Red flag at half-mast

Labour conference has now closed with the traditional singing of the Red Flag. Ed Miliband appeared to know all the words as he sang along as one wag put it, ‘you don’t grow up in the Miliband household without knowing all the words to the Red Flag.’ But what was really striking about the end of conference was how downbeat it was. As the delegates streamed out of the hall, the atmosphere was palpably flat.

Harriet Harman declared in her closing speech that Labour are now done with statements of contrition about their record in office. She told the hall that:

‘…the two Eds both acknowledged – what we all know – that not everything we did in government turned out right. And people need to know that over the past year we’ve taken a hard look at what we did and we’ve learnt lessons. But it’s time now to move on.’