If any Labour leader can claim to have won the argument and lost the election, it is surely Ed Miliband. In 2015, the Conservatives mocked “Red Ed” for proposing crazy socialist policies, such as nationalising railways, and said he was living in a Marxist universe for suggesting energy prices should be capped. Both measures have been adopted by Boris Johnson, and no communist spectre haunts Britain. Mr Miliband’s signature policies – such as opening a national investment bank, targeting regional infrastructure and encouraging business investment with tax incentives – continue to be pinched by the current government. The country we are living in owes as much to Mr Miliband’s leftwing economics as it does to Mr Johnson’s social conservatism.
When Mr Miliband points out in the Commons that the Tories have appropriated his ideas without the size of his ambition, cabinet ministers chuckle that “we are all revolutionaries now”. That is why a new book by Mr Miliband is an important political event. Whether to “Go Big”, as he proposes, or not is contested within Keir Starmer’s Labour party. The shadow business, energy and industrial secretary is right, however, to argue that only sweeping changes can remake societies so that they are fairer, more secure and more prosperous. Market-driven instability and the environmental crisis are profound challenges that require equally large solutions.
Mr Miliband mounts a coherent challenge to orthodox views, encouraging his audience to think differently and laying the foundations of where the country needs to go. He asks why social housing has such a poor reputation in the UK when it provides homes for 60% of people in Vienna, the capital consistently voted the best place to live. He calls for the lowering of the voting age, noting that UK-wide general elections are the only major votes in which 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland and Wales cannot take part. He points out that free bus travel is not unaffordable but in fact has paid for itself in 100 cities and towns globally by unclogging roads and bringing life back to high streets.
The former party leader understands that his case needs to be won within Labour. He knows that the shock waves of the pandemic will not do it for him. Mr Miliband unashamedly champions the Preston model, where public institutions are encouraged to spend more of their budgets locally, despite it being associated with Jeremy Corbyn. In a party that seems scarred by its experience of internal democracy, Mr Miliband is clear that we live in an age when it is movements of people, not politicians, that change the world. He wants more citizens’ assemblies and more community organising. His optimistic vision contrasts with the pessimism expressed by Tony Blair, who last month called for Labour’s “total deconstruction and reconstruction”.
Some might argue that Britain has been through enough big changes with Brexit. Many in Labour think that the route to electoral success lies in smaller, more incremental offers to voters. But these seem an inadequate response to growing wealth inequality, a climate emergency and the pressing need to bridge divides in a fractured Britain. They also miss a fundamental shift in the economy, where it is clear that the size and role of the state will grow. Levelling up won’t be done on the cheap after a decade of austerity. And the costs of an ageing society will have to be met, just as the demands of adjusting to a net-zero economy begin to mount.
Events seem to be going Mr Miliband’s way. The importance of Joe Biden’s budget isn’t just its size but the anti-government dogma it dismisses. Imitation, it’s said, is the greatest form of flattery. The prime minister may not read Mr Miliband’s book, but he is not averse to filching his ideas. This, perhaps better than any poll, demonstrates just how necessary, effective and even popular Mr Miliband’s prescriptions can be.
