Controversy swirls around Miliband
Senior figures continuing to support Gordon Brown have hit out at foreign secretary David Miliband, whose equivocal responses to leadership challenge queries has riled No 10.
Mr Miliband was challenged four times at a press conference yesterday about his intentions on the Labour leadership after publishing an article in the Guardian calling for Labour to improve its communication with the public.
His answers – “Gordon Brown is a good leader with good values” – failed to allay rising expectations about the potential for a challenge, leading to allies of the prime minister to speak out against him this morning.
The Telegraph this morning quotes Downing Street sources as warning Mr Miliband may lose his job in a forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle if he does not step back from the brink.
One source told the newspaper: “He needs to calm down and shut up. He also needs to grow up.”
Another said: “There have never been any real warmth towards David in the Labour party, but people did respect his ability. However, I think he has overreached himself here in a major way.”
The Times newspaper carried similar quotes, quoting one Labour MP who is close to the prime minister saying he was “appalled” by Mr Miliband’s “failure” to “close this story down”.
“He says his intention is to turn Labour’s fire on David Cameron, but it has had precisely the opposite effect,” the MP said.
But the effect of the piece has not been wholy negative.
Some analysts believe Mr Miliband’s intention was to prevent himself falling further down the level of media importance. His deafening silence on the leadership question began to result in decreasing odds of him ever being able to attain the position of party leader.
Any worry he may have had on that front is now substantially over, with political journalists watching his every move.
The foreign secretary himself may feel he has adequately explained why he did not refer to Mr Brown by name in his article, telling reporters yesterday that issues, not personalities, are of primary importance.
“We have got a leader. We have got a good leader who has got good values,” he said.
Explaining his article, Mr Miliband added: “The truth is we had a very bad result in the Glasgow by-election. I was frustrated by the sense of fatalism that had imbued in parts of the media and the Labour party.
“Gordon will lead us forward and the rest of us have a contribution to make.”
