Labour pains

ED Miliband's condemnation of those union leaders threatening to disrupt the Royal Wedding and London Olympics is welcome. As staff in Jobcentre Plus call centres prepare to become the latest state employees to attempt to hold the country to ransom, the Labour leader, nevertheless, needs to be far more explicit about his intended approach to industrial relations.

Less than four months ago, Mr Miliband was wooing these unions as part of his successful bid for Labour's leadership. Now, he is distancing himself from their strike threats. Is this because he believes their militancy is going too far, as the public sector cuts bite, or is this an opportunist move, on the part of the Doncaster MP, to court disgruntled Lib Dem supporters?

If it is the latter, then he is simply replicating the tactics of Nick Clegg who he continues to vilify for going into coalition with the Tories. The opportunism charge is certainly one that Mr Miliband still needs to neutralise. After all, he was part of Labour's post-election negotiating team that, by all accounts, was extremely curt towards the Lib Dems. Now he is extolling the virtues of the two parties working together, and undermining the Conservatives.

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Yet this still does not explain how Labour's new leadership would work with the unions, if he became Prime Minister, or how he would face up to the deficit that the last government, of which he was a prominent member, bequeathed to the nation. For, while the opinion polls are, as expected, favouring the Opposition at present, most taxpayers remain supportive of the need to tighten public spending for the foreseeable future.

Mr Miliband is quick to criticise David Cameron, and that is his prerogative. He is less forthcoming on his alternative approach. It is now his duty to explain how he intends to balance the nation's books.