On his way in to speak Ed and Justine Miliband walked through the ground-floor exhibition area and came past us at the CND stall.

Bit of a shame he did not stop to sign the petition against Trident renewal. And only a few steps away the PCS stall was conducting a vote on whether Labour should stick to inherited Tory spending plans in 2015.

Both stalls were getting good support, as was the packed Labour Representation Committee meeting on Monday night in Friends' Meeting House.

Leaders' speeches to conference have evolved a lot over the years.

From Harold Wilson reading a lengthy speech to a smoke-filled conference, referring to many other great Labour figures and quoting Nye Bevan, to a leader walking the stage for an hour without notes and delivering it all from memory is an extraordinary and welcome change.

Conference is always full of rumours and the run-up to the conference has been dominated by the issues of the union link and the level of public support for Labour.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka made the point strongly on Monday.

With austerity and poverty, with - in Miliband's own words - a million young people looking for work and with prices having risen faster than inflation for 38 of the last 39 months, why is Labour support not higher?

On economics - spending and what to do about the policies a Labour government would inherit from the coalition - Miliband deftly skated round the tough questions, except to indicate that there would be difficult times for the next government.

And in a strange throwback to James Callaghan and 1978 economics he announced that an incoming Labour government would be "backing winners."

It sounded like investment in new companies and high-tech industries to promote growth.

His commitment on apprenticeships and young jobs is a great step forward, but why this had to be linked to an almost throw-away remark about skilled workers immigrating to Britain is unclear.

However his very firm condemnation of the Home Office vans asking people to "go home or face arrest" was a powerful stand against racism.

A very welcome rejection of the coalition's race-to-the-bottom approach and an assertion of community values laced his speech, albeit with more than a tinge of nationalism.

It ended with a big play against Scottish independence, while the only politician named in his speech was Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones.

The way the Tories have increased divisions between the wealthy and the poor, for example by giving tax breaks to millionaires, was well put - but no commitments were made on taxation and equality in the future under a Labour government.

Rather belatedly a commitment was given to abolish the bedroom tax - an achievement for all of those who campaigned so long and hard for this.

Where he will go on the bigger question of the benefit cap and the universal credit chaos was left dangling in the air.

Quite rightly he pointed out the costs of energy, announcing a freeze on gas and electricity prices from 2015 to 2017.

But sadly no commitment on public ownership or detail on how prices would be controlled at the start of the freeze.

A welcome criticism of the housing market also left any who listened with a big question mark. Building 200,000 homes is good. But there was no suggestion as to how many of these would be council houses, and despite a clear pledge to regulate the private rented sector no commitment was given on rent controls, without which the social cleansing of central London will gallop on.

The only mention on world issues was a promise that the party had moved on from Iraq and was no longer supporting wars. The leader congratulated himself on the Syria vote, but the juxtaposition of opposing wars and yet supporting keeping our troops in Afghanistan was never answered. Afghanistan is presented by Miliband and his shadow cabinet defence and foreign affairs spokesmen Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander as the "good war."

Despite brushing the CND stall on his way to the podium not a word was uttered on the looming £100 billion bill for our own weapons of mass destruction due in 2016.

Miliband quite rightly wants a million green jobs. The funds released through cancelling Trident could be a 25-year investment in the future rather than in destruction and terror.

Now that would be real commitment to fulfil Labour's historic mission.

At the end of the section on the NHS, where there were commitments on spending but none on privatisation and contracting, conference rose to a standing ovation, thinking the speech was over.

Instead we had a brief insight into the party structure.

With Neil Kinnock, John Prescott and Len McCluskey stood looking on Miliband said that he wanted to reach out to union members.

He did not say over the heads of union leaderships, but the message was clear and the aim of 500,000 individual members is optimistic.

The central theme of the unity of Britain's people was almost biblical and nationalistic, yet at the same time failed to challenge the structures of an economy and society that have made Britain the most divided nation in Europe.

There are less than two years until the election and the Tory war chest is growing as they defend the elites.

The table-tennis balls in bags at the PCS stall, either accepting or rejecting Tory plans, told a story. One lonely ball says yes, the rest all say no.

As does most of the country. Miliband needs to keep listening.

Jeremy Corbyn is Labour MP for Islington North