Miliband’s got no ideas

FOUR days ago, Ed Miliband dismissed talk that his support was collapsing as ‘nonsense’, while his aides put it down to a fiction of the ‘Right-wing Press’.

Do they still believe the same after this weekend’s poll, which shows that even among Labour supporters, only 34 per cent think their leader is up to the job of prime minister – down a dramatic 17 points over a single month?

Meanwhile, the Observer – hardly noted for its Right-wing views – reports that at least 20 shadow ministers are on the point of calling for Mr Miliband’s resignation (and how significant that so few were willing to speak up for him yesterday).

Deny it or not, the crisis of confidence couldn’t be clearer. But as Dominic Lawson argues on this page, Labour’s difficulties surely go far deeper than their gawky leader’s image problem.

For a start, Britain’s steady growth – ten times stronger than in Socialist France, with two million British jobs created since 2010 – has torpedoed the Opposition’s economic credibility. At the same time, Labour’s mansion tax is under attack as unfair and unworkable, while the party lacks a coherent policy on immigration, EU reform or human rights.

Now it emerges that its flagship price freeze on energy bills could cost families £1,000 over the next three years, as suppliers refuse to pass on cuts in wholesale prices.

Mr Miliband’s critics seem to think the party’s problems can be solved overnight by installing a new leader, better skilled in the art of eating bacon sandwiches.

But if Labour is to regain its lost support, it surely needs a whole new set of policies. With six months to go before polling day, there just isn’t time.