When Joe Biden takes the stage in Denver today to tell America why he should be vice-president, his speech will steer clear of echoing any Welsh lyricism from Neil Kinnock, whom he plagiarised infamously 20 years ago.

But Lord Kinnock of Bedwelty promises to be there in spirit for Mr Biden, willing on a man he believes can help deliver the Democratic victory he craves by getting Barack Obama’s campaign to concentrate on the “real life” agenda for American voters.

It was back in 1987 that Mr Biden’s first presidential run imploded after he was caught lifting, without attribution, an entire passage from the former Labour Party leader’s speech which asked: “Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because our predecessors were thick? It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand.”

Mr Biden said: “I started thinking as I was coming over here, why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? ... It’s because they didn’t have a platform upon which to stand.” In the years since, the two politicians have become firm friends, sharing a strong appeal to working-class politics and — in the eyes of their critics — a habit of talking too much.

When Lord Kinnock visited Mr Biden in Washington last year, “Joe swung open the door and introduced me as his ’greatest speechwriter’”.

He told The Times: “Joe is a great guy who brings a whole collection of virtues to the Democratic ticket, notably his insight and experience. I really do wish him all the best. It is essential that the Democrats win, not only for the USA — but also for the rest of the world.”

Although impressed by Mr Obama, he suggested that the nominee’s policy positions and experience “do not go too deep”. Lord Kinnock is only too aware of the mythology surrounding his own allegedly triumphalist Sheffield rally in the 1992 general election and he suggested that the speech Mr Obama gave to 200,000 people in Berlin may have been a mistake.

“If I had been advising him when he went to Europe, I would have told him to do some TV interviews and perhaps a lecture or two — but not a mass meeting like that,” he said.

“There are always going to be people on the internet and oddballs who say ’if the Germans love you so much, why don’t you go and live there?’ “But I would be amazed — particularly with Joe now at side — if he does not become very much more focused on these bread and butter issues.”

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