Obama's tip to Miliband: To win, you must be upbeat

By Matt Chorley, Political Correspondent
Sunday, 29 May 2011

Barack Obama has warned Ed Miliband that he can only win the next election if Labour embraces a more optimistic vision for Britain's future.

In talks between the two centre-left leaders last week, the US President set out the blueprint for inspiring British voters at a time of anxiety about the state of the economy.

During a 40-minute meeting at Buckingham Palace, President Obama and Mr Miliband discussed the shared challenges facing progressive parties on both sides of the Atlantic. The President in particular stressed the "importance of having an optimistic sense of national mission".

There has been growing unease among some senior Labour figures that, in opposing the coalition's spending cuts, the party risks being seen as relentlessly negative.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/obamas-tip-to-miliband-to-win-you-must-be-upbeat-2290581.html