General Election 2015: Miliband's interview with Brand was a good call

Anything that forces Miliband, who might be prime minister next week, to confront the limits of his naïve magical leftism is a good thing

Russell Brand interviews Labour leader Ed Miliband for his internet programme ‘The Trews’

Ed Miliband’s decision to go to an anti-democrat’s house as supplicant might have been a good call after all.

It was interesting for an unexpected reason. Brand forced Miliband to get in touch with his inner Tony Blair. Not just the Estuary accent, although it induced nostalgia to hear those glo’al stops again, but the defence of centrist pragmatism.

Miliband, usually a dreamy-eyed sub-Brand victim of political Stockholm syndrome – isn’t social-democratic Sweden lovely? – was transformed into a happy warrior for New Labour’s eternal truths.

Brand’s only measure of social progress is the number of bankers who have been jailed, to which Miliband couldn’t help responding: “Banks are a good thing not a bad thing.” The Labour leader went on: “I’m no’ looking for euphoria. There’s no’ gonna be change on day one. Righ’? It’s no’ gonna be like that. It takes effor’, righ’?”

Anything that pushes Miliband towards the centre is fine by me. Anything that forces him to make the case for capitalism, and even finance capital, is what I call progress. Anything that forces Miliband, who might be prime minister next week, to confront the limits of his naïve magical leftism is a good thing.