David Miliband is a tease. The speech he just gave was one of his best: it was
self-deprecating, had gravitas, humour, and he spoke down to the Tories, telling William Hague what statesmanship was about. A monstrous conceit, CoffeeHousers may argue, but a Labour leader needs
a bit of that; to make out that he’s the real leader-in-waiting, up against lightweights. There was his trademark little bit of grit in the speech: he praised the troops, the Afghan mission and
criticised Cameron for reducing British diplomacy to trade missions (Con Coughlin made the same point in a Spectator cover piece recently).
My point: that this was a measurably better speech than the one his little brother made on Saturday. And I’ll bet it’s better than the speech Red Ed will make tomorrow. This will be, for Labour, a very embarrassing fact – but a fact nonetheless.
As he spoke, I walked around the hall and looked at delegates’ faces: the same look they had when listening to Blair’s conference speech after he was knived.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in