Ed Miliband urged to ‘define his project’ by Lord Peter Mandelson

ED MILIBAND’S political project “needs to take shape” and “become better defined” during the next 12 months, one of the architects of New Labour has said.

Lord Mandelson said the deterioration in Labour’s polling position “pre-dated” Mr Miliband’s leadership of the party.

The former Labour business secretary said: “He’s a chap with views, he has a position in politics and he has a project that needs to take shape [and] become better defined during the course of the coming year.

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“It’s not New Labour – he’s perfectly clear about that – but then he would say the circumstances and the conditions in Britain are not the same as they were when we were creating New Labour in the 1990s.”

Talking about the changing economic circumstances in Britain, he added: “He [Mr Miliband] believes that we need a different sort of social contract. Now there are dangers in developing that, but he has to navigate his way through and I think 2012 is the year to do that.”

In a reference to Mr Miliband’s performances in the Commons, he said: “I think from Labour we want to see more definition of what the new project is all about – perhaps more policy and fewer jokes at Prime Minister’s Questions.”