final result.

Tonight the candidates (minus Andy Burnham – replaced by Hazel Blears) are in Islington for the joint Tribune/Howard League hustings (picture courtesy of the Ed Balls campaign team).

ED MILIBAND had the best of today’s proceedings, with two union nominations – including one of the big three, Unison. That gives Ed two out of the “big three” unions after the GMB backed him last week. Unite are the only big union left to declare their support. In response Ed said:

“UNISON has gone through a thoughtful and thorough process of consultation with their members. To have received the backing of a union representing millions of frontline workers is a real boost for my campaign to lead our party”

Later Ed wrote for LabourList (as well as sending an email to Labour members) outlining some of the key themes of his campaign – including a his most public abandonment of some major policies (like tuition fees and Iraq) to date. Ed said:

“In the 1990s, Labour realised it had to change if it was to win again. Now, in this leadership election, we’ve again been having a conversation about how we can renew our party and reconnect with the electorate after a tough electoral defeat. We’ve talked a lot about where we went wrong in the past, as a political party and as a government. And none more so than in these last ten days, in which the old personality battles – the pyschodramas of the past – have again resurfaced.”

“What we need now is to move on from the division which contributed to our election defeat, to move away from the factionalism that got in the way of our common values and to change the old ways that too often held us back in government.”

“But more than just a new way of doing politics, we also need a new set of policies if we are to win again, based on our common values. We cannot go into the next election still as the party that says the Iraq war was right or that tuition fees are here to stay. We cannot fight the Tories arguing that low-wage, low-skill jobs are good enough for our communities or that we don’t need to radically overhaul our banking sector. If we do that, the public will say we haven’t changed, we haven’t learned. And they’d be right.”

The email and LabourList article both featured a video, which you can see here:

DAVID MILIBAND also had a quieter day today – but it’s a reflection of his campaign that he was still one of the more active candidates. He responded today to the Kabul conference, saying:

“Our troops are making a difference. They are fighting with incredible bravery, alongside our international partners, against an insurgency that Afghanistan’s forces could not fight unaided. But this is not a conventional war. It will not be won by military means alone. Nor will increases in aid buy us victory. To achieve the outcome we all want to see – a country that will never again be the world centre for terrorism – we need a political settlement that involves every Afghan who will abide by their country’s constitution.”

“What would that settlement look like? It should have all of Afghanistan’s tribes inside, al-Qaeda kept outside, and Afghanistan’s regional neighbours onside. January’s London conference agreed on support for a national reconciliation process, which involved the so-called ’10-dollar-a-day Taliban’ putting down their weapons and being a part of their country again. The majority of the people fighting British troops are not part of worldwide jihad. They are driven by an isolation and anger at being frozen out of a political process which doesn’t involve them.”

Last night David joined in at his phone bank as his campaign make a final push for CLP nominations. They’re ahead at the moment, but with a week to go, that gap could easily close (or extend) significantly.

ED BALLS had a busy, workmanlike but unspectacular day today. He spent the morning at the Guardian, and addressed the morning conference,before recording the Guardian weekly politics podcast and a video interview with Polly Toynbee which will be online in a few days (LabourList will bring you it as soon as we have it). Later Ed was supporting Vernon Coaker on the frontbench with the Academies Bill ahead of the Tribune hustings this evening.

DIANE ABBOTT had a quieter day today than she has of late, in what was perhaps today’s theme. She popped up very early this morning on Twitter to comment on the Chilcott enquiry, saying:

“Former Head of MI5 tells the Chilcott Inquiry that the Iraq War radicalised a whole generation of young Muslims in the UK.”

ANDY BURNHAM hasn’t been heard from today – and missed tonight’s hustings in Islington. His campaign has been picking up of late though – so rather than this silence being usual (as it was a month ago), it not seems odd to go a day without anything coming from the Burnham camp.