THERE have been many Ed Milibands over the years.
Highlights include “tough enouss” Miliband, the relaxed backbench Miliband who tried to sing death metal with Napalm Death and of course, bacon sandwich Miliband.
But one Miliband particularly worthy of note was the version we got during the election campaign, who gamely argued for state ownership of utilities.
A typical argument during this era of Miliband went like this: “Britain already has public ownership of energy – just by foreign governments.
“It is time to take back control of our energy.
“With Great British Energy, a new publicly owned company, Labour will make Britain a clean energy superpower.”
This was Miliband in economic nationalist mode. Swap out some of the nouns and it wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the conference floor of the SNP.
Of course, the thrust of that is more or less spot on. Foreign governments make a killing out of us keeping the lights on.
For example, ScottishPower is a subsidiary of a company called Iberdrola, which lists the state-owned Qatar Investment Authority as a “significant shareholder”.
More straightforwardly, EDF Energy is just the British outpost of the French state-owned energy company.
Miliband's implication, obviously, was that without having to pass on profits to shareholders, or pump money into French and Qatari coffers, our bills might go down.
Maybe even, in admittedly a far-fetched scenario, this model would lead to people in other countries asking: “Why can’t we run things like they do in the UK?”
A far-fetched dream that is, given that GB Energy has already set up shop and still no one seems quite sure what it’s actually meant to do.
One thing we know for sure: It definitely isn’t getting your energy bills down any time soon – and not by nearly as much as Labour suggested before coming to power.
But Miliband’s argument can be read on another level. His comments sound nostalgic for an era when Labour nationalised swathes of industry and brought capital to heel.
There’s a confidence in his argument which has evaporated since Labour came to power. Miliband no longer seems quite so agitated about foreign governments turning a coin on British industries.
Take for instance this week’s minor furore over whether a Chinese company will play a role in developing the Green Volt wind farm in the North Sea.
According to reports, Miliband’s department did raise concerns – but only on the grounds that China might be able to turn the lights off.
They seem to have made no mention of the fact that behind the project is a firm called Vargronn, a joint venture between HitecVision and Eni Plenitude, a subsidiary of the Italian state-owned energy company Eni.
And what about when the Spanish state stepped in to save Harland and Wolff, through its shipbuilding firm Navantia? Not a peep from Miliband.
In truth, Labour are keen to get investment in any way they can. They insist there is no money left, beggars can’t be choosers.
Miliband can’t be a chooser either. He needs to take what he can get, his brief but passionate spell as an economic nationalist is over. It is just one more victim of Labour’s quixotic quest for growth.
