Sardine Snatcher

I love sardines whether they're freshly grilled and served with a big squeeze of juicy lemon washed down with a nice glass of cold white wine - or served more humbly, out of a tin on toasted bread which has been smeared with French Dijon mustard.

So I was rather taken aback by the Labour leader - Ed Miliband's - comments reported on the BBC's web about about his inspiration for Britain as it tries to climb out of recession - and his peculiar admiration for Clement Atlee's Labour Government which banned the import of sardines after World War II.

In fact, I'm pretty worried about Ed Miliband more generally because his list of political heroes seems terribly wonkish and boring - so far we're had 'One Nation' Benjamin Disraeli and now we've got the 'Sardine Snatcher' Clement Atlee.

I think Ed has to get out more and loosen up a bit - you'd think for someone relatively young and on the 'left' that his inspiration would come from political figures such as Che Guevara or John F. Kennedy or more contemporary leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela. 

But no, Ed comes up with good old Clement Atlee - who nobody remembers except Labour voters above a certain age - my mother, for example, who is no longer alive sadly.

Get a grip Ed - the country's looking for leadership as we approach the next general election - not a re-run of 'All Our Yesterdays'.          

Labour leader Ed Miliband inspired by Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee was the Labour prime minister of a reforming post-war government

Labour leader Ed Miliband has suggested he will draw inspiration from the post-war administration of Clement Attlee if his party comes to power in 2015.

Mr Miliband told the Guardian that Attlee managed to run a budget surplus despite the challenges of creating the NHS and post-war shortages.

He also pledged to change Whitehall's relationship with town halls with a "New English Deal" for local councils.

Mr Miliband said "great things" could be achieved despite the economic state.

He added: "If you go into the roots and history of the Labour Party and think about our most dramatic society-changing government, the 1945 government, we all remember the NHS, building homes, and the family allowance.

Sardines ban

"What is less remembered is the other half - yes, they created the NHS, but, believe it or not, they were running a budget surplus. There was wartime rationing.

"This is a government that banned the import of sardines because they were worried about the balance of payments. It shows a government can be remembered in difficult times for doing great things."

Mr Miliband said Labour councils would be called upon to put forward ideas for the party's policy review.

He said: "Too often in the past central government, Labour central governments, told local government what to do. We are reversing this. We are going to get local government to tell us how it's done."

Attlee was the Labour prime minister between 1945 and 1951.

His administration introduced the National Health Service, nationalised one fifth of the British economy and granted independence to India.