David Miliband criticises his brother Ed’s leadership

FORMER Foreign Secretary David Miliband has criticised his brother’s election campaign as he said Labour has “allowed themselves to be portrayed as moving backwards from the principles of aspiration and inclusion” under his leadership.

Picture: TSPL

He stated that voters “did not want what was being offered” by Ed Miliband, in a scathing attack on the policy direction of the party in the last few years.

The former foreign secretary was defeated in Labour’s leadership election in 2010 and later quit as an MP to go to work for a charity in New York.

However, Mr Miliband ruled himself out as a candidate in the election to succeed his brother and refused to endorse a potential successor.

Mr Miliband suggested Labour had retreated from the party’s approach under the leadership of Tony Blair, who won three General elections.

He said: “Both in 2010 and 2015, Gordon (Brown) and then Ed allowed themselves to be portrayed as moving backwards from the principles of aspiration and inclusion that are at the absolute heart of any successful progressive political project.

“The answer is not to go back to 1997, it’s to build on the achievements and remedy the weaknesses, but never to end up in a position where the electorate think you are going backwards rather than addressing the issues of the future.”

Speaking in New York, Mr Miliband said that last week’s election result was “devastating” for the Labour Party and its supporters.

But he said: “There’s absolutely no point in blaming the electorate. Any suggestion that they didn’t ‘get it’ is wrong. They didn’t want what was being offered.”