Ed’s inbox – June 13th

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

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

Ed Miliband’s speech hits the right note on welfare responsibility – guardian.co.uk
By Tim Horton

Ed Miliband today made the case for social justice with a hard edge. He pledged to end the “take what you can culture”, from the boardroom to the benefits system, and committed Labour to becoming the “party of grafters”. In reform of social housing, Miliband called for an approach where, “rather than looking solely at need, priority is also given to those who contribute – who give something back.”

Some on the left may feel queasy about this. But they should understand its logic and cheer it. Not only is it right in principle that those who take out have a responsibility to put back in. It is the only way we can really detoxify our politics of welfare. – Read more.

Was this EdM’s best speech so far? – politicalbetting.com
By Mike Smithson

Did he do enough to start to turn things round?

Given the pressure that Ed Miliband has been under these past few days I was impressed by his big speech this afternoon. Not only did we see a step change in his delivery but the content was more substantial and a good answer to those who’ve accused him in the past of being far too vague.

His voice came over as much less nasal which makes his speeches a little easier on the ear. He also looked a touch more relaxed. – Read more.

Ed Miliband doesn’t need more speeches, he needs interventions – Liberal Conspiracy
By Sunny Hundal

Ed Miliband’s response to the media-hyped “crisis” of the last week is somewhat worrying: he’s making speeches on policy. He is signalling a change in Labour’s approach to high executive pay and to people who abuse the benefits system today.

He will also makes pledges on delivering housing.

I don’t have anything against policy speeches per se, but they are not what Ed Miliband needs. What he needs are ‘interventions’. And the two are very different. – Read more.

Unique setup means “Red Tory” gets payout while sacking Respublica staff – Political Scrapbook
By Political Scrapbook

After Mark Wallace exposed the financial crisis at Conservative think tank Respublica, the Sunday Times disclosed that Red Tory Phillip Blond is the “sole director and owner” of the organisation – but it failed to highlight how unusual this arrangement is.

To give confidence to backers and prevent conflicts of interest, UK political bodies soliciting for donations are incorporated with Companies House as “limited by guarantee”, which means they are non profit making.

Shown below is a list of UK think tanks and campaign bodies with their legal status. Can you spot the odd one out? – Read more.

John Prescott’s spat with Sunday Times underlines extent of made up anonymous quotes in papers – Alastair Campbell
By Alastair Campbell

Good to see that John Prescott has lost none of his old fire, and none of his new ability to use social media to get heard.

His extraction via twitter of an apology from the Sunday Times over a quote, which he rightly says was used to justify the paper’s headline about ‘big beasts’ mauling Ed Miliband, was pretty instant.

The paper’s claim that this was all down to a production error was as believable as many of the stories which appear in the Sunday papers.

And the episode is a good opportunity for me to remind you of something I have said on here before – that most anonymous quotes in newspapers, particularly at the weekends, are made up. – 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.