Until Saturday, I held out hope that Ed Miliband would come up with an inspiring vision needed to convince us he is the leader to take us out of the morass of socially divisive and shortsighted policies, feeding from the fears and paranoia stoked by the Murdoch press ('We are in the hard yards of opposition. It is a fight I relish', 7 January).

Not any more. Miliband had nothing to say on the coalition's reneging on one election commitment after another for tackling climate change, other than a passing reference to the slashing of feed-in tariffs. Less than two weeks after the government's own scientific adviser, David MacKay, produced his analysis, giving the first comparative costing on routes for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, which show that investing in renewables is no more costly than other more environmentally damaging strategies, Miliband has no announcement to make on Labour's energy policies.

He is silent on: the backdoor privatisation of the NHS; the OECD report that inequality in Britain is rising faster than any other wealthy nation; the tax havens, which allow the wealthiest 5% to increase their share of the nation's wealth to 40% while a further 100,000 children are pushed into poverty; the £20bn to be squandered on Trident.

And he thinks himself a "man of steel and grit"? Sorry Ed, I don't see it.
Kate Macintosh
Winchester, Hampshire

• At the heart of Mr Miliband's problem is the fact that he can't see the difference between being referred to as someone of real steel and grit, and referring to himself as someone of real steel and grit. The former might make a few people take him more seriously, the latter smacks of desperation, and the possibility that he might burst into tears.
Mike Scott
Bath

• "I'm the guy who took on Murdoch"? Yes, but only after Tom Watson criticised you on Newsnight on 4 July 2011 for your lack of response.
Paul Davy
Menston, West Yorkshire

• Trendy green sofa, perfectly complemented by two designer cushions, and a mug of tea in his hand. All Ed Miliband needs now is a Tony Blair mask and we're back in the 90s.
John Collins
Swansea

• Your interview with Ed Miliband reveals how far Labour has drifted from its origins. Talking about restoring "responsible capitalism" is surely a contradiction in terms. Why not responsible socialism? Reduce the power of the banks, develop manufacturing, take back the energy supplies, renationalise the railways, which is what most people want. In other words, reclaim socialism, even perhaps under another name if the chattering classes take fright at being seen as "red".
Peter Woodcock
London

• Shouldn't you have challenged Ed Miliband when he asked "How are we going to make our society fairer in a world where there is less money around"? I've read nothing since the financial crisis broke that there's less money around, but plenty about how the money is unequally distributed. That surely is the point.
Steve Warby
Worthing, West Sussex