ED MILIBAND, instead of standing conventionally at the lectern like Harriet Harman, Derek Simpson and Ruth Lister at the Compass conference last Saturday, “did a David Cameron” and, hands stuffed in pockets, prowled the stage, sans tie and jacket, with a microphone around his neck. Very effective it was, too, and went down a treat with the troops – especially his opening remarks that Compass was “too left-wing for my brother David, but some other members of my family may be here today” and his revelation that, as a 16-year-old, he used to open letters for Tony Benn. “It’s good to see him here [cue enormous cheer from the hall] because I know that things are bad, really bad, for the Government when I get a text message from Tony saying: ‘Is there anything I can do to help’?”
