What was most interesting about his speech and a fact that subsequent news programmes have not mentioned, maybe out of embarassment, is that the whole thing went off the air mid flight. It was there one minute, Ed doing his thing, and the next our screens were blank. It appears all channels lost coverage. I dont know how many minutes it was gone, quite a few when youre hanging on every word..!!
here is the man himself while he was on air...
Now it must be said, dear oul Ed is not a barnstormer. He doesnt breathe fire and brimstone into his speeches, he doesnt whip up a frenzy of zealous enthusiasm, he is more of a cosy chatter. One talking head on TV said he wasnt Tony Blair who could 'electrify any venue' and indeed Ed said as much in his speech. But he talked generally and engagingly about all the things we are worried about..like Jobs, the NHS, and so on, and his words went down well in the hall.
The real purpose of this speech I suspect was PR..he went out to be engaging, to be liked. His personal poll ratings are not great, and are making little headway, so the main assault here was not on Government policies, although he did cover the basics, but on the opinion polls. I think he pulled it off. He wanted to come across as likeable and he did.
But...was his speech sabotaged by person or persons unknown?? Taking a major speech off air mid stream looks odd in the extreme.
