Ed Miliband is an embarrassing failure whose every action makes Britain worse, according to a scathing opinion piece in the Daily Express. The performative sanctions against Israel will backfire spectacularly and Britain has just become a little bit more dangerous, writes Paul Baldwin.
Miliband Described as a Failed Politician
Baldwin writes that he makes an exception for Miliband, whom he despises, citing what he calls breezeblock stupidity, pompous self-aggrandisement and a belief in his own moral and intellectual superiority. He accuses the Foreign Secretary of catastrophic damage to the country and says in any reasonable universe Ed would be in a straightjacket in an asylum.
He describes Miliband as an unrepentant Marxist fifth columnist whose 1980s student politics have aided Britain's enemies and damaged its standing in the world. Baldwin claims Miliband has failed at everything he has ever done, sometimes quietly and sometimes spectacularly, like crashing the 2015 General Election.
Background and Criticism of Sanctions
The piece describes Miliband as a Primrose Hill boy, noting the average price of a terraced house there is £2.5m, and the son of a Marxist intellectual. It claims he was encouraged to engage in political debates with family friends like Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone, Tariq Ali and Joe Slovo.
Baldwin argues politicians have only one job: to act in the best interests of the country. He criticises Miliband for calling a key trans-Atlantic ally a racist, misogynist groper, for giving huge contracts to China, and for making Britain's streets more unsafe for Jews with a virtue-signalling policy that is pointless and self-harming.
Impact on Israel and Britain
The trade sanctions are microscopic and will harm Netanyahu not one jot, Baldwin claims. He says the attack on Israel will strengthen the siege mentality in Jerusalem and almost certainly hand Netanyahu the October election. It will damage the relationship with what he calls the one true buttress against Islamic extremism in the region, threaten intelligence sharing and make British streets more dangerous.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry admitted as much on the radio yesterday but said it should be done anyway, according to the piece. Baldwin calls it political virtue-signalling and cynical electioneering, and says leading Jewish voices have said it could signal open season on British Jews.
The piece argues it is extraordinarily difficult to get to any fact-based truth on what is really happening, as Israel effectively blocks reporting so most information emerges via the Hamas press office. It questions why Britain is not intervening in Sudan, Congo, Myanmar, Niger, Yemen, Mali or Burkini Faso, suggesting the Palestinian vote is more important than the Burkini Faso vote in the upcoming by-election for Keir Starmer's old Holborn & St Pancras seat.
