Within weeks of the July election, I told a left-wing friend that Miliband wouldn’t last six months as Energy Secretary.

My friend was furious. He said Ed was brilliant. Finally, somebody who really understood the energy sector.

This was just a few weeks into the Labour government, so the blinkers were still on. And my friend was right about one thing: Miliband has lasted more than six months.

Now he has to go. Fast.

Miliband isn’t fitted to be a minister of a serious government department. He doesn’t live on this planet, despite his earnest attempts to save it.

Starmer can’t put up with his nonsense any longer, because after President Donald Trump’s staged row with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the real world is back with a vengeance.

Miliband has no place in it.

This is a man whose first major act as Energy Secretary was to shutter North Sea oil and gas fields. Closing UK productive capacity is insane.

It will leaving us even more dependent on foreign fossil fuel imports, while depriving the Treasury of billions in revenues that could drive a sensible green transition.

Miliband didn’t stop there.

At a time when energy security is paramount, he’s happy to leave vast reserves of shale gas untapped, forcing us to rely on expensive imports and leaving households even more vulnerable to global price fluctuations.

Instead, he’s spaffing taxpayer cash on dodgy quangos and unproven technologies.

His plan to plunge £22billion into carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects is fraught with risk. It’s never worked anywhere.

It’s a gamble the UK cannot afford. Especially now. With the economy in freefall, while Starmer has to find every penny to rebuild our armed forces.

Miliband has championed the creation of Great British Energy, a state-run energy quango with a staggering £8.3billion price tag.

Nobody really knows what it will do, which is a bad start. Others fears it will duplicate efforts better handle by the private sector.

Miliband that also made unfounded claims to support his policy, such as pretending his plans will knock £300 off our household electricity bills by 2030.

Instead, they’re more likely to add £300. And then some. While leaving us vulnerable to blackouts.

Mad Hatter Miliband’s influence extends beyond energy policy.

His opposition to the expansion of Gatwick and Heathrow runways threatens to stifle crucial infrastructure development.

It’s also bought him into opposition to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, another politician who shouldn’t have lasted six months, but sadly has.

Reeves is desperate for growth, which is ironic given that she’s wiped out all hope of it.

She’s safe for now though. Dumping both Miliband and Reeves at the same time would destroy Starmer’s credibility.

Starmer’s recent policy shifts, including slashing overseas aid to bolster defence spending, signal a much-needed return to pragmatism.

The words pragmatism and Miliband do not belong in the same sentence.

His fanatical commitment to net zero, regardless of the economic and political realities, will bring only misery, hardship and insecurity.

And make voters hate even Labour more.

Starmer can be ruthless. Look how he quickly he duped and dumped the deluded Corbynites.

Now he’ll need to be.

As Trump sides with Vladimir Putin, Starmer has to be realistic.

And realistically, Ed Miliband should be outside the cabinet, throwing paint at art galleries, rather than inside, throwing tantrums.

For the sake of the nation’s energy security, economic stability and very survival, Miliband must go now. We can’t wait until the Spring.