Thematically speaking, there wasn’t too much in Ed Miliband’s speech that we haven’t
heard before. The middle is still squeezed, the Tories are still undermining the “Promise of Britain”, the bankers are still taking us for fools, and communities still need to be rebuilt.
Even his remarks about benefit dependency bear comparion to those he made in February. But
there was a difference here, and that was his punchiness. The Labour leader may not be the most freewheelin’ orator in town, but the text he delivered was less wonky than usual, more coherent and
spikier. It was even — in parts — memorable.
You do wonder whether Miliband has learnt from the Cameroons. Much will be made of how his speech relied on the Blue Labour stylings of Maurice Glasman. But it also echoed the gospel according to Dave and George.
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