Tom Richmond: Miliband must prove himself soon... or resign

The Doncaster MP said he had not been losing any sleep over his lacklustre personal ratings – even though his loyalists appear to have spent many long nights trying to fathom out how to reinvigorate the opposition.

And then Miliband, with all sincerity, said that he was the man to abolish corporate cronyism.

Fine – but voters have longer memories than most politicians, and recall how he was part of a Cabinet that signed off the ludicrously profligate, and reckless, payout to one Sir Fred Goodwin when the RBS had to be nationalised.

And this then brought another flaw into play; Miliband’s refusal to accept that the Blair and Brown governments spent beyond their means, exacerbating the cuts now being made by the coalition.

He did not stop digging himself into a bigger hole here. This, in turn, highlighted another failure – the Labour leader’s reluctance to identify how he would cut the deficit, even though he conceded that the PM elected in 2015 would have to continue with this painful work.

He talked about persuading energy firms to subsidise the winter fuel heating allowance for over-75s, but it was no more than warm words. It’s not a policy to rebuild Britain. Listening to the interview, I concluded that Miliband will struggle to retain his party’s confidence – especially if the trade unions play up this year.

The downside, from Labour’s perspective, is that the alternatives may not fare any better. Yvette Cooper is too closely associated with Gordon Brown; Jim Murphy hails from Scotland, a probable disadvantage; David Miliband would not want any part in the leadership after being beaten by his brother in September 2010, and Rachel Reeves only entered Parliament less than two years ago.

But can Labour afford not to take a gamble? On this evidence, Miliband has six months to prove himself – or resign for the sake of his party and country. It’s that serious.

IF only today’s liberals had a voice as articulate, and principled, as that of John Arlott, the uniquely-gifted cricket commentators whose contributions to politics were celebrated the other night on BBC Radio Four.

In many respects, he was as principled debating mining after the Aberfan pit disaster, with Michael Foot and a young Margaret Thatcher (who said coal had a future), as he was discussing how Britain should have joined cricket in boycotting South Africa under apartheid.

Equally as memorable were his utterances on local government, and how elected councillors should have no political affiliations to ensure decisions are not stitched up before key meetings in the local Labour or Conservative Club.

They were comments as relevant today as they were in the 1960s. For if David Cameron’s Big Society is to flourish, would local democracy, decision-making and accountability be helped if party politics became less influential in the town hall chamber?

FIFTEEN months after a motorist bumped into my car, causing minor damage and no injury, I received a text this week: “Our records indicate that you still haven’t claimed the £3,750 compensation for the accident you had. To claim for free, reply ‘yes’ to this message.” I did not. Instead, I’m hoping that the Government accelerates plans to regulate the car insurance industry – and its accompanying scams.

IT is not just mere mortals that have to tolerate sub-standard customer service. Kim Bailey, the Grand National, Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle-winning trainer, reveals on his blog how a family left a pub after being told there was a 45-minute wait for food.

He takes up the story. “One of my well-known owners just happened to be in the said pub, went up to the bar and said to the lady ‘do you know who that was?’

“The lady behind the bar said ‘No’. ‘Shame’ came the reply from my astute owner. ‘That was our Prime Minister’.”

Fair play, however, to David Cameron for not exploiting his status – or pointing out to the bartender: “Do you know who I am?”

I can think of many who would have.

A HAIR implant firm – I won’t give them a name-check – paid PR consultants to send two emails this week to me which began: “A staggering 80 per cent of people from Leeds are unhappy with their hair, believing it has a detrimental effect on their lovelife and job prospects.”

How do they come up with such rubbish – and haven’t such firms anything better to spend their money on?

THEY’RE never happy in Hull, are they? Their football team gets to the fourth round of the FA Cup, and a relatively straightforward home draw against lower league opposition, and fans would rather concentrate on promotion.

I hope this negativity does not rub off on the city – Hull is a city where optimism, both economically and socially, is in very short supply. Any lift, whether sporting, political or commercial, should be welcomed.

TALKING of sport, how refreshing to see Stuart Lancaster, England rugby union’s new head coach, taking his new charges back to the grass roots – literally – and turning the West Park Leeds club into a Six Nations training base.

It is where Lancaster’s children play, but as one member put it: “He might be in charge of England, but he’s still only the assistant coach of the West Park under-11s.”

That said, there is a serious point to be made. One reason why England’s over-rated players failed in the World Cup is because they took success – and commercial endorsements – for granted. That won’t happen on Lancaster’s watch.