Isabel Hardman

At the very end of a rather long and wonkish fringe about Labour's policy review last night, Angela Eagle started describing what she called an 'electronic town square'. She'd already told the audience about Star Trek salutes, so this town square, which sounded rather like Labour's answer to Trumpton, was quite in keeping with the slightly quirky discussion. But the electronic town square is even more interesting than Star Trek because it's an example of how the party is trying to update the way it creates policy and engages with its members and members of the public.

Each day of the Labour conference covers a different aspect of Britain that Ed Miliband wants to rebuild, and tomorrow's theme as the Labour leader gives his speech will be rebuilding the education system. Miliband will announce plans for a new Technical Baccalaureate which starts at 14 and runs until 18. The idea is to target those children who will not be going to university, but who, according to Miliband, do not currently have the same road map for their future as those going down an academic route. Describing these students as the 'forgotten 50 per cent', he will say: 'In the 21st century everyone should be doing some form of education up to 18, not 16. That gives us the chance and the obligation to develop a new system from 14 to 18, in particular, for vocational qualifications.

The Blairite cuckoos so despised by the trade union bosses started singing this evening. After learning that Unite general secretary Len McCluskey wants to 'kick the New Labour cuckoos out of our nest', MPs at the Progress rally in Manchester went on the defensive. As the rally was in the Comedy Store, it was only appropriate that someone turn the infighting between the different wings of the party into a joke. Caroline Flint quipped: 'Apparently I'm a cuckoo, so I'm going to start by talking about the dodos tonight.' She paused, and then added: 'The Liberal Democrats - who did you think I was talking about?' Ben Bradshaw also received enthusiastic cheers from the audience when he said: 'We don't need to kick anyone out of this party. We don't need to silence anybody.

There's a great temptation for an opposition leader to give answers praising motherhood and apple pie when taking part in a Q&A with members of the public. Especially when that session marks the start of your party's conference season and your party has set out very few formal policies so far. But Ed Miliband today, as well as announcing crowd pleasers on energy and pensions, caused a bit of a stir by accepting that a Labour government would not 'spend another' £3 billion dismantling the frameworks created by the Government's Health and Social Care Act. He said: 'There’s no more important institution that expresses, I think, the real soul of the country than the NHS, because I think it expresses a whole set of values which I think the British people share in common.

Ed Miliband's speech in Manchester next week is going to be one of the toughest gigs of the party conference season. As James writes in his column this week, the Labour leader needs to give the country a glimpse of what he would be like as Prime Minister. Alan Johnson agrees: in a piece for the Guardian today, the former shadow chancellor says Miliband has 'to do more to demonstrate that he is a leader'. Johnson writes: 'But he knows better than anyone that an opinion poll lead is not enough. In any case, the same polls still show David Cameron being preferred as prime minister. While I don't believe that a prime minister who is more popular than his party can deliver an election victory, it does suggest that Ed Miliband has to do more to demonstrate that he is a leader.

Now the Lib Dems have finally reached the end of their autumn conference in Brighton, here's a summary of the most important points from the week: 1. The Lib Dems will struggle to work with Ed Balls in the event of a possible Lib-Lab pact in 2015. Nick Clegg made this clear in his speech this afternoon, repeatedly attacking the shadow chancellor by name. 2. Nick Clegg wants to pull his party with him into demonstrating that coalition works.