Miliband needs right message

MIDSUMMER madness has broken out at the heart of the Labour Party.

At a time when welfare cuts, payday loans and the rapid uptake in foodbanks have made the party’s mission more crucial, they have been busy attacking each other.

UK leader Ed Miliband has experienced a bruising few days in which high-profile colleagues have criticised his performance amid a slump in his personal approval rating in the wake of getting hit by an egg on a walkabout which went wrong.

These last two are relatively minor issues. Nobody really thought any the less of him after the egg attack and small fluctuations in polls are of little importance this far out from a General Election.

But the sniping from the sidelines is altogether more worrying.

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott caused real problems for Miliband with his outburst over the weekend.

Prescott attacked Miliband’s strategy over the parliamentary recess, complaining that Labour “didn’t set agendas”. And he challenged the leader to sack underperforming Shadow Cabinet members. He should have known better. During the traditionally quiet news period dubbed the silly season, it was an open goal for right-wing newspapers desperate for a chance to attack Labour.

And why is it necessarily a bad thing that Miliband has kept a relatively low profile during Westminster’s summer break?

Turning up at events just to be seen doesn’t seem like a particularly good use of time for the leader of the opposition.

Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran spoke sense on the issue during a visit to a Fife supermarket yesterday.

The Glasgow East MP defended her boss and insisted he is formulating a vision to get Britain back on its feet.

If Labour want to convince the public to give them their support once again they have to have the right message.

It is that message that Miliband is slowly but surely beginning to formulate.