WHAT a brilliant speech Ed Miliband made as part of his much-vaunted fightback.

He reckons he’s going to mount a Churchillian-style attack by: “Taking this lot (the other parties) apart... door by door, street by street, town by town.”

Except he’s not, is he?

The last time a Labour politician came to my street was quite possibly in 1945. The last time ANY politician came to my door was a good 17 years ago – I was so surprised, I voted for him.

But Ed isn’t coming to my street. He won’t be going to any street unless it’s in one of those marginals that his little wonks and geeks have calculated he can win by a few thousand votes.

Which is, of course, most of the problem. Because politics isn’t about numbers and statistics.

It’s about Ordinary Members of the Public – voters, we could call them.

You know, the people Ed looks scared of when they manage to break through the cordon of interns and press officers to meet him as he scurries between car and speaking venue.

The kind of people like Mrs Gillian Duffy, who ask innocent questions and then get branded as a ‘bigoted woman’ by Gordon Brown.

Instead of fighting them on the beaches, I think Ed should come and have tea with me.

And I could tell him why the public have lost confidence not only in him and his policies but in the vast majority of folk whose job description reads ‘MP’.

Because although he may say that talking about immigration isn’t racist, most of us suspect it goes against every fibre of Ed Miliband’s being and that he has no intention of taking on Europe and doing something concrete about it.

Because it was his party that allowed most of us to see our pensions stripped from before our eyes to stop children being poor – and it didn’t work.

Because his party championed the ‘light touch’ regulation that allowed the bankers who destroyed this nation’s financial hopes and dreams to get off scot, and in many cases become even richer.

Because his party talks about building loads of new homes yet keeps totally schtum about the vast number of empty properties blighted by the nonsensical Pathfinder Scheme (knocking down perfectly good old houses to build new ones) or the 1m empty homes in the UK.

Because, despite being the noble creators of an NHS that was conceived in the face of glowering Tory disapproval, his party then kicked off its current woes with the iniquitous Private Finance Initiative.

Because, despite championing a social democratic agenda, I still haven’t heard anything from him about House of Lords reform which means that in the 21st century our laws are STILL being made by some old duffer who did Tony Blair or David Cameron a favour.

And – finally – because although Ed believes himself to be ordinary and Just Like Us it can’t be so, because his family must be living on more than £200,000 year, which means he simply cannot understand what it’s like to be on the average national wage of £26,000.

In the end, all the electorate wants is someone to believe in. Someone who understands just what it’s like to be a soldier back from Afghanistan, mum to a suicidal teenager who can’t get medical help, a disabled person looking for a job, a man with cancer who’s being told his operation is being delayed because the system is swamped.

Ed – and all politicians – can wheel out all the talking heads, get all the ‘official statistics’ that they like, but if that doesn’t tally with people’s personal experiences then what they say counts for nothing Don’t get me wrong – I like Ed Miliband; he’s a nice guy, a good dad and loving husband. But that won’t get anyone else’s kid a job, pay the mortgage, or fund anyone’s old age.

His political mates won’t tell him this – it can only come from people like me and you, ordinary members of the public.

And the sooner he realises the better.

 

Is this such a big achievement?

YES, yes yes, I’m very impressed with Philae, pictured, the robotty thing that scientists from Europe have managed to land on a comet.

It’s a big achievement. But did it really warrant the ocean of coverage given to it by the BBC this week?

You couldn’t turn on the box or Radio 4 without some boffin gushing on about how wonderful it all was. Scientifically, it IS. But as it won’t cure cancer, stop the spread of Ebola, persuade one jihadi to stop killing Muslims and arrest any of the criminal bankers who, it was revealed have been up to their fiddling ways once again, I’m not sure that, in the grand scheme, it’s that important.

Such a worthy recipient of the Queen's honour

HER pride tinged with tears, Jane Sutton, the mother of Stephen Sutton, both above, accepts an MBE from the Queen in honour of her inspirational son, who didn’t let terminal cancer get in the way of him raising £5million to help fellow patients.

What the Queen said wasn’t reported. Had she the time I very much suspect it would have been something like: “What a pleasure it is to hand this over in memory of someone who has actually done something outstanding, not written a trashy pop song, won a tennis match, paid £3million to the Tory Party or served their time on a borough council.”

Less of Take That

NOW that at least two fifths of their members are no longer with them, shouldn’t the posters advertising the Take That tour actually be re-entitled Take (Some of) That?

Well done Jessica

OLYMPIC gold medallist Jessica Ennis says that if the convicted rapist Ched Evans is allowed back to play for Sheffield United then she wants her name taken off the stand they named after her.

It’s a no-brainer. Except, of course, if you have no brains. Or, possibly, sit on the board of Sheffield United.