David Miliband would be lost for good if he accepted standing for office in the Labour opposition. That while in opposition Labour elects those who will be members of the shadow cabinet, while allowing the Leader to appoint any of those elected to any shadow office, creates a nightmare in which he finds himself both patronised by his younger brother, and surrounded by 'colleagues' chosen by a ballot in which every elector's eye is on the new Leader and who and what put him there.
Certainly he would be elected, but who else would be elected with him? What shadow office could possibly attract him? Shadowing William Hague? Miliband's international status far outstrips that of Hague - international interlocutors would feel they were talking to the wrong man - and they would be right. Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer? The gulf between what the public service unions, in deficit denial, and what he would know needs to be done, renders that position unavailable. No other office, shadow or not, is of any real importance; except for deputy prime minister, and that only because of what a Coalition government has required and made of it.
It might be thought a bit hard to expect him to be his brother's deputy, too.
David Miliband represents not just his constituents but an entire social democratic movement in UK politics. Continuing to give that movement voice, expression, and eventually form, free of the malign deformations inflicted by peculiarly British trade union nature and practices (to which the party led by his brother is once again in thrall) is his political task in this country. If he doesn't want what that will involve, then he must be off to other things.
It's no good his brother trying to pretend that he can make a social democratic party free of inappropriate union power. He can't. He was put where he is to prevent the development of a democratic, left of centre, party; and he was put there by the former Leader's men.
It is to be hoped that David Miliband will choose to continue in UK politics. If he does, it must be from a position that defines his division from Labour as it now is.
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11 comments:
but as Ed's brother, he can hardly take up the role of trouble-making back bencher. Nor the role of wise told-you-so seer.
I don't think life on back benches can be any more attractive than life in Ed's cabinet.
perhaps he'll leave politics.
Milliband D was a complete laughing stock in the rest of the world as he ponced around as Foreign Secretary. Now he has been defeated (I hesitate to use the word 'rejected') he should decline to face continual humiliation, resign his seat and go and do something else and watch the party rip itself to shreds. Alternatively, he could reprise the role of E Heath as the Commons' biggest sulk.
Miliband D is a political disaster. At DEFRA, Foot & Mouth occurred under his watch, and he did nothing to remedy the appalling cock up that Beckett made of the EU Farm Subsidy Payment (or whatever it was called).
His spell at the FCO shouldn't need detailing - but let's do so anyway. In quick succession, he pissed off Russia, India, Sri Lanka and Israel. India so much Lord Snake had to be sent out to soothe ruffled feathers.
He is the ultimate apparatchik, and should never be let anywhere near a position of power again.
All true, all of you; succinctly put. But David is the face of British social democracy. There is a large electorate for a social democratic, left of centre, but non-trade union political party. And he's its in-the-House-of-Commons leader.
His speech was weasily-worded: you must all get behind Ed and support Labour, no more splits and soap operas. Who said there are splits and likely soap operas to fear? Ed's only just been elected and he needs to be backed-up with calls for support and no splitting?
There are lots of people and money and organisation behind David, much as it may surprise us.
Surely his old boss Tony will help find him a plush international job?
He's done his time and can start raking in the dough, freed from the inanities of Labour politics.
Plush international job. The social democrats are out of power almost everywhere and, even now, 'international' is made up of many nation states acting together. The last plumb job the social democratic states had to award was given to (some might say thrown away on) Cathy Ashton. That piece of behaviour didn't help, it will be a long time before the British (pseudo)social democratic party is trusted again.
And plumb jobs come with real undertakings to deliver, and David's connected only to an opposition party, not government.
What would you suggest for him, Raven?
Well, he could return to understudying Tony. Bringing peace to the Middle East, God to the Papacy, and boredom to the book-reading public are arduous undertakings, wherein even Superman Blair could do with a Robin to assist him. He might even be able to strengthen Blair's ties to the sort of people who give governments their orders, and arrange for the spigots of cash to be opened into the troughs of ex-politicians who have followed their scripts.
"...free of the malign deformations inflicted by peculiarly British trade union nature and practices..."
But no such option is on offer. Those peculiarly malign British trade unions control the purse-strings, and who pays the piper etc etc.
Milliband senior is faced with a situation rather like the Irish road directions of the old joke: "if I were going there, I wouldn't start from here".
He certainly must start from the Commons, and from the back benches though, Yacht. All the best people are going to the back benches.
The unions had the money to some extent because it was funnelled to them by the Labour Executive from the tax take or the printing press and then siphoned off again to fund other Party activities and offshoots.
Their functions are much reduced, both as representatives of organised labour and as laundering systems. A realignment of political alliances and parties is a better bet now that the unions are representative of so small a constituency, many in publicly-funded employment and therefore going to get smaller, and without income from the government in power.
Also, the unions are displaying a most inappropriate expectation that they will engage directly with the government, rather than with employers. They may think they can call on union members to assault others with disruptive strike action aimed at causing social chaos, but jobs are scarce and union membership does not imply irresponsibility or disloyalty to employers and customers.
Not sure he could do a lot with the papacy, Raven; and there are so many peace in the middle east envoys I'm surprised they have any time to do any fighting with all the meetings they must have.
He'd best take time to see what turns up, and what he can turn up, from the back benches. After all, there's no hurry over revenge.
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