LABOUR needs to be a patriotic party and be proud of the Union flag, Ed Miliband has insisted, as he dismissed claims something had gone wrong with the party under Sir Keir Starmer given it was still behind the Conservatives in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Asked if the Opposition at Westminster needed to be a more obviously patriotic party to win back support, Mr Miliband told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “Of course, we need to be a patriotic party. I find it pretty surprising that people think it would be controversial that Keir Starmer would appear with a Union Jack; he wants to be the Prime Minister of the country.”

The Shadow Business Secretary explained: “At this moment, for me my patriotism is the incredible pride I have in how the British people have responded to this crisis.

“I see the contrast between that and the way our country is run, our public services that have been diminished and underfunded, key workers that have been underpaid in our country, the welfare safety net that has massive holes in it.

“The task in the years ahead is to match the spirit of the British people with the kind of country we need to be,” declared Mr Miliband, stressing: “That’s what my patriotism is about. That’s what it was about in 1945, after 1945 for the Labour Government and that’s what you’re going to see from Keir Starmer in the months ahead.”

Asked if Labour was proud of the Union flag, Mr Miliband said: “Of course, and I’m particularly proud of our country and the way it’s responded to this crisis.”

Jeremy Corbyn famously told The Herald: “I’m not a Unionist, I’m a socialist.”

At the weekend, Scotland’s pre-eminent historian, Sir Tom Devine warned about the Government’s post Brexit plan to put Union flags on British car number plates, saying in the current “frenetic political atmosphere” it would prove provocative and that many Scots would prefer to have the Saltire on their plates.

He suggested the move showed how out of touch Downing St was with Scotland, adding: “You would almost get the impression that they are trying to dig the grave of the Union.”

Last week, a leaked internal strategy document suggested Labour needed to make “use of the [Union] flag, veterans [and] dressing smartly” as part of a radical rebranding to help it win back the trust of disillusioned voters in so-called “red wall” seats in northern England, who deserted the party over its stance on Brexit, and other seats that went over to the Conservatives.

Crucially perhaps, the document claimed voters could not describe what or who Labour stood for. While Sir Keir was rated by voters as the party’s biggest positive asset, concerns were voiced about him “sitting on the fence”.

Last week, a poll suggested Boris Johnson and the Tories were getting a vaccine roll-out bounce with the governing parties up four points on two weeks ago at 41% while Labour was down three points on 38%, suggesting the progress made by the Labour leader post the departure of Mr Corbyn as the head of the party had stalled. Two other snapshots have given the Conservative Party leads of six points and two points.

The latest poll for the Scottish elections in May put Labour on 17 points, three behind the Tories on 20% and 35 behind the SNP on 52%.

Mr Miliband was asked about the differences within Labour between generations and those supporters in towns and cities and rural areas and how that gap could be bridged.

The Shadow Cabinet minister said there was a “big coalition” to be built in the UK for a different approach in the future.

“We’ve had in the last decade the financial crisis, the crisis of Brexit and now the injustices and inequalities revealed by Covid. And they should all tell us something about the deep iniquities of our country. And there’s a big coalition to be built for that.

“We can’t just carry on with business as usual. We’re talking today about supporting businesses. There needs to be a new relationship between government and business. We’re saying that we’ve got to suspend business rates for another six months to keep businesses going through this crisis. Maybe you wouldn’t have expected that from Labour but it’s about government and business working together.

“A proper industrial strategy for the green jobs we need. Building up our public services again. Not making people live on £74 a week on Universal Credit. Not saying to kids, to poor kids, you can’t get free school meals during half term. Those are the values that Keir Starmer’s fighting for and that we’re fighting for,” he declared.