Moral Authority

Jim Naughtie could not contain his rage at Ed Miliband for suggesting that there was such a thing as, in Naughtie's words, "the right of the State to exercise moral authority".

Just as well that there was no Jim Naughtie when Shaftesbury and Wilberforce were knocking about as Tory campaigners against phenomena, slavery abroad and horrendous working conditions (including for children) at home, that are now well on the way back. Or when Victorian Nonconformists were using the Liberal Party to fight against opium dens and the compelling of people to work seven-day weeks, both of which have now returned in full. Or when temperance Methodists and traditional Catholics were building the Labour Party in order to counteract brutal capitalism precisely so as to prevent a Marxist revolution, whereas the coherence of the former with the cultural aspects of the latter now reigns supreme.

As for Southern Cross, an essential service, paid for by the NHS, by the council, or by some combination of the two, should be delivered by the NHS, by the council, or by some combination of the two. In buildings and on land owned by the NHS, by the council, or by some combination of the two. Any suggestion to the contrary was and is downright immoral. Not to say, downright daft.

And as for workers on boards, not only do we need to encourage employees and their trade unions to buy shares in order to secure such positions, not only do we need a 12-month qualifying period before voting shares may be used as such, and not only might the public sector trade unions be encouraged and assisted to buy up the City, but we also need to require every public limited company to have one non-executive director appointed by the Secretary of State for a fixed term equivalent to that of other directors, and responsible for protecting the interests of workers, small shareholders, consumers, communities and the environment.

"A lurch to the Left"? Compared to what, exactly? Fleet Street's real principal sources of income can be discerned from their hysterical response to the possibility of a viable electoral outlet for mainstream public opinion about flogging off the NHS, closing all the libraries, genuflecting to overcharging train and utility companies, taxing the poor so as not to tax the rich, using the public purse to ensure that the bankrupt City can carry on paying out the same old obscene salaries and bonuses as if nothing had happened, failing to distinguish between respectable council tenants and the characters from Shameless, and (although Miliband has blotted his copybook over Libya) waging wars all over the place. Be afraid, Tory Boys. Be very, very, very afraid. Clearly, you already are. Good.