Young David Miliband did well in his maiden speech as an education minister at the National Association of Head Teachers conference in Torquay last week.
NAHT leader David Hart described his effort as “excellent”. The New Labour golden boy was even funny. When a mobile went off in the hall, he quipped:
“I hope that isn’t Number 10 saying I am off-message.” Oh how they laughed.
In reality, of course, Miliband, son of a Marxist historian, couldn’t be off-message if he tried. The night before his big speech, he had a private dinner with heads at the Palace Hotel, Torquay. As others wined and dined and downed the booze, the clean-cut young minister drank soft drinks (he probably didn’t have his ID) and asked for an apple for dessert. He was duly presented with a choice between a crisp green apple and a worryingly red one. No prizes for guessing that he opted for the non-socialist fruit.