Red Ed’s comrades are coining it in . . .

LABOUR leader Ed Miliband, who at a miners’ rally in Durham last week compared himself to Michael Foot, Nye Bevan and Keir Hardie, extends his anti-capitalist riff by attacking Lord Green.

Treasury minister Green used to run HSBC bank, suddenly in the mire in America.

But should Left- lurching Mr Miliband not be careful? Labour has its own HSBC connection.

Former Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, who was once in line to become Mr Miliband’s sister-in-law (his brother David was her bit of fluff at college), joined HSBC’s strategy unit two years ago on a salary reported — kerching! kerching! — to be £200,000.

Promotion has followed. She has become the bank’s ‘head of client strategy, global asset management’. We’re probably looking at a package worth an easy £ 300k a year.

Ma Kelly is not the only former Labour minister to be coining it — and I do not refer to the £115,000 p. a. being given, we learned this week, to former PMs Tony Blair ( does he need it?) and gay gadabout Gordon Brown.

A stodgy former Defence minister called Bill Rammell, who was kicked out by the voters of Harlow in 2010, was recently appointed vice- chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire.

Luton College of Higher Education, as it used to be called, offers courses including breast-feeding counselling, football studies, carnival studies and beauty spa management. For some time I have been trying to discover how much Comrade Rammell will be paid for skippering this temple of academe. Finally an answer arrives: £180,000, starters. Fill yer boots, Billy boy! A Bedfordshire spokesman hurriedly adds that the average salary last year for university vice- chancellors was £ 208,037. I’m not sure that makes me feel any better.

Alan Cook, chairman of governors at Bedfordshire, says: ‘We look forward to supporting Bill in adding to the university’s successes.’