Labour MP Jamie Reed on Miliband’s fabulist legacy…

“… Ed’s principal bequest to the party: a fabulist mind set. When considering the wreckage left by his leadership, I am reminded of Hunter S Thompson’s description of the brutal defeat of the American new-left at the hands of Richard Nixon. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson described the 1960s West Coast spirit that shaped this movement: “There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning…”

Ed’s conviction that he would win was absolute. With faith in the face of reason and fact, the doubts of Labour MPs were never entertained: fabulism ran riot. … At a time when even Syriza has accepted the suffocating economic realities of our time, Ed’s fabulism can no longer be indulged. This magical thinking has already had its three strikes: its rejection by the British people at the general election, its embodiment in Jeremy Corbyn as a clearly unelectable potential Labour leader (a candidacy facilitated by Ed’s legacy) and the point-blank refusal of some sections of the party to listen to what the public and Labour voters are telling us about “welfare” spending. This isn’t simply a refusal to compromise with the electorate; it’s a refusal to compromise with reality.”