Let there be discontent

“Are we too unkind to Ed?” pondered David Talbot, on this very website, only two days ago. Meanwhile, as Political Scrapbook covered Blackbustersgate, it was noted that “Poor Ed” has had “one of those weeks”.

Even before Abbottgate (which, without wanting to generalise, sounds like the kind of place white people would live), it had been decided this was a bad week for Ed Miliband. From there, it only got worse. Definitely “one of those weeks”. The problem is, “one of those weeks” is starting to feel like the standard. When won’t it be one of these weeks, I wonder?

Writing “Blackbusters” instead of “Blockbusters” could have happened to anyone (and Muphry’s Law ensured that we were temporarily trapped in a vicious circle of spelling errors), but when it happened, it felt sadly predictable that it would be on Miliband’s feed. It is, unfortunately, exactly the kind of thing that would happen to him. He is a bad luck magnet. Negative press gravitates towards him. Often seemingly out of nowhere, each new story hurtles into his face like an asteroid, causing yet another awkward photo.

Every time he speaks he seems to upset someone. Every time a shadow cabinet member says anything, even if it’s something Ed Miliband agrees with, it’s a Blairite plot. Trade Union leaders don’t seem to like him much anymore. The newspapers never did. There are even manoeuvres to get rid of him in order to replace him with his brother in five years time, apparently.

As Mark Ferguson pointed out, everything that anyone does or says is viewed through the prism of attacking or backing Ed Miliband. For many Labour loyalists, it seems the prism is even smaller: he’s always under attack. It’s him against the world and, no matter how many times he tells the Guardian he’s a man of grit and steel, he can’t take on the world. Just look at him.

Here lies a problem. We’re not being too unkind to poor Ed; we’re starting to pity him.

This is a dangerous situation to be in. People back Ed because they think no one else is. Standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves in itself, this is no bad thing. It’s what makes us who we are as a Party. It’s what helps define us and to me, it’s a sign of compassion. But two years ago it left us rallying around a leader who was vilified in the press daily and couldn’t connect with the electorate. It was the same backs up against the wall, Us vs The World attitude. Letting Ed go the same way would do no one favours. Saying “Game on” ad infinitum is not a strategy for victory.

Let’s not jump on anyone who isn’t being unfailingly nice about Miliband. Let’s not attack the three Labour MPs today who have hardly said the most controversial things about his leadership. Everyone who points out that the last week has not gone well is not an enemy. Everyone who thinks the past year has not gone well is not an enemy. If you don’t let people be critical friends, then they just stop being friends.

Let there be discontent. It’ll help us, honest.