Tucked away in Steve Richards's Independent column today is a revealing insight into Vince Cable and Ed Miliband's relationship. Richards reports that Cable texted Miliband after the Labour leader's conference speech praising it as "one of the best arguments for social democracy made in years".

The text is further evidence of Cable's preference for Labour over the Tories and of the emerging intellectual consensus between the two men. In his interview with last weekend's FT, the Business Secretary praised Miliband as a good social democrat (his preferred self-description) but said he was now unsure whether David Cameron spoke for the Tory moderates, rather than the hard-liners. Should the next election result in a hung parliament, there is little doubt which way Cable will turn.