The awkward dilemma facing a vanquished contender

September 29th,2010    by Ann

After spending four agonising days pondering whether or not to take up a place in his younger brother's Shadow Cabinet, an unguarded comment during the new Labour leader's speech yesterday has added a last-minute twist to David Miliband's imminent decision over his political future.

The former foreign secretary has until 5pm today to declare his intention to join Labour's front bench. But his pointed criticism of Harriet Harman, for applauding Ed Miliband's denunciation of the Iraq invasion, laid bare the tensions that would plague Labour with both of the brothers in prominent positions. Even before the comments were reported, his future remained the talk of the conference ahead of his brother's first speech as leader. While most senior figures in the Labour party were keen to see him take a position in the shadow team, they also conceded that this would be difficult in practice.

His wife, Louise Shackelton, was seen in tears on Monday, and is said to be furious at Ed Miliband's decision to run for leader. Alistair Darling, the former Chancellor, summed up the feeling in Manchester yesterday as he reflected on David Miliband's decision over taking a prominent Shadow Cabinet portfolio, saying he was "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't". "If he stays in, people will look at every interview he does, every article and say 'Does he agree with his brother or doesn't he?' If he doesn't go into the Shadow Cabinet, people will say 'Oh he walked away'."

So, as he returned to his home in primrose Hill, London, last night, the question remains: what are David Miliband's options?

Take a Shadow Cabinet job

Keeping the role of shadow Foreign Secretary seemed a likely option at one stage, allowing him to stay out of damaging policy disputes, and giving him an independent sphere of influence. However, his comments on Iraq have now made that all but impossible.

Other positions were already more unlikely. Many on the right of the party were keen to see him installed as Mr Darling's replacement, partly as he would support his plan to halve the deficit in four years. But that would have immediately put him at odds with his younger brother, who has voiced a preference to bring public finances under control at a slower rate. The only other frontbench job big enough would be shadow Home Secretary. David Miliband's refusal to attack the record of New Labour may make him a bad choice for the role, after his brother criticised the party's recent record on civil liberties.

Return to the backbenches

If he refuses to run for the Shadow Cabinet, he will have to resign himself to serving for a period as a backbencher. While some Labour MPs use the position to keep the leadership honest, his every word will be pored over for any coded message about his brother, putting him under intense pressure to remain silent. It is difficult to see how a man who has spent his entire political career in influential positions would be satisfied with dealing with bin collections in South Shields.

Run to be head of the International Monetary Fund

The job may become vacant should the current incumbent, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, decide to run in the 2012 French presidential elections. It would certainly be intellectually stimulating. But he may struggle to meet the qualifications for such a high-profile economic position, while developing countries are pressuring to hand the role to a non-European. It could also put him in competition with another vanquished Labour politician tipped for the job – Gordon Brown.

Become EU foreign minister

He was courted for the second most powerful position in the EU last year and seriously considered accepting. It was ultimately filled by Baroness Ashton, who is widely believed to be struggling in the job and may quit. Power for appointing the post lies with the socialist grouping. But the machinations of parachuting Miliband into the job are complicated, and he may have blown his chances after snubbing it less than a year ago.

Disappear from public life

If he believes that his time as a backbencher would be beset with too many pitfalls, a complete withdrawal from public life would be the extreme option. Many in Westminster have often commented that the older Miliband would be more at home in a dusty Harvard library than the corridors of power, such is his reputation as a cerebral, if nerdy, politician. It could be the most suitable and rewarding exit strategy of all.

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Cabinet Office orders investigation into leaked quangos document

September 28th,2010    by Ann

The government today ordered an investigation into the leaking of documents suggesting that as many as 180 taxpayer-funded quangos are to be abolished.

A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office described the leak as "irresponsible" and said the government regretted any extra uncertainty it had caused to employees of the public bodies named.

Among the bodies listed for the axe are the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates fertility clinics, and the Health Protection Agency.

The BBC World Service, the Environment Agency and the British Council are among publicly funded bodies whose fate is yet to be decided.

A letter dated 26 August from Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, seen by the BBC, suggests a further 124 quangos will be merged, 56 retained subject to "substantial reform", and 282 retained.

Another 100 bodies, including the tourism advisory groups Visit Britain and Visit England, are yet to be agreed, according to the letter.

A similar, undated list suggests that 177 quangos including British Waterways and the Legal Services Commission are earmarked for abolition.

Minsters have previously declared they want a "bonfire of the quangos" to save billions of pounds. But such a cull would also cost thousands of jobs and provoke controversy from those that accuse the government of removing vital protection for the public.

The communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles, said the Telegraph list was out of date. "It's a bit dated, that document. I think things may have moved on," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He said the government had promised to reduce the number of quangos and would make an announcement "in due course".

Baroness Deech, a former chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, argued that the body was cost-effective. "This is one (quango) that deals with new life, new baby life, health and very important medical matters," she told BBC Radio 4. "It only costs £5m and it is not taxpayers' money. Most of the money comes from the patients ... and I'm sure the patients won't pay any less if the functions are picked up by other bodies."

The Telegraph's list confirms previous announcements that the Audit Commission, UK Film Council and eight regional development agencies are to be abolished. Others slated for the chop include the Commission for Rural Communities, the Commission for Integrated Transport, the School Food Trust, and the Sustainable Development Commission.

More than 50 bodies linked to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are in line to be scrapped, according to the newspaper, while around 30 health bodies will be axed or have their functions transferred to the Department of Health. The British Council, BBC World Service, Environment Agency, Competition Commission, Design Council, Energy Savings Trust, Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Forestry Commission, and the Office for Fair Trading are among 94 publicly funded bodies whose fate has yet to be decided.

A further four bodies – the Film Industry Training Board, the Construction and Skills Training Board, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, and the Tote Board – could be privatised.

Mergers could result in a new heritage body taking in the current English Heritage, the National Memorial Fund and the National Lottery Fund, and the postal regulator Postcomm having its functions brought under communications regulator Ofcom.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: "The cabinet secretary has this morning asked for an immediate investigation into the leak of a government document on public bodies reform. We deeply regret any extra uncertainty for employees that this irresponsible leak has caused."

A Labour party spokesman accused the government of playing politics with people's jobs and of briefing the media ahead of consultations with those involved. "Any government should be looking to cut bureaucracy, but that shouldn't be confused with hitting valuable services in areas where independence is crucial," the spokesman added.

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Big brother refuses to tell Ed if he'll serve on the front bench

September 27th,2010    by Ann

David Miliband kept his younger brother waiting last night as he agonised over whether to quit frontline politics following his dramatic and painful defeat in the Labour leadership election.

Although Labour put on a public show of unity at its Manchester conference, tension erupted after Ed Miliband declared the New Labour era was over and raised the prospect of higher taxes and cutting the public deficit over a longer timescale than the party currently supports.

But Alistair Darling, the shadow Chancellor, will warn the conference today that Labour should not abandon his plan to halve the deficit in four years. In an interview with The Independent yesterday, he said: "Labour fought long and hard to establish ourselves as a party that is responsible on tax and spending. We have to keep that in mind. If you spend money, you have to justify every single penny of it. If you are taxing people, you have to justify every single tax rate. Nobody likes paying tax – even people who consume public services. You have to be very careful here."

Blairites were dismayed by David Miliband's narrow defeat and expressed fears that Labour would lose the next general election. One told The Independent: "Ed thinks he can win by not being New Labour because it is 'the past' while throwing in the occasional reference to aspiration to show he is on the side of ordinary working people. It's hopeless."

A Blairite former Cabinet minister added: "It is a miracle result for the Tories. Ed is fatally damaged. We have a second-best leader who wasn't even elected by a majority of his own party members or MPs."

David Miliband has until 5pm on Wednesday to decide whether to stand in the election among Labour MPs to choose the shadow Cabinet, after which his brother will allocate frontbench posts. Today, he faces a gruelling appearance in front of delegates, whom he is to address on foreign affairs.

Aides said he wanted to "chill out" and consider his future. He moved out of the main conference hotel in Manchester to try to avoid the spotlight.

David Miliband received conflicting advice yesterday. If he walks away now, critics may accuse him of flouncing out after losing. But if he intends to bow out of British politics in the medium term, it might be better for him to go sooner rather than later.

Mr Darling urged the former Foreign Secretary to stay. "My guess is that he will stay and fight his corner. The party will be much better with him on the front bench than without him. He is passionately committed to the Labour Party and will want to play his full part." But another former minister said: "He is finished. If he's got any sense, he might as well get out now."

Some Blairites claimed David Miliband had shown he lacked the killer instinct by refusing to fight back hard against his brother. They suggested David could have won by saying more strongly he was the man to win the next general election. "He allowed Ed to faze him. For ordinary, unpolitical party and union members, there seemed to be no price to pay in voting for Ed," one said.

Yesterday Ed Miliband said of his elder brother: "He needs time to think about the contribution he can make. I think he can make a very big contribution to British politics." He insisted there would be no lurch to the left under his leadership and denied he would be a prisoner of the unions, who secured his victory: " I am nobody's man; I am my own man."

However, he described Mr Darling's deficit reduction plan as a "starting point" and said Labour would look to see how it could "improve" it. He declared that the Chancellor George Osborne's proposal to eliminate the structural deficit by 2015 was "economically dangerous".

The Labour leader also stressed his personal commitment to universal benefits and backed a graduate tax in which graduates would pay higher taxes worth between 0.3 and 2 per cent of their incomes for 15 or 25 years.

Ed Balls, who came third in the leadership election and wants to become shadow Chancellor, called for the starting level of the 50p top rate of tax to be lowered from £150,000 to £100,000—a move that may be considered by Ed Miliband but would appal Blairites.

Mr Balls said the Darling plan had been mistaken and involved cutting too quickly but circumstances had changed. "Ed [Miliband] was clear today: get the deficit down in a gradual and careful way... I totally support that," he said.

Ed Miliband summoned Labour MPs to a special meeting in Manchester last night and won warm applause after a 10-minute speech. His brother was not present. Jim Murphy the shadow Scottish Secretary, who ran David Miliband's campaign, said he was "just taking a few hours out... He will be back tomorrow morning".

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Survey puts Ed ahead of David in Labour vote

September 13th,2010    by Ann

David Miliband has admitted his campaign for the Labour leadership received a "wake-up call" after a poll showed his brother, Ed, had moved into a narrow lead.

The survey set the scene for a photo-finish between the brothers when the result is declared in 12 days' time at the start of the Labour conference. The shadow Foreign Secretary remains the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Gordon Brown but the YouGov survey for The Sunday Times found that the race is agonisingly close as the candidates embark on their last full week of campaigning.

It concluded that David Miliband had a narrow lead on first-preference votes. But once the second choices of the other candidates – Andy Burnham, Ed Balls and Diane Abbott – were eliminated Ed Miliband squeaked home with 51 per cent support. Both of the Milibands' campaign teams are likely now to concentrate on wooing these second-preference voters.

In a BBC interview yesterday, David Miliband insisted: "I think it is good that there's a wake-up call for this election, because too many people have thought that they can get a leader who can unite the party, from Dennis Skinner to Alistair Darling, get a leader who the Tories fear, get a leader who's set out a forward agenda, but not have to vote for him."

But Ed Miliband claimed he was achieving the momentum to win the leadership battle. He said Labour was "making a judgment about the best person to beat David Cameron and I think they are turning to me". He told Sky News: "My sense is that it's moving towards me in every section of the electoral college."

Just two leadership hustings remain. The candidates will address the TUC conference this evening and make their final pitch to party members in a BBC1 Question Time debate on Thursday. The contest has acquired a personal edge in recent weeks despite instructions by both brothers not to indulge in mud-slinging. David Miliband denied a report that members of his team had nicknamed his brother "Forrest Gump", after the simpleton character played by Tom Hanks in the film.

"No one on my campaign has ever said that. This is a campaign we have run resolutely on a positive basis," he said.

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Cabinet chums are all smiles now but wait until the big squeeze begins

September 11th,2010    by Ann

The mood around the cabinet table when ministers gathered on Tuesday for the first time since their summer break was remarkably jolly. You wouldn't guess that two parties were represented.

Eric Pickles, the burly Tory Communities Secretary, used to describe Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat Climate Change Secretary, as "that bloke who always interrupts me when we appear on TV". Now they sit opposite each other in Cabinet and Mr Pickles says: "I agree with Chris." The feeling is mutual; ministers are pleasantly surprised about how often they agree with their coalition partners.

This Cabinet of chums reminds old Tory hands of the days of John Major. And yet the wiser heads know that the mood will change soon. In five weeks, ministers must agree spending cuts deeper than anything attempted in modern times. In Whitehall, there is frantic activity as the Treasury tells departments it is not satisfied with their opening offer and tells them to come back with bigger cuts.

The squeeze is bound to pit minister against minister. With most under orders to trim their budgets by 25 per cent, there are fears some will make indiscriminate cuts which put more financial pressure on another department and become a false economy. An all-powerful Star Chamber chaired by the Chancellor will consider "cross-cutting issues" affecting more than one department to try to prevent this.

Yet the biggest worry behind the cabinet smiles is that the Coalition Government has not prepared the public for the cuts. Opinion polling presented to ministers shows that voters recognise the £155bn deficit is a huge problem that must be addressed. Many people blame Labour for it. But the problem for the Coalition is that people think the cuts have happened because George Osborne announced them in his emergency Budget in June. "They think it's all over, but it has hardly begun," one cabinet minister said. No wonder the Budget was popular; it was virtually pain-free. The pain may start to dawn on 20 October when the Chancellor announces spending totals for each department, and will certainly be felt from the start of the financial year next April, by when ministers will have to decide how they will stick to their tight limits.

Ministers agree that they need to do some groundwork, and quickly. They also acknowledge the need to talk up a reform agenda that is more radical than they have been credited for – on health, education and welfare. Perhaps the biggest danger to the Coalition is being seen as a one-issue government, and that all the voters notice are nasty cuts. Trumping the cuts with reforms won't be easy, but ministers have resolved to try.

The initial responses from departments are seen as "variable" by the Treasury. Some have adopted a traditional salami-slicing approach that is unlikely to deliver 25 per cent cuts. Others have won plaudits by linking reforms and savings. The star pupil so far is Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary. He is using the need for cuts to argue that "we can't go on as we are" with a failed sentencing policy which results in an ever-bulging prison population. He believed that anyway but the deficit gives him powerful ammunition, even though many Tory MPs will feel uneasy about allowing Labour to look harder than their party on law and order.

Nick Clegg began the mission to explain in a speech on Thursday, when he spoke about a "horizon shift" so that the Government takes decisions for the long term even though they can be difficult and painful in the short run.

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MPs get their first chance to vote on Afghan withdrawal

September 6th,2010    by Ann

The Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, will this week face calls to set out a detailed timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan in the first major Commons vote since the war began almost nine years ago.

New powers handed to backbenchers will allow MPs to debate the continued deployment of British forces, with many of the record new intake expected to express unease at the timescale for troops coming home.

In a sign of the shifting focus in the war-torn country, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, yesterday announced he had formed a council to pursue peace talks with the Taliban. Many in Westminster now accept the only hope of a settlement is through negotiating with insurgents, not by pursuing ongoing military action.

To date, 332 British military personnel have died in Afghanistan since 2001, while 1,500 have been wounded in action. Last night Mr Fox ordered an urgent review into reports in The Sunday Times that 5,000 wounded war heroes classed as medically unfit would be forced out of the forces to cut costs. He wanted to "ensure that those who have fought and sacrificed for their country are treated in a proper and honourable fashion".

The Commons vote comes amid claims the Blair-Brown rivalry at the heart of the Labour government caused "impossible operational pressures" for the armed forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The former head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, uses a new book, Leading from the Front, serialised in The Sunday Telegraph, to claim Gordon Brown was a "malign" influence by failing to fund military commitments agreed by his government. Tony Blair lacked the "moral courage" to overrule his Chancellor.

The coalition has empahsised that British forces will not remain in Afghanistan indefinitely. David Cameron expects the Afghan forces to take control of security by 2014 with a deadline for the withdrawal of British combat troops set for the following year. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, last week staged a surprise visit to Camp Bastion, and claimed the military campaign was "turning the corner" – though he admitted he had "no idea exactly how and when we will succeed".

However, a new YouGov poll shows that 30 per cent of the public think British troops should be brought home "immediately" while a further 42 per cent said "soon". Just 7 per cent thought the UK was "winning the war with the Taliban". The Independent on Sunday understands that a growing number of MPs from across the political spectrum have doubts about the claim that the presence of British troops in Afghanistan makes Britain's streets safer.

Paul Flynn, a Labour MP and long-standing opponent of the conflict, said: "At the moment Parliament is not doing its job. The majority of the public would like to see the troops home before Christmas, and Parliament is not reflecting that. The Government and all the main politicians are in denial on this. They are divorced from reality.

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Camerons return home with baby Florence

September 4th,2010    by Ann

Florence Rose Endellion Cameron met the media for the first – but almost certainly not the last – time yesterday and promptly fell asleep.

The Prime Minister stood with his wife Samantha, who cradled their Florence on the steps of No 10.

Asked how many nappies he had changed, Mr Cameron joked: "Hundreds."

Another journalist asked: "Has Nick Clegg changed any nappies yet?" Mr Cameron replied: "That's next."

The baby was wearing a white shawl crocheted by a member of the public who sent it in to congratulate the couple on the birth.

Asked if the baby was keeping them awake, she smiled and replied: "Yes."

Mr Cameron bent to kiss the baby on the head and she opened her eyes briefly.

Florence was born at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro last Tuesday, weighing 6lb 1oz. She was not expected until this month, but caught the family by surprise while they were on holiday.

Her middle name, Endellion, refers to the village of St Endellion on the north Cornish coast, near where the Camerons were staying. The Camerons are also parents to Nancy, six, and Arthur Elwen, four.

The Prime Minister said in a statement: "Samantha and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness and generosity since the birth of baby Florence. We have been really, really touched by all the people who have offered their warm congratulations, and by the many cards, gifts and flowers that we have received."

Jane Fraser-Cross, 74, who knitted the shawl said she was "absolutely thrilled" the Camerons liked her gift.

Asked how it felt for her handiwork to grace the Prime Minister's new baby, she said: "I'm so elated. I'm absolutely thrilled because I admire David Cameron and after all the sadness they went through a few months ago... I feel honoured."

She said she was looking forward to telling her grandchildren that the young baby was wearing the shawl, which she posted last Friday.

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