Labour must push what Miliband has got right on the economy in election runup

Charge sheet brought by the Tories may not stand up, but party still needs show how its tax and spending policy can help re-shape and modernise the economy

In less than three months' time, Ed Miliband could be prime minister. Admit it, conjuring up the mental image of the Labour leader coming in and out of No 10 is tough, even though opinion polls suggest that is the likeliest outcome of the election.

As far as his political opponents are concerned, Miliband should be a dead man walking. The economy is growing and unemployment is falling. Courtesy of falling oil prices, living standards are rising. Labour trail the Conservatives on economic competence. Miliband is seen as a less impressive leader than David Cameron.

Labour understood that the way to get the deficit down "was to get the economy growing first