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| Ed Miliband barracked on immigration as he reaches out to voters | Ed Miliband barracked on immigration as he reaches out to voters |
| (5 months later) | |
| Ed Miliband is on a curious mission for the leader of a major political party. On a chilly spring morning in the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, the Labour leader dispensed with his jacket and declared to an audience of shoppers that he wanted to hear from voters, but preferably not Labour ones. | Ed Miliband is on a curious mission for the leader of a major political party. On a chilly spring morning in the centre of Newcastle-under-Lyme, the Labour leader dispensed with his jacket and declared to an audience of shoppers that he wanted to hear from voters, but preferably not Labour ones. |
| "I want to hear from people here, particularly people who aren't necessarily Labour party members who are unpersuaded, sceptical about politics, maybe even unpersuadable," Miliband told his audience in remarks unlikely to have been uttered by a leader of the party before. | "I want to hear from people here, particularly people who aren't necessarily Labour party members who are unpersuaded, sceptical about politics, maybe even unpersuadable," Miliband told his audience in remarks unlikely to have been uttered by a leader of the party before. |
| The 200-strong gathering of pensioners, students and shoppers responded enthusiastically and bombarded Miliband with questions – some hostile – on issues covering immigration, crime and welfare. "There are far too many," one woman shouted out when Miliband touched on immigration. A pensioner then joined in. "No one is listening on immigrants," she said, interrupting Miliband. "I am 73 and am still paying £80 a month in tax to keep all these people. Why? Nobody is listening." | The 200-strong gathering of pensioners, students and shoppers responded enthusiastically and bombarded Miliband with questions – some hostile – on issues covering immigration, crime and welfare. "There are far too many," one woman shouted out when Miliband touched on immigration. A pensioner then joined in. "No one is listening on immigrants," she said, interrupting Miliband. "I am 73 and am still paying £80 a month in tax to keep all these people. Why? Nobody is listening." |
| With microphone in hand, Miliband calmly approached each of the questioners assembled under the 1830 clock tower of the town's Guildhall. He first asked their names – saying this was for basic manners – before explaining how the last Labour government made serious mistakes on immigration. "I think we do need to worry about the pace of change in terms of immigration. I think we didn't get it right when we were in government," he said. But the man whose father who fled the Nazis and whose mother who was shielded from the Nazis in Poland then mounted a passionate defence of immigration. "I will be completely straight with you. I believe in a multi ethnic diverse Britain. But it has got to be made to work for everyone and not just a few." | With microphone in hand, Miliband calmly approached each of the questioners assembled under the 1830 clock tower of the town's Guildhall. He first asked their names – saying this was for basic manners – before explaining how the last Labour government made serious mistakes on immigration. "I think we do need to worry about the pace of change in terms of immigration. I think we didn't get it right when we were in government," he said. But the man whose father who fled the Nazis and whose mother who was shielded from the Nazis in Poland then mounted a passionate defence of immigration. "I will be completely straight with you. I believe in a multi ethnic diverse Britain. But it has got to be made to work for everyone and not just a few." |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme is about the 20th town to have witnessed Miliband's new approach to campaigning, described as "politics in the raw" by one Labour source, in the runup to the local elections on Thursday. Miliband believes that the format adopted by all the party leaders in recent years, in which an invited audience asks questions to a leader standing on a platform with a microphone attached to their lapel, has run its course. | Newcastle-under-Lyme is about the 20th town to have witnessed Miliband's new approach to campaigning, described as "politics in the raw" by one Labour source, in the runup to the local elections on Thursday. Miliband believes that the format adopted by all the party leaders in recent years, in which an invited audience asks questions to a leader standing on a platform with a microphone attached to their lapel, has run its course. |
| The Labour leader has taken a leaf out of the campaign book of John Major, who famously won the 1992 election after taking to a soap box with a megaphone, and invites questions from random shoppers standing on nothing more than a pallet. But there is a difference - Miliband takes questions and embarks on a lengthy dialogue as he explained in his party election broadcast last night. | The Labour leader has taken a leaf out of the campaign book of John Major, who famously won the 1992 election after taking to a soap box with a megaphone, and invites questions from random shoppers standing on nothing more than a pallet. But there is a difference - Miliband takes questions and embarks on a lengthy dialogue as he explained in his party election broadcast last night. |
| The difference between success and failure can be narrow. In Lincoln on Saturday a mere 10 Labour party members turned up. Within minutes , a crowd of up to 200 had gathered for a hard-hitting question and answer session. | The difference between success and failure can be narrow. In Lincoln on Saturday a mere 10 Labour party members turned up. Within minutes , a crowd of up to 200 had gathered for a hard-hitting question and answer session. |
| The new freewheeling Q&As have been inspired by the veteran US community organiser Arnie Graf, who is regarded as something of a mentor for Barack Obama. Graf has been helping Labour draw up an open manifesto for Labour in Lancashire, which the party hopes to capture from the Tories. In the sunshine of Cleveleys, north of Blackpool, Miliband had his most electric encounter of the day when a man of his age heckled him over failings on immigration and said: "You're all full of shit." Miliband said that he would not be able to persuade him as the man, who declined to give his name, said he has been unable to get a job "in my own town" for four years because it is "full of every other country". | The new freewheeling Q&As have been inspired by the veteran US community organiser Arnie Graf, who is regarded as something of a mentor for Barack Obama. Graf has been helping Labour draw up an open manifesto for Labour in Lancashire, which the party hopes to capture from the Tories. In the sunshine of Cleveleys, north of Blackpool, Miliband had his most electric encounter of the day when a man of his age heckled him over failings on immigration and said: "You're all full of shit." Miliband said that he would not be able to persuade him as the man, who declined to give his name, said he has been unable to get a job "in my own town" for four years because it is "full of every other country". |
| As Labour members jeered, the man said to the crowd: "Never mind your flaming arse." Miliband asked them to hear him out as he stepped off his pallet and walked up to the man, standing on the other side of a telephone exchange box, and told him that employers undercutting wages – rather than immigration – was the cause of the problem. "Make me the prime minister and I will get you the job," Miliband said as he referred to the Labour party's jobs guarantee. Within a few minutes they shook hands over the telephone box and parted as friends. | As Labour members jeered, the man said to the crowd: "Never mind your flaming arse." Miliband asked them to hear him out as he stepped off his pallet and walked up to the man, standing on the other side of a telephone exchange box, and told him that employers undercutting wages – rather than immigration – was the cause of the problem. "Make me the prime minister and I will get you the job," Miliband said as he referred to the Labour party's jobs guarantee. Within a few minutes they shook hands over the telephone box and parted as friends. |
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