IN the exhausted aftermath of the Scottish referendum campaign, the Labour Party might have been hoping to enjoy the unseasonal Manchester sunshine but instead was faced with political dark clouds casting a number of long shadows on the delegates.

As always during the four-day conference, the aim of Labour chiefs is to get as much positive coverage for their leader and premier-in-waiting as possible. Yet the start of proceedings was overshadowed by David Cameron's offer on English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) and the end was overshadowed by David Cameron's move on Isil. Not good for the Labour leader to have his moment in the sun obscured by his main opponent.

The emotion following the hard-fought independence campaign was bittersweet; delight at securing the Union but despair that the PM's first instinct on victory was to sow the seeds of division on EVEL.

Labour chiefs admit they missed a trick here; that their proposal for a constitutional convention on English devolution should have been announced earlier. Now, the party south of the Border appears reluctant on granting more powers for English regions and cities, which the Tories will exploit heavily in the months before May.

The sense of indignation at Tory tactics among Labour figures was made all the more painful by two more developments. Firstly, the post-poll surge in SNP membership, and secondly, the stirrings of a bid to replace Johann Lamont with Jim Murphy.

How is it, Labour folk were asking themselves that in many ways a victory felt like a defeat; that the political momentum they hoped to have gained on the back of defeating the Nationalist threat to the Union had gone to the other side?

Mr Miliband used the conference to promote a key theme that the drivers of the referendum campaign - unity, solidarity, co-operation - should now be the hallmarks of the General Election campaign; that as a country "we're not only better together, we're stronger together".

Another key purpose was to convince the public that Labour would be economically competent. In a flat speech, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls underlined how a Miliband government would balance the books and, to underline an "iron discipline" on fiscal policy, announced a real terms cut in child benefit and retention of the welfare cap.

For his part, the Labour leader used his keynote address to map out his 10-year national mission to restore faith in the future, particularly for the young, who were promised a housebuilding surge.

But the key message was on what will clearly become a central election battleground: the NHS. More money for more staff funded by stinging the rich on the mansion tax, tobacco giants on a windfall tax and hedge fund managers who avoid tax.

With just eight months to go before the General Election, the Labour leader needs to learn the New Labour lesson and do more to go beyond the core vote and reach out to Middle Britain, where the election will be won and lost. If he does not, he and his party will be sunk.