ED’S BROTHER STRIKES BACK

Five years after he was knifed, David’s withering verdict on Labour defeat

‘We remain in touch’

Any suggestion the electorate didn’t “get it” is wrong. They didn’t want what was being offered David Miliband yesterday

DAVID Miliband last night blamed his brother for Labour’s disastrous election defeat.

In a devastating intervention, the Blairite who lost the party’s leadership election to his younger sibling said voters simply ‘did not want’ what Ed had offered.

He added that he appeared to have moved the party ‘backwards’ from the principles of ‘aspiration’ that had symbolised the era of Tony Blair.

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

‘In 2010 and 2015 Gordon 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 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.’

Asked if he had even spoken to his brother since his election defeat, David side-stepped the question, saying: ‘I’m very happy to say we remain in touch. I think that many of the attacks on him were unpleasant and unfair and I think he dealt with them with enormous dignity and courage.

‘I’ve always said that I’ll keep our private conversations private, but I’ve also always said that we remain brothers for life and that’s something that has to be kept.’

In the BBC interview, David also confirmed he would not be standing in the Labour leadership contest triggered by his brother’s resignation, saying he would stay in New York as the head of the International Rescue Committee charity.

His intervention came as acting leader Harriet Harman pleaded with her MPs not to resort to bloodletting.

She told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party: ‘We have got to look deep in our souls, but we shouldn’t open our veins.’

Miss Harman also said there would be a full party inquiry into what went wrong in the election, with failed can- didates able to give evidence. David Miliband was the frontrunner to take over as Labour leader after Gordon Brown lost the 2010 election.

Ed decided to stand against him on a more Left-wing platform, with the strong support of union barons – leading to accusations he had stabbed his brother in the back. While David won the support of Labour MPs and Labour party members, Ed won the contest because he was overwhelmingly backed by the unions.

As a consequence, David resigned his seat in the Commons two years ago and moved to the US.

The party is now looking for a new leader and Blairites are promoting candidates such as business spokesman Chuka Umunna and care spokesman Liz Kendall.

But David said he would not endorse any one figure, saying: ‘I hope that a range of leadership candidates will come forward.’

However, he said he hoped he would be more able to take part in the debate about Labour’s future.

‘The passion I’ve got for Britain and for Labour is undimmed ...but it’s clear that I’m not a member of Parliament. I took that decision not to be part of a soap opera over the last five years,’ he said.

‘I wanted Labour to be able to have that debate in a clear way, make its case in a clear way without any sense of distraction from me.

‘And I hope now people can listen to what I say as someone who’s trying to contribute but obviously isn’t party to the race that’s going on.’

Ed, who led Labour to its thirdworst defeat since the Second World War, suggested in his resignation speech that although Labour had lost the election, the party had not lost the argument on how best to run the country.

David dismissed this, saying that Labour either ‘builds on’ what was achieved in 1997 under Mr Blair, or it ‘fails’. He said progressive politics must be aimed at all classes – hinting that Ed had failed in this regard.