EmailPeter Oborne is a columnist renowned for going against the grain of the newspaper for which he writes. And his contribution in today's Daily Telegraph is a first-rate example of his counter-intuitive approach.
His piece carries one of the most startling headlines to appear in the paper in many a year, Ed Miliband is proving himself to be a brave and adroit leader.
It is certainly justified by the content in which Oborne argues that the Labour leader's stand on Syria has changed the course of history.
He echoes the arguments made by Anthony Barnett in the New Statesman, who sees Miliband as an "exceptionally effective opposition leader, brave and an adroit party manager."
Oborne writes: "I concur with this judgment, and indeed would go further than Mr Barnett. Mr Miliband has achieved more as opposition leader than either David Cameron, Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher, the last three to have made the journey from outside government into Downing Street."
He continues by talking of Miliband's "bravery" for refusing to defer to Rupert Murdoch and praising him for his "audacious" demand that billionaires pay taxes and for challenging the trade union dominance of the Labour party.
But his "great achievement", writes Oborne, was in opposing "Cameron's foolish suggestion three weeks ago that Britain should take part in an impetuous military attack on Syria." He continues:
"Miliband's level-headed demand for evidence, and respect for due process in the shape of the United Nations, bought the world time to think again.
As a result, Assad has agreed to destroy his chemical weapons peacefully, thus creating the space for possible talks in Geneva that (let us pray) may bring an end to the conflict."
He decries the subsequent "campaign of vilification" against Miliband. He understands why the Tories would be involved but "the same cannot be said of the Labour party supporters who have turned on Mr Miliband."
In a familiar negative reference to Tony Blair - Oborne loathed the former prime minister's administration - he accuses Blairites of leading the charge against Miliband.
Oborne concludes that Miliband "represents a welcome new departure in British public discourse, and those who value decency in public life will wish Mr Miliband well at the Labour conference."
This kind of column is what makes Oborne so readable and it is to the credit of the Telegraph and its editor, Tony Gallagher, for having hired him.
Oborne does not go with the flow. He always seeks to swim against the tide. The beneficiaries are the Telegraph readers, though you might not think so from scrutinising the online comments!
Source: Daily Telegraph
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