According to statisticians and economists, the economy is starting to turn the corner.

And apparently many people are starting to believe this – certainly the opinion polls are starting to show that the Labour lead is steadily being eroded and, as I’ve said recently, if there was a general election within the next few months, my money would be on David Cameron.

I don’t know many people who are feeling better off. I don’t know many people who think they will be feeling better off in a year or two’s time.

But there are an increasing number who feel that perhaps things are going in the right direction for the country.

These facts put together should sound the alarm bells for the Labour Party – and really shows up the poor leadership of the national party.

I’ve never been a fan of Ed Miliband. I thought the party’s convoluted electoral system put the wrong brother in the top job, and despite occasional flashes of inspiration I’ve seen nothing to change my mind.

His shadow cabinet seems populated by accident-prone second-raters.

When he appeared on Question Time in Ipswich earlier this year, Chris Bryant put in an assured performance which suggested he was a politician on the rise.

This week his lamentable performance on the immigration debate, where he got many of his facts wrong in the initial draft and then refused to go on news programmes to explain his points suggests he is a politician well out of his depth.

I follow the Ipswich Labour Party on Twitter. Its members are always out in the constituency, leafletting, canvassing voters, identifying and connecting with voters.

They are doing exactly what local political activists should. It is why the Ipswich Labour Party is the most formidable local electoral machine in the region.

However when I see them at work, and watch their party leaders on the news, I am coming more and more to the conclusion that the activists are lions led by donkeys.

Whatever the statistics say, people in Britain are not feeling better off. People in Ipswich are not feeling better off. Many would like an alternative government.

But Labour’s national leaders are not offering a credible alternative. They appear intent on handing the next election to their opponents on a plate!