Miliband
Speaking at an event organized by the Institute for Public Policy Research, Labour leader Ed Miliband said that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair should not have allowed uncontrolled immigration from the EU while also taking aim at employers, particularly those who target manual laborers from abroad. Reuters

They say that the darkest part of the night is just before dawn.

Ed Miliband, who has endured two months of stick from the press, supporters, unions and even family, may have just woken up.

Speaking straight from the shoulder, the Labour leader delivered a speech on the new capitalism he envisages for the future of Great Britain. Admittedly, bankers, bonuses and rich executives are hot topics and, perhaps, Miliband would have played the wrong political card had he spoken about these issues in the late autumn. But here was a man with an idea, a "new responsible capitalism" that made sense. Not just to the people who are not well off, but to the people who are not as well.

After having accused the government of "being out of touch" for so long, the Labour leader delivered his speech very much as a man of the people.

The pitch was not that of a forceful leader straggling for attention, more that of a man concerned for the welfare of his country. The whole pitch made sense politically and economically. At last, here was a person who could put into words what people are thinking.

One only needs to stroll down to St Paul's to see what they are campaigning for there. A new capitalism, tick; fairer pay, tick; one nation, tick.

"We are once again at risk of becoming a country separated economically, geographically, and socially. We are once again at risk of becoming two nations in this country. That is not the kind of society in which I want to raise my children," he said.

"The consequences of the financial crisis are felt every time a library closes, every time a school can't afford a new book and every time a policeman or policewoman is taken off the beat.

"The banking sector needs to understand this. People who did not cause the financial crisis are paying the price. Too many of those who did cause the financial crisis are not."

It made sense.

Even a question from the BBC about his elder brother writing in the New Statesman could not knock the confident Labour leader off his perch. Dare we even say it? There was a leader in the room.