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New British opposition leader marks out his ground

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New British opposition leader Ed Miliband has made his main focus since winning the leadership of the Labor Party on Saturday to outline some of the directions in which he wants to take party policy.

Former British climate change minister Ed Miliband addresses Labor supporters after being elected new leader of the Labor Party in Manchester. Miliband beat his elder brother David in a knife-edge race. [Xinhua]

The British political battleground will be dominated for the next few years by the coalition government's budget cuts, designed to rein in the record public sector spending deficit of 153 billion pounds (about 240 billion U.S. dollars).

How Miliband handles his party's reaction to the cuts, designed to lop off 111 billion pounds (about 166 billion U.S. dollars) of government spending over the next five years, will be central to his success, or the reason for his failure.

The cuts mean that most government departments, with the exception of health and overseas aid, have been ordered to make cuts, in some cases of up to 40 percent over five years.

The cuts will mean job losses, up to 650,000 in some forecasts, and trades unions represent more than 50 percent of public sector employees.

They have already decided to hold a mass demonstration in London on October 19, just one day before the details of the budget cuts are announced.

They have also set themselves on collision course with the government by vowing to fight the cuts. Coordinated strike action as the cuts take place looks certain.

Miliband beat his elder brother David in the leadership race by just over 1 percent of the vote, a tight margin. Under Labor's complicated electoral rules, three groups -- trades unions, members of parliament (legislators), and ordinary members -- each get a one third total of the vote. David Miliband, the older of the two, won the vote among MPs and ordinary members but lost out to Ed in the union section.

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