I am amused by all the comments about Ed Miliband being a gift to the Tories.

Let me spell out the reality. If the ConDems cuts deliver economic panacea nothing Labour can do will get them back into office at the next election. Period.

If those cuts do not work, as I predict, then offering more of what the ConDems offer will be no reason to chose Labour at that election. So they won’t get back into office by doing that. Period.

So the only viable option for Labour is to offer a significantly different programme. That was why Ed Miliband had to be the choice and the risk could not have been taken on David Miliband. It is also why Ed Balls will I hope be shadow chancellor.

Nuancing the ConDems (as Alistair Darling still want to do) will not be effective opposition in that case and cannot be a recipe for winning.

This is a time for conviction and EM has nothing - repeat nothing - to lose by going for it. The only viable choice is saying cuts are wrong. Partly because they are. Partly because nothing else puts Labour back in office.