Ed’s inbox – April 13th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

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

Gillian Duffy v Nick Clegg doesn’t come close to ‘bigotgate’ – Comment is Free
By John Harris

Labour patronisingly uses Gillian Duffy for political stunts, yet it’s done little to address what lay behind her original face-off

Last year, during an early-evening lull at the Labour party conference, I found myself in the murky bar of Manchester’s Radisson hotel. Whispers were circulating that the legendary Gillian Duffy was in the house. And so it proved: just behind me, evidently enjoying the best hospitality her hosts could offer, was the redoubtable Rochdale pensioner, seemingly invited to prove that Labour had learned from her miserable encounter with Gordon Brown, and was back in touch with its core supporters. – Read more.

What should the left say about crime? – jonesblog
By Owen Jones

Being a victim of crime is no fun. My family’s house was burgled repeatedly when I was growing up. On one occasion – when I was 15 – it happened in the early hours when we were all in bed. I remember hearing the clunking noises downstairs and presuming (with some irritation) that my twin sister was up and about, until the intruder crept to my door and his hand rested on the handle. I coughed, and he stormed into my parents’ room. When my mother yelled: “Who’s there?”, he gave a quick-fire answer – “Father Christmas” (geddit?) – so at least he had a sense of humour.

Three years back I was beaten up and mugged on a bus in Tottenham: like many who’ve had that experience, my anger was more directed at the bystanders who did nothing than a presumably troubled drug addict looking for his next fix. And, just before Christmas, my flatmate and I had our bikes stolen: a few days later, they appeared in all their glory on Gumtree. Not that the police were particularly interested – but, to be fair, there’s bigger issues to deal with than nicked bikes in Hackney. – Read more.

Lansley in denial over level of opposition to reforms – Left Foot Forward
By Dominic Browne

Health secretary Andrew Lansley received a vote of no confidence from nurses this morning but still remains in denial over professional opposition to his health bill. At the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) annual congress delegates voted 98.7 per cent in favour of the motion. This is the first time in 30 years the RCN have made such open revolt against a government policy.

However, he blithely maintained that he still had the confidence of medical professionals, despite this coming on the back of the British Medical Association (BMA) voting for the health bill to be withdrawn in its entirety. – Read more.

Fear and loathing in Britain’s rightwing press – Liberal Conspiracy
By Dave Osler

I’m not quite sure how it is possible for a Leninist to move further to the left, but David Cameron has somehow achieved this rare distinction. Well, he has according to Daily Telegraph commentator Simon Heffer, anyway.

Just over two years ago, Heffer accused the then leader of the opposition of seeking to ‘sovietise capitalism out of existence’. Yet even though Cameron is now well ensconced in Number Ten, Hackney in 2011 does not bear much resemblance to Petrograd in 1917.

Workers’ councils have not sprung up all over Britain and established a de facto state of dual power. Or at least I don’t think they have, and I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if that were the case. – Read more.

LAST DAY FOR SUBMISSIONS TO ESA INQUIRY – Diary of a Benefit Scrounger
By Sue Marsh

Today is the last day for submitting your evidence/experiences to the ESA enquiry.

-If you have experience of an ATOS Work Capability Assessment
-If you are currently on IB but will soon be assessed for ESA
-If you have experience of the Work Capability Group
-If you are concerned about Time Limiting or any other aspect of the changes, then

Please take a few moments to read the issues outlined in the enquiry below and if you feel one or more have affected you, I urge you to write a short statement. It might be a description of how unsuitable your assessment was, your experiences of ATOS, or how time limiting the benefit could affect your partner’s ability to keep working. If you have been through the worry and fear of a tribunal, we need to explain how this fails too, or how hard it is to always be fighting. – 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.