One of the things that's most noticeable about Ed Miliband is how much he talks about love - love for his brother, who he just beat for the top job, not least. The living wage, he says, is about dignity and love; his campaign was about "time, compassion and love". I'm pleased he won - and who could disapprove of love?

But there are few words that can't be rapidly devalued by being regularly placed in the mouths of politicians, churchmen and tycoons. If an MP talks about his honour, you can almost bet on there being a duck-shed or an affair somewhere in his near future; if a businessman talks about service to the public, the biggest serving will always be reserved for him and his friends. Gibbon talked of the abbot whose vow of obedience had brought him the rule of his many monks, whose vow of poverty had brought him control of vast estates; the historian affected to forget what the vow of chastity had brought him.

And so it is with love.