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Smoke and mirrors at Labour Party conference
Labour continues to tinker round the edges dealing in half measures

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a preening wassock strutting around a stage in Brighton attempting to be macho.

This was Ed Miliband's latest wheeze, pretending self-deprecation while at the same time aiming for bragging rights with one of the most nauseatingly smarmy anecdotes heard at a Labour conference since Blair last did his "second coming" shtick.

Miliband's ploy was so transparent that if you squinted you could see the script-writers beavering away behind the curtain like manic members of the Jim Henson workshop operating a particularly nondescript and awkward muppet.

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