The former Foreign Secretary warns that the current Foreign Secretary “cannot afford to be completely absent” from the world stage as the Iran crisis deepens. It’s not just Hunt, the ongoing Brexit/Tory psychodrama has completely distracted the whole UK media/political class from the increasingly serious events unfolding abroad…
David Miliband is giving a speech this morning about how we should stay in the single market. On 9 May 2016, at the height of the referendum campaign, the same David Miliband told voters that voting to leave the EU would mean leaving the single market. This is from a Stronger In press release. He could not have been clearer:
“The admission by the Leave campaign that quitting the EU means quitting the single market has let the cat out of the bag: a vote to Leave would be an unprecedented act of economic self-harm.”
This really is the height of dishonesty from Miliband.
Double-jobbing Ed Miliband’s peak hypocritical stint as a radio presenter is finally drawing to a close. For the big set-piece on today’s show he managed to secure the time of his own brother David, who joined listeners live from New York. As with many a media moment Ed has been involved in, it all went wrong fairly quickly. The line kept dropping and David had to resort to a phone rather than broadcast quality connection. Ed finally cut the interview short, declaring “I’ll see you very soon“. Christmas if you’re lucky…
In the last 48 hours David Miliband has privately contacted at least one veteran moderate MP to ask if they might step down and grease his path back to parliament. The impression from one very senior Labour MP is that David has decided not to return at this election. He has until noon on Sunday to put in an application for a “safe” seat…
Spotted by a co-conspirator round the back of the Department of Health this afternoon, a life-size cardboard cutout of a banana-wielding David Miliband dumped unceremoniously in a bin. If anyone would like to come forward with the story behind the picture, get in touch…
UPDATE: A spring cleaning Greg Hands comes forward:
“I confess this was me. Have had it since Sep 2010 for a CCHQ special op for him becoming Labour Leader. It never happened. Have held on 6 yrs in case he ever came back. Have just given up on him – like doubtless thousands of Labour members! Bin.”
UPDATE II: The cardboard cutout has been retrieved and re-homed by Tory bin raiders on a parliamentary corridor:
LBC made a good point this morning – does David Miliband’s speech at the British Museum yesterday mean Britain Stronger in Europe flouted campaign spending rules? This is what the Museum, a public body, says:
“The British Museum has followed the guidance issued by Cabinet Office. The event on Monday 9 May was organised by the Government not the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. The event involved the Prime Minister coming to explain government policy. The guidance stipulates that as a public body the Museum should continue to support Ministers in the conduct of visits (or parts of visits) to carry out government business in the normal way. The government estate should not be used for visits and events that are organised by the designated campaign groups.”
But Miliband is obviously nothing to do with the government. He is a representative of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign. They even press released it:
So the event wasn’t simply “government business” to “explain government policy”, as the Museum claim. Indeed, it is in breach of the Museum’s own rules that the venue “should not be used” for campaign group events. The cost of Britain Stronger in Europe renting the venue would be well into five figures, possibly as much as £20,000. Instead the taxpayer is funding yet more set piece Remain campaigning…
David Miliband went on Newsnight last night to talk about refugees. Alas this was the only thing viewers took away:
A reminder that Ed wasn’t the only weird brother…
“We’ve gone through that period. The Miliband period is now gone”
No Jags had declared that David Miliband should “shut up”…
Marginally more welcome than an intervention from his brother in the Labour leadership race…
Miliband Snr told CNN last night:
“What I think is important for all of the candidates is to reflect on the very clear lessons of two devastating electoral defeats for the Labour Party in the last five years, that have come for a very clear reason.
And the reason is the that public have concluded that instead of building on the strengths and remedying the weaknesses of the Blair years, the party has turned the page backwards rather than turning the page forward.
So I think its the responsibility of all the candidates, to find again that combination of economic dynamism and social justice that defined the success of the Labour Party in the 1990s and early 2000s.”
That will be Liz then.
Miliband also said “leaving Europe would be like resigning from the world.”
From the man who resigned from Britain…
Prepare your code breaking skills.
“David Miliband will address over 2,000 business leaders in a keynote speech at this year’s IoD Annual Convention on Tuesday 6th October, the Institute of Directors has announced today.”
Just in time for conference.
Rumour has it that David has told his tenants they need to be out of his house by the autumn, as he’s moving back to London…
“Both in 2010 and 2015, Gordon and then Ed allowed themselves to be portrayed as moving backwards from the principles of aspiration and inclusion…
Either we build on what Labour achieved after 1997 and we have a chance to succeed, or we abandon it and we fail.”
On his relationship with Ed:
“I’ve always said you remain brothers for life and that’s something that has to be kept.”
Loving words…
Imagine the pain as he typed out that hashtag…
The Tories are going to make it a manifesto commitment (again) to raise the inheritance tax threshold so that only millionaires pay it. David Cameron is giving a speech today highlighting the issue. This morning Harman was less than convincing on Marr about the Milibands’ own efforts to avoid the inheritance tax threshold. Why would the Milibands – as Harman claims – pay expensive lawyers to produce a Deed of Variation to not avoid tax?*
CCHQ’s promotion for their manifesto commitment looks like this:
Guido’s version would look like this:
Not positive enough?
*Guido’s informed guess is that they entirely avoided paying inheritance tax at the time. Later Ed Miliband and David Miliband probably had to pay some lesser amount of capital gains tax when they realised their profits on the difference in the value they had inherited tax free and the price they received for their shares of what was the family home when it was eventually sold.
Interesting timing for David Miliband to pop up on the Today programme:
Though the Tories would have had him in The Hague for war crimes by now, had he won.
Miliband’s Q&A in Plymouth this afternoon descended into chaos as he was accosted by a Labour-supporting heckler:
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Heckler: “We shouldn’t be in Europe because we’re not getting a fair crack of the whip because we’ve got MPs like you who won’t fight our corner.”
Miliband: “Well, look…”
Heckler: “Get out! Put your brother in!”
Audience: [Laughs] “Oooooohhhhh!”
Miliband: “I’m clearly not gonna win you round.”
Wounder…
Via @ChrisMasonBBC
David Miliband refused to talk about his brother as a precondition to appearing on Newsnight. Kay Burley wouldn’t put up with this…
This morning Nick Robinson observed on the Today programme of David Miliband “He was not just the other brother, he was the New Labour brother.” Robinson also reported that one senior figure on the left of the Labour Party told him late last night: “It’s important for the left to avoid triumphalism but it obviously marks the date when New Labour finally accepted that the crisis requires us to turn the page… Now there can be no excuse for timidity [from Ed Miliband] because the Blairites are decisively weakened.”
Milburn, Reid, Purnell and now David Miliband are all gone as they see the writing on the wall, a frontbench packed with more supporters of Ed Balls than David Miliband despite him having won far more support from the parliamentary Labour Party. Dan Hodges identified it yesterday before the news from David Miliband – his brother Ed is a hostage to the left of his party together with the unions who put him in place and hold the purse strings. He can’t move towards the voters on policy without undermining himself and party unity. The Owen Jones digital Bennites are in the ascendant supported by the siren calls of Polly Toynbee, fronting the drive among activists for more left-wing policies – the inherent problem for a party with socialist activists far to the left of the electorate on, for example, welfare reform. As they rise in the polls and scent power the left becomes more furious in its policy demands…
Ed’s current poll lead means the left-wing of his party is in no mood for compromising with the electorate. The remaining Blairites like Liam Byrne are on the receiving end of vitriol last seen when Derek Hatton was in his prime. The unions are in no mood for moderation, Len McCluskey last week wrote to congratulate the 44 MPs who defied a three-line party whip to vote against Liam Byrne’s official line on welfare reform. They enjoy principled opposition, the Blairite accommodation with reality was an aberration, it matters not a jot to much of the rank and file that it was the most successful period in history for the Labour Party. The capacity of the Labour Party to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory is legendary – a left-wing Labour Party will not form a coalition government in 2015…
Above was how Owen Jones greeted the news of David Miliband’s exit from British politics. Tony Blair hints in his more generous statement of his fears “He is obviously a massive loss to UK politics… I hope and believe this is time out not time over.” It is over, all that remains for Labour moderates is for the last of them to switch off the light…
David Miliband’s links to a controversial oil company that makes its billions in Uganda are back in the news today. The £500,000-a-year globe-trotter has faced scrutiny for his role in securing sponsorship for Sunderland FC from Tullow Oil, an oil giant that has in the past been accused of driving villagers from their homes and bribing officials. Today the Ugandan government is alleging that they have taken huge sums of money out of the poverty-stricken country by allegedly not paying an 18% tax imposed on its mining machinery. Tullow is requesting that the dispute be referred for arbitration.
Maybe a certain former Foreign Secretary can use his diplomacy expertise to help them reach a resolution…
At the end of July Guido revealed how David Miliband had made the most of being pipped to the Labour leadership by joining the 1%. The banana-brandishing former Foreign Secretary has raked in half a million quid over the last year, and the lucrative deals are still lining up. Miliband was paid £14,000 for a two hour speech at Claridge’s Hotel in June, meaning he earned a staggering £116.66 per minute. Perhaps it was the best career choice after all…
Under Ed Miliband’s stewardship Labour have set themselves firmly against excessive pay for the wealthy: “There is a need for responsibility at the top as well as at the bottom. Rewards for failure are bad for society“.
Ed’s brother clearly didn’t get the memo however – defeated leadership candidate David has raked in some £500,000 in the last year thanks to a series of positions he holds in addition to being an MP.[…] Read the rest
