David Miliband really does love Europe, just not enough to live in it

Former foreign secretary shows his passion for Britain and the EU, despite having left them for New York at the first opportunity

"This is my starting point," David Miliband declared, 12 minutes into a speech on why Britain should remain in the EU. It was said without the hint of a smile. In some politicians, the deadpan is used for comedic effect. For Miliband, it is his default position. Reaching your starting point via several dozen extended parentheses is par for the course for the former foreign secretary.

It still wasn't entirely clear if this was Miliband's actual starting point or just a pre-qualifying starting point, but the point he seemed to be trying to make was that the remain campaign had so far been soulless and prosaic, and he had come to inject some much-needed passion and patriotism into the cause. That he was best known as a rather dull technocrat, rather than a charismatic, conviction politician, seemed to have escaped him. As had the irony of a man who stropped off to New York when he lost the Labour leadership contest coming back to the UK to lecture the Brits on patriotism.