Will Miliband's battle with the unions make or break Labour?

ED MILIBAND has been forced to defend his leadership of the Labour party after an attack by Len McCluskey, general secretary of Britain's biggest union, Unite. McCluskey accused Miliband of selling out the working class after shadow chancellor Ed Balls, backed by Miliband, admitted that Labour would not reverse the coalition's austerity cuts at the next election. Some commentators thought a union spat was the perfect battleground for Ed Miliband to prove his leadership credentials, while others warned that Labour was undermining its role as a robust opposition.  
 
The making of Ed

Some in Westminster think Len McClusky's attack is a godsend, blogs Dan Hodges for The Daily Telegraph. "Here, finally, was an opportunity for Miliband publicly to slay one of the scabrous dragons breathing fire over his troubled leadership." The cynical might even have suspected the confrontation was choreographed. It's a difficult moment for the Labour leader, but "it could be the making of him".   
 
Ed Miliband is fighting for his political life, says an editorial in The Independent. But the challenge might be just the opportunity Miliband needs. Staring down the unions could lay the ghost of Red Ed to rest, and "assuage concerns about Labour's economic credibility".
 
Labour must prove its credibility

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the union bosses' complaints against the two Eds (Miliband and Balls), there can be only one winner, says The Guardian. That must be Miliband. If Labour is to be an electorally credible political force in British life, then "Miliband has to face down the union bosses".
 
Miliband and Balls's admission that Labour would have to keep most or even all of the coalition's cuts was not an attempt to antagonise the trade unions, blogs George Eton for New Statesman, "but an acceptance of fiscal reality". George Osborne will leave the next government a deficit of at least £79bn.
 
Fighting about a non-issue

Under normal circumstances a Labour leader might want a fight with a union leader to show how much the party has changed, says Daniel Finkelstein in The Times. "But I am not sure this is a battle Miliband means to fight or is equipped to win." It might sound like a big deal that Miliband and Balls have said they will not reverse the cuts at the next election, but by that time, there will be billions of pounds more cuts needed. So the one question Labour has addressed "will be one that won't arise".  
 
Democracy needs real opposition

Is anyone in the party satisfied with the stance of the two Eds, asks an editorial in the Daily Mail. Essentially they are saying that the "the coalition's policies are so disastrous that Labour will have to keep them in place". Viewed from left, right or centre, it's a long way from offering the credible opposition that every democracy needs.
 
Simon Jenkins in The Guardian agrees - healthy democracy requires real opposition. "It might have seemed absurd for Miliband and Balls to attack the ambulances sent by the coalition to clear up after their own car crash. But now that they have relented, who speaks up for the McCluskeys of this world?" ·