Following Miliband's threat against our energy companies there have been suggestions from people who should know better that he is taking Labour back to its ideological roots. Cobblers! Miliband wouldn't recognize an ideological root if he tripped over one. His communist dad, God rot his soul, must be spinning in the Marxist hell he now inhabits. In an odd way, I sort of sympathise with him because, as regular readers will know, I have long bemoaned the loss of all ideology from politics. None of the current practitioners have any sort of worked-out, fundamental beliefs based on a philosophical view of the world. All they are interested in is getting their grubbly little hands on the levers of power. Don't misunderstand, I live in the real world and I recognize that in practical politics ideology cannot rule over everything, but even so, one looks for some sort of fundamental driving force behind a political leader rather than just short-term personal ambition.
What we have with Miliband's latest coup de théâtre is a piece of slick political gesture politics aimed entirely at his own personal standing within his party. There is still a big fight to come with his union backers and he needs to be seen to stand on an old-fashioned socialist platform, even if it is a bit wobbly, worm-eaten and decrepit. Happily for him, it will provide a boost in the polls as the 'stoopids', that is, the majority of the electorate, lap up the dross he has tossed to them. I am grateful to Guido for providing this bit of reality into the make-believe land inhabited by Miliband by means of a chart showing average energy costs across Europe:
What would be useful is a chart showing how much of the cost of energy is taken up in so-called renewables like wind farms, however, you may take a guess by looking at prices in Germany and Denmark who (with Cyprus) are far and away the most expensive in Europe and also the biggest 'investers' (heh-heh!) in that sort of Green lunacy. (How long before Madame Merkel reverses her policy on closing down nuclear power stations?) Similarly, someone should ask Miliband - and keep on and on asking him, how much of the cost of our energy arises from the subsidies provided to sundry 'get-rich-quick' merhants like Tim Yeo MP and 'SamCam's' dear old Dad who nets £350k a year? If Miliband truly wanted to cut energy costs "for ordinary hard-working families" (pass the sick bag!) then cutting those lunatic schemes would be an excellent start.
So we are not getting an intellectually coherent doctrine from Miliband, what we are getting is a combination of juvenile, university political society flannel and snake-oil salesman's spiel. If there is anybody out there who thinks that Miliband can cream it off the big energy companies without us - that's you and me, remember! - paying twice over the odds then, to quote an old army expression - my cock's a kipper!
I'm away for the rest of the day - play nicely now, like your mum used to tell you!
