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| Balls and Miliband on tour: thank you, Bedfordshire, and goodnight | Balls and Miliband on tour: thank you, Bedfordshire, and goodnight |
| (7 months later) | |
| Ed Miliband was making his big economic speech on Thursday, in Bedford (tourism motto: "Gateway to Luton"). This was because Bedford is the place where Harold Macmillan made his celebrated "you've never had it so good" speech. Fifty-six years later, the Labour leader's message was "you've never had it so bad – and it's not getting better any time soon". | Ed Miliband was making his big economic speech on Thursday, in Bedford (tourism motto: "Gateway to Luton"). This was because Bedford is the place where Harold Macmillan made his celebrated "you've never had it so good" speech. Fifty-six years later, the Labour leader's message was "you've never had it so bad – and it's not getting better any time soon". |
| Sadly I was not there to hear his speech. I was on a hi-tech train speeding north but unfortunately the hi-tech power lines had come down. We got to within three miles of Bedford and stopped. I later reconstructed his remarks. | Sadly I was not there to hear his speech. I was on a hi-tech train speeding north but unfortunately the hi-tech power lines had come down. We got to within three miles of Bedford and stopped. I later reconstructed his remarks. |
| At the moment he was praising the Stewartby brickworks, which apparently are world famous in Bedford, I was gazing at a field. We moved a few hundred yards, so there was a different field to gaze at when he produced a rather good line about this government being the first ever to base its economic strategy on misery rather than success. | At the moment he was praising the Stewartby brickworks, which apparently are world famous in Bedford, I was gazing at a field. We moved a few hundred yards, so there was a different field to gaze at when he produced a rather good line about this government being the first ever to base its economic strategy on misery rather than success. |
| By the time he had announced that he was going to reintroduce the 10p tax band, we had crawled to a glum shopping mall. Finally, an hour and a quarter late, I hurled myself into a cab just as he was promising to adopt Vince Cable's plan for a mansion tax, on all houses worth £2m or more – which, as it happens, includes his own. | By the time he had announced that he was going to reintroduce the 10p tax band, we had crawled to a glum shopping mall. Finally, an hour and a quarter late, I hurled myself into a cab just as he was promising to adopt Vince Cable's plan for a mansion tax, on all houses worth £2m or more – which, as it happens, includes his own. |
| He was speaking at a training centre on the fringe of town. Young men and women were learning how to engineer cars. It's a myth that young persons have no interest in politics. These folk were worried, concerned and attentive. You felt they were not looking for hope, but perhaps merely for some alternative to despair. | He was speaking at a training centre on the fringe of town. Young men and women were learning how to engineer cars. It's a myth that young persons have no interest in politics. These folk were worried, concerned and attentive. You felt they were not looking for hope, but perhaps merely for some alternative to despair. |
| The Labour leader was accompanied by Ed Balls. They stood on the shop floor under a sign saying "Forklift trucks" which, frankly, Ed Balls might have needed to get home. From behind they resembled a comedy double act, Balls the plump one, Miliband the lugubrious thin one. The acoustics were echoey and clangy, so it was hard to make out what they were saying. I pondered again why, while American politicians love razzle-dazzle and excitement, ours prefer to wander in somewhere or other as if they were on a tea break. | The Labour leader was accompanied by Ed Balls. They stood on the shop floor under a sign saying "Forklift trucks" which, frankly, Ed Balls might have needed to get home. From behind they resembled a comedy double act, Balls the plump one, Miliband the lugubrious thin one. The acoustics were echoey and clangy, so it was hard to make out what they were saying. I pondered again why, while American politicians love razzle-dazzle and excitement, ours prefer to wander in somewhere or other as if they were on a tea break. |
| Miliband looked tense, which was odd since he had told the Guardian on Thursday that he was going to spend Valentine's day with his wife, enjoying an episode of The Hour, a Chinese takeaway and "a surprise", which sounded fun, though a colleague discovered it was only a bunch of flowers. | Miliband looked tense, which was odd since he had told the Guardian on Thursday that he was going to spend Valentine's day with his wife, enjoying an episode of The Hour, a Chinese takeaway and "a surprise", which sounded fun, though a colleague discovered it was only a bunch of flowers. |
| They were on to questions and were talking about the mansion tax, which the Lib Dems have been plugging. "To be fair to the Lib Dems …" said Balls. "But not too fair!" snapped Miliband. | They were on to questions and were talking about the mansion tax, which the Lib Dems have been plugging. "To be fair to the Lib Dems …" said Balls. "But not too fair!" snapped Miliband. |
| One man complained about the streets of Bedford, which were full now of bookies, charity shops and boarded-up properties. He accused the mayor of being "complacent" about this. A county worthy who was sitting in the front row in full regalia looked cross, as if someone had yanked his chain. | One man complained about the streets of Bedford, which were full now of bookies, charity shops and boarded-up properties. He accused the mayor of being "complacent" about this. A county worthy who was sitting in the front row in full regalia looked cross, as if someone had yanked his chain. |
| Then the Labour leader scurried off, still looking fretful, looking like a man afraid that his meter might need feeding. | Then the Labour leader scurried off, still looking fretful, looking like a man afraid that his meter might need feeding. |
| • This article was amended on 18 February 2013. The original said the mayor of Bedford was sitting in the front row of the audience in full regalia. The mayor, Dave Hodgson, was not present at the event. | • This article was amended on 18 February 2013. The original said the mayor of Bedford was sitting in the front row of the audience in full regalia. The mayor, Dave Hodgson, was not present at the event. |
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