Miliband close to deal with unions

Hot news.  I'm told that Ed Miliband has all but struck the vital deal with the unions on his internal reform package.

Official party sources are refusing to brief on the subject, which they want to emerge as an eve-of-conference success.

But an insider says that things moved decisively since Monday evening. "There have been some developments in the ;last 36 hours  whcih I think suggest that it's going to be resolved," said the insider. "I'm very clear there will be a way forward at the NEC on Tuesday."

This is big news for backers of Ed M.  He wants to cut the union vote from 50 per cent to around 40 to cure the democratic deficit in conference votes.  In a balanced package he will beef up the status of party conference, hopefully ending the dreary years when Tony Blair turned it from a place where decisions were made to a US-style rally.

In addition, Miliband aims to make local parties more outward-looking.  If the package goes through, Labour will be a different animal. The leadership will have to listen to members, and members will have to listen to the ordinary public rather than sit navel-gazing.

Incidentally ....

I've just heard a fuming denunciation of today's Times splash from a senior Labour insider.  While the party's official spokesman says "we don't comment on polls", this well-connected source let rip.

"The Times poll shows Labour clearly ahead but the Times chooses to editorialise on its front page about Ed Miliband.  It's hard to tell if this is reporting or campaigning. It seems crass. I can't remember them doing this about Cameron at the same point."

Ouch. That seems rather harsh to me, since the poll revealed some pretty dismal ratings for Miliband.

 

Joe Murphy

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