Is David Miliband Labour’s prince across the water? The elder Miliband brother appears to be watching the leadership contest closely avidly from afar, without backing any particular candidate. Speaking to his friend Fareed Zakaria on CNN this weekend, he was keen to stress that he has no plans to return to British politics in the immediate future:
As in his post-election interview, Miliband Sr could not resist a pop at his brother. While Ed has blamed Labour’s failure to win on ‘lazy Labour’ voters who didn’t turn out on polling day, David offered a different prescription. He said the problem was about persuading people:‘We don’t have a presidential system as you know well and I am leading the International Rescue Committee in New York. Already three candidates have declared in the UK and it’s obviously vital that Labour is able to provide the kind of modern progressive alternative that is essential in democratic politics.
‘The danger, a reflection for you, is that the election was a lot about mobilisation and politics should be about persuasion.
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