If ever there was a true “heir to Blair” it would be David Miliband. Mentored and politically raised by Tony and Cherie, his old boss is staying out of the race publicly, though he has apparently loaned David some of the Blair Foundation’s staffers for the duration of the campaign. Of all the candidates running David Miliband is meant to be the furthest to the right, but his piece in this morning’s Guardian is quite the eye-opener. Finally a leadership candidate is talking about the economy and the deficit. It doesn’t make for good reading though:

“If the Tories stick to their proposed formula of £4 of cuts for every £1 of tax rises this will see departmental spending slashed by a third outside of the NHS and international development. The balance should be 2:1.”

He goes on to call for an end to the charitable status for independent schools, extending the City bonus tax rather than raising VAT, a mansion tax and with faux naiveté he backs the “Robin Hood Tax“. Anyone would think Miliband was a little worried about his brother’s gaining popularity and is steering quite hard to the left. All good mood music to his party, but is an unconvincing shift in the direction of whacking up taxes really going to give him the keys to No. 10?