It has now reached a stage where I feel that Milliband must step down to give Labour a chance of winning a majority - or even enough to consider joining forces with Lib Dems and/or Greens (not sure whether the latter would consider that or not) to defeat a potential Con-UKIP coalition.
The media have won. They've been out to get him from the very start: 'the wrong brother'; weird; can't eat a bacon sandwich; wallace; part of the previous failed labour administration...mentioning these things now, it doesn't sound like a lot to kick him with but they've kept it up since he became leader like trying to fell a tree with a penknife. I would almost admire their persistence if his attackers didn't have such large vested interests in bringing him and the party down.
Compare this with the Tories. They're the ones in power and they are the ones who should be having to answer to the press on a daily basis but somehow the pressure has mostly been on Milliband. The Tories have been proven on numerous occasions to be lying to the public, misleading us, trying to hide information, gagging people who speak out against them, they've been caught doing highly dodgy deals, covering up information that could lead to prosecutions, spending public money on their own campaigns, and yet NOTHING sticks. It's like we all know what to expect from them and we let them get away with it. Ok, so the media mainly leave them alone because it's in their interests to (most of the papers are owned and run by wealthy people who benefit from Tory policies and the BBC are running scared of being closed down - oh, yes, and there's the small matter of those potential left-wing BBC employees whose cards were marked in the 70s and 80s which now means none of the current senior BBC staff have even the slightest left-wing opinions) but we do have social media to fill in the blanks.
The Tories didn't win the last election. They've also lost out on parliamentary votes in the UK and in Europe on matters that they'd fought hard to win. UKIP and Labour have set the political agenda: immigration and the cost of living. But somehow the Tories are still standing, still in the fight and still with vague chance of a majority at the next election, or at least enough to take control of another coalition.
This happened with Neil Kinnock, too. The dominant right-wing media put all of their power and influence into destroying him. The left-wing media were also asking questions of him because they were concerned the attacks were working. It's happening again now, and that is why I think Milliband must step down. It's unfortunate for him but they have won. Milliband would win a lot of favour for the party if he said "I've been kicked and punched by the media since I became Labour leader. I wasn't hurt by any of this; I can take it. But it's hurting the party and that is why I've decided to step down. The party needs to be united under a new leader to make sure we win the next election and my successor will have my full support."
The Tories and the right-wing hacks would be winded by this and I think there are a number of candidates strong enough to take over and win the arguments for Labour.
Who knows, if they take the party in the right direction, I might even vote for them myself.
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