The Tories keep swiping, but Ed Miliband is an elusive target Though still an ultra-Blairite whose role models include the Tory grandee, Lord (Kenneth) Baker, Lord Adonis is also a central figure in the policy review instigated by Ed Miliband, who praised his "fresh thinking" when he made him his adviser on industrial strategy. Lord Adonis will shortly be heading to the Lib Dem conference to appear on a platform with his fellow policy reviewer, Jon Cruddas, to whom he has just handed a signed copy of his text, telling him that he should see it as his submission to the policy review. In the view of Mr Cruddas, a standard-bearer of the Left, the book is "brilliant." That does not mean that Lord Adonis's unadulterated blueprint will necessarily become party policy. Some colleagues, not to mention union leaders, would still echo the senior figure who says: "I'm not an Adonis fan." Others may hope that, given his industrial brief, he might abandon his education mission (a wish akin to hoping Santa might give up on Christmas). But while some of Lord Adonis's ideas are questionable, almost no one thinks that the days of local education authority hegemony are coming back. Far from being a prophet of the periphery, Lord Adonis is a mainstream figure praised by erstwhile naysayers and tipped as a future education secretary in a Miliband administration. Given the focus on higher skills and standards, and the dearth of public money, a less elitist version of the Gove reforms will almost certainly become Labour policy. Since education is the only area in which Labour has a detailed plan, albeit an unofficial one, for the next Parliament and beyond, it may offer a guide to what any future Edworld would look like. On health, no one is talking about repealing the Lansley reforms, unwise as they may be. On crime, Labour has so far failed to come up with any radical alternative to Tory thinking. Indeed, the Opposition frequently seemed much less liberal or innovative than the former justice secretary, Ken Clarke. Labour's post-Olympic vision that connects the future and the past will appear more conservative than anything articulated by the Tories. Mr Miliband even has a future coalition partner lined up, in Vince Cable, should such an adjunct ever prove necessary. While the political hall of mirrors offers many reflections, there are also major differences in approach, most obviously on the economy, deficit reduction and kick-starting growth. Mr Miliband's approach to big business and the City, though still nebulous, will be far removed both from Blairite obeisance and the homage paid to the rich by the current Tory business minister. On civic renewal and on social justice, Labour's focus on issues ranging from child care to a living wage hint at policies that will never be mistaken for Tory hand-me-downs. This approach is unlikely to alarm voters. On the contrary, the latest British Social Attitudes survey shows that most Britons are backing increased public spending. And so, as conference season approaches, Tory strategists are reported to be homing in on Labour "weaknesses." This line of attack is causing little worry in a party preparing to react to public concern on immigration and welfare. "David Cameron is not going to find any space to put clear blue water between him and us," says one shadow minister. Labour, by contrast, perceives the Tories as a more-of-the-same party that has disavowed radical change. That in turn invites the question of what, exactly, Labour is going to offer the electorate. Some senior figures are concerned at the lack of precision. "We've got a long way to go," says one. If an election were called early, we wouldn't be in the right place yet. Others long to roll out policies instead of following instructions to "create a buzz." Too little substance and too much buzzing could, they fear, invite Mr Cameron to swat the Opposition like a gnat. Mr Miliband has made progress in demonstrating, to his own side and to the Coalition, what he is not. He is not a no-hope leader, nor a creature of the unions, nor yet the effete and divisive opponent of Mr Cameron's dreams, however much Tory strategists might wish that it were so. He has also omitted to trash the New Labour legacy from which radical Conservatives such as Mr Gove are extracting some of the best bits. In addition, the warmth with which Lord Adonis's ideas have been greeted in Labour circles suggests that the party is still distancing itself from superannuated orthodoxies with no role in a changed world. Much of Mr Miliband's rhetoric would not ruffle the feathers of a prize Chipping Norton bantam, let alone frighten an electorate ready to listen to him, if not yet to like him. The education reforms proposed by Lord Adonis, and pursued more or less slavishly by Mr Gove, offer the clearest sign that Red Ed has become a more elusive (if somewhat less glamorous) target than the Scarlet Pimpernel. So far his own landmark policies have proved even harder to pin down. Labour now has the brief window of the conference season to show, if it can, that its fresh ideas are as bold as its recycled ones.