Could Ed be about to announce an EU referendum?

The FT are reporting(£) this morning that Ed is being urged to announce a change of policy on an EU referendum in his speech at conference. This could take the form of pledging an in/out referendum after the next election as David Cameron has done. But it could also mean outflanking Mr Cameron and even pushing for a vote in 2014 or alongside the 2015 General Election.

Miliband and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander have both previously criticised David Cameron’s decision to announce a referendum in 2017 as causing uncertainty for the business community in one of our largest markets.

A spokesperson for Miliband insisted that the theme of the conference would be “living standards” not Europe.

Polling out today from Mori shows that concern about living standards indicators such as “housing” and “poverty/inequality” are on the rise. However the key issues for voters remain the economy, immigration and unemployment. Europe does not feature in the top 10 voter concerns. The polling also indicated the public are beginning to show confidence in the economy. Although it remains the highest ranked issue, concern fell by 8 points since last month. This is the lowest level since August 2008.