The “Red Ed” label lazily applied to the Labour leader is not entirely borne out by the facts of his relatively moderate policies, such as they are. But he has done little to challenge it, giving rise to the suspicion that he finds being painted as an old-school socialist convenient and perhaps even comfortable. Meanwhile, those Labour figures who counsel a more centrist approach are being almost ostentatiously loyal to Mr Miliband, calculating that their chance to change Labour’s direction will only come when he is gone.