Miliband - Labour's Crewe campaign 'not a mistake'

The sense of outrage about Labour's campaign in Crewe and Nantwich is palpable - to me it shows just how bankrupt the party is when it comes to having any concrete ideas. It also smacks of complete desperation to me, they know they are losing and since they have no positive ideas to turn it around result to the purely negative in a last desperate throw of the dice. My memory is drawn back to 1997 and the infamous 'demon eyes' that the Conservatives used against the then surging Labour Party under Tony Blair.

It will probably not surprise anybody to learn that speaking on Sunday Live with Adam Boulton Ed Miliband thus refused to distance himself from the campaign. He said;

""We always have stunts and people campaigning in adventurous ways. These kind of things happen."

Pressed to admit the campaign was a mistake he added;

"No it is not a mistake. I am saying it is only part of our campaign. It is not the central part of our by-election campaign."

However, it appears to be making little difference to Labour's fortunes in C & N. I would argue that this is because the people most likely to be swayed by it are already hardened Labour voters in any case and the rest actually want to see the party develop some positive ideas and deliver a positive message. Political Betting is saying that the bookmakers view a Conservative victory as an almost certainty - however, the reports coming from Elizabeth Shenton's campaign are very encouraging so how this will pan out is anybodies guess at the moment.