Ed Miliband: The Conservative Candidate?

Be assured that I have not breached the Murdoch pay wall. But I happen to know that behind it are these words of Ed Miliband's:

We need to be clear that part of the job of social democratic politics is to conserve those things in society that free-market Conservatism would destroy. Our communities are too precious to be dictated to by markets. Take the example of how our towns have changed. If you travel through the market towns of the South, too often you find them dominated by late-night bars, clubs and betting shops, even when local people want a more friendly place to live.

There cannot be a “free” market generally but not in alcohol, gambling, drugs, prostitution or pornography. There cannot be unrestricted global movement of goods, services or capital but not of labour. The economic decadence of the 1980s is no more acceptable that the social decadence of the 1960s.

So, you can be a conservative, or you can be a capitalist, but your cannot be both. Ed Miliband is not really either. But he is far closer to the former than to the latter. No Party Leader has been since John Smith.