On the surface there are some tentative signs that Miliband – who has been drafting the speech round his kitchen table as his children run amok – might be a little bolder. His advisers are adamant the flirtation with the new age rhetoric much beloved by their boss’s posse of intellectual gurus is to be shelved. “We’re going to be focusing on living standards, living standards and more living standards” said one. A shadow cabinet source involved in negotiations with Miliband’s staff over sections of the speech was also upbeat. “It’s been going well, they’ve been engaging”, he reported, before adding the rider “but it’s still hard to get Ed to make a decision”.