http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/04/ed-miliband-john-prescott_n_5932600.html
Ed Miliband 'Far Too Timid' And 'Preparing For Coalition,' John Prescott Says
Ed Miliband is showing a severe lack of ambition, ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott said in a damning assessment of the party leader's "far too timid" strategy and underwhelming party conference performance.
The former deputy prime minster said the Opposition leadership appeared to have resigned itself to not winning an overall majority at the 2015 general election and was seeking only to shore up its "core vote".
Urging Mr Miliband to "go all out for the win", he warned that "time is running out" to set out vote-winning policies to compete with the "belter" of a tax cut offer proposed by David Cameron at the Tory conference.
New Labour's 1997 landslide victory was secured by appealing to a broad range of voters across the country," he wrote in his Sunday Mirror column.
"But Ed seems to be pursuing a core vote strategy of getting 31% of traditional Labour supporters with a few ex-Lib Dem voters.
"He might as well have said at the end of his conference speech: 'Go back to your constituencies and prepare for coalition.'
"Ed might not like looking back but he can learn a lot from our 1997 campaign and our pledge card.
"Five polices on health, crime, jobs, education and tax that were costed, deliverable and drilled into voters on every doorstep. And at the next election we proved we delivered them.
"So come on Ed. Ditch the pollsters, the focus groups and US-style politics. Be bold, be brave and let's go all out for the win."
The "flat" Labour conference was a waste of a golden opportunity to enthuse voters, he wrote, while the Tory gathering the following week was marked by "smiles on faces, a confident leader and policies galore".
"Labour had a great opportunity to put flesh on the bone, with papers and TV channels giving Ed Miliband and his team a blank page to get their policies across," Prescott wrote.