Anyone halfway civilized would have deferred to elder brother David Miliband

“That’s why I say that Ed Miliband is an arrogant, thoughtless, selfish fool who by his actions show that he is unqualified to lead”

When Ed Miliband decided to stand for the Labour Party leadership he must have been aware of the consequences. Some of us couldn’t understand how he could have stood in the first place. Surely, a civilized, intelligent, thinking person with an ounce of decency would have shied away from standing against his elder brother.

Miliband Minor should have said, maybe through gritted teeth, that it was just too unseemly to try and beat his brother. After all, David was the senior family member. David deserved the chance to seek the Labour leadership. Ed’s chance would have to wait, that at least is what a normal person would have decided to do. As we now can see, David’s career is probably destroyed. The odds were nothing like as huge for Ed, because his career had not yet risen to the heights of his elder brother.

I suppose it’s possible that David will get the chance to win the leadership somewhere down the line, but Ed’s victory has made this unlikely. And can you imagine how grim the atmosphere will be next Christmas if and when the families meet?

That’s why I say that Ed Miliband is an arrogant, thoughtless, selfish fool who by his actions show that he is unqualified to lead. It makes the Labour party look foolish too, which of course is no bad thing.

Watching his speech at the Labour Party conference today was toe-curlingly uncomfortable. His delivery was so poor, I almost shied way in embarrassment as he fumbled his lines, waited for applause that never came, or stumbled on blindly as the brothers and sisters missed their cues and drowned out what he was saying. At the end, the audience misinterpreted the timing and all stood up to applaud, only to have to repeat the performance at the end of the next sentence. Physically, Ed can’t hack it either. He looked too young, like some 6^th form student playing at politics. The content of his speech was juvenile too, particularly his section on Iraq and the ludicrous passage about climate change.

The Tories must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of the Labour party at the next election trying to pretend that Ed is a fit leader of our nation.

This victory for Ed was certainly down to his union connections, and last night on the BBC’s Daily Politics, Andrew Neal interviewed Charlie Whelan, Gordon Brown’s disgraced PR man now a front man for the Brothers. It was clear that what motivated this arrogant bully was simply trying to do down the Blairites, who were four square for David. The fact that his success will mean the Labour Party not being elected for donkeys years seemed not phase him for a moment. Revenge was everything.

Another point struck me while watching Ed’s immature display. How come, when everybody knows that most people now are living longer, healthier, useful lives, the political process seems to recruit ever younger, inexperienced leaders, which apart from their general uselessness, also cuts short the careers of many 50 and 60 year olds with better qualifications?