Ed Miliband stakes all on his ‘big choice’

Labour will launch its summer campaign later today. The centre-piece is Ed Miliband’s speech. He will present a ‘big choice’ to the British public, arguing that they cannot afford 5 more years of Conservative rule. Miliband’s argument is simple: the economy is broken, only we can fix it; the NHS is threatened, only we can save it; the Tories represent the few, only we care for the many.

You will have heard these mantras many times before; but, this time, the presentation is different. The speech bears the mark of David Axelrod, who is busy ‘reframing’ Ed Miliband as an honest yeoman of the shires rather than a metropolitan oddball. Rafael Behr of the Guardian has an extensive account of this ‘reframing’ effort. To summarise; Miliband has to empathise with the common man because this is his one advantage over snooty David Cameron. Justine Thornton, Mr Miliband’s brilliant but unassuming spouse, has been on the campaign trail this week spreading