Brother’s warning for Miliband

LABOUR needs “restless rethinking” of its purpose and policies if it is to return to power, former leadership candidate David Miliband has said.

In his most high-profile foray into the political frontline since being defeated by his brother Ed in 2010, the former foreign secretary set out a seven-point plan for the party.

He said that Labour must admit “loud and clear” where it got things wrong in power, but – in what may be seen as a defence of New Labour against his brother’s criticisms – he insisted the party must assert that the gains made between 1997 and 2010 “far outstripped the mistakes”.

In an essay in New Statesman magazine, he said Ed should be given credit for preventing disunity in Labour since its 2010 general election defeat. And he said his brother understood the need for a policy rethink and had spoken “powerfully and correctly” about welfare.

But he warned that there were elements within Labour who wanted to respond to defeat by retreating to “big state” social democracy and that the party had “a lot to be concerned about” come elections 2015, when Conservatives would be boosted by their financial advantages and boundary changes which would favour them.