SITTING on the top deck of an open top bus in freezing cold weather is not my idea of a good time.

Conducting an interview with a cabinet minister while the bus is bouncing over bumpy roads is even less fun than you might imagine.

But that’s the situation I found myself in today, when less than an hour before deadline I had to find Ed Miliband - Minister for the cabinet, and find out what he was doing in Rhyl, before banging out a lead story for tomorrow’s paper.

The bus he was to travel on was early. The Virgin train he arrived in was late. It was cold and we were waiting.

Basically, the situation is that as the man responsible for the government’s policy on social exclusion, he was keen to see some of the worst areas in the UK.

Naturally, Rhyl was at the top of his list.

So there we were on the bus, an assembled throng of reporters politicians and support staff bouncing our way through Rhyl’s west end with Chris Ruane pointed out the local sights and sounds.

Standing at the front, in clear contravention of the Arriva “No Standing” sign, Mr Ruane told Mr Miliband about deprivation in the area - just the stuff he wanted to hear.

I’m sure it was a worthwhile visit and that action will be taken as a result of the visit, but even bigger questions will have to be raised as a result.

For instance, why did Ed Miliband spend the entire guided tour wearing a Rhyl FC scarf?

Perhaps he fell in love with the team while on a seaside trip as a child and has the Visitor delivered every week to his London pad so he can devour Dave Jones’s award winning match reports.

Unlikely?

Maybe he caught the team’s performance against Llanelli AFC on TV and was so impressed, he immediately bought a scarf from ebay.

But despite scouring the internet for a good five minutes, I was unable to find any profession of love for either Rhyl or for the beautiful game.

Perhaps he was just cold.

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