The former lords of life and death

On Newsnight yesterday the five contenders for the Labour Party leadership (Diane Abbot, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, David Miliband and Ed Miliband) took questions from a small studio audience and also from presenter Jeremy Paxman.

It was an interesting session. In particular, it was interesting to see how the former lords of life and death (collectively ordering wars, authorizing detentions, deciding which communities get medical resources, police resources, education resources etc) were reduced to just four ordinary men in a television studio. How are the mighty fallen.

The programme lasted for forty-five minutes and had many moments that arrested attention.

Ed Balls claimed to be one of “the people who speak the language of Mrs Duffy” (Mrs Duffy has become an archetype figure, representing the ignored electorate).

Diane Abbot said that immigration was a proxy for issues such as housing or jobs.

Ed Miliband admitted that “Iraq was extremely damaging – catastrophic”.

David Miliband said “the state got too big in some areas”.

But once again (in my opinion) it was Andy Burnham who said the things I wanted to hear: opposing British membership of the Euro; advocating reform of care for the elderly; admitting that the last government “were putting big business before people”.

However, it would seem that most people have already decided they want David Miliband as Labour Party leader. On election night presenter Andrew Neil hosted a “booze cruise” boatload of pundits and celebrities, sailing up and down the Thames getting increasingly inebriated and offering comments on serious political issues whenever a camera was pointed in their direction. When Andrew Neil asked writer Tony Parsons which Miliband brother he favoured as leader he replied “the good-looking one” which reduces David Miliband to the status of a male bimbo.