More than a soap opera

David Miliband is considering a return to frontline British politics. At least that is what Andrew Grice has heard. He reports:

‘David Miliband is considering a surprise comeback to frontline politics in an attempt to end speculation about a continuing rift with his brother Ed.

Friends of the former Foreign Secretary said yesterday that his joining the Shadow Cabinet was a "live issue" in his circle of political allies. "There is a debate going on. Some people are arguing that it would be better to be a team player than look as though he is sulking on the sidelines," said one source.’

Better for whom, I wonder? The fear that Able/Abel Miliband looks as if he is "sulking on the sidelines” and that he must therefore waltz into the shadow cabinet is scant assurance of his loyalty. It won’t convince the press that the brothers have spent their animosity or David his ambition. Besides, the Tory press is not alone in teasing all it can from this story. In a new biography of Ed Miliband, Labour-supporting James Macintyre and Medhi Hasan claim that relations between the Milibands remain fraught. A shadow cabinet post and a photo-op are unlikely to quell the fever for schism and fratricide. Opposition would malfunction in such circumstances.

That said, Ed Miliband could use his brother’s gravitas, such as it is. The shadow cabinet has often been inaudible and incoherent, unable to exploit the government’s self-authored catastrophes. The great majority of Labour’s loudest voices are on the backbenches – Darling, Straw, David Miliband, Cruddas, Blunkett, even Brown. Perhaps it is time to recall the most agile of those beasts.

Yet David Miliband cannot be seen as having come to the aid of his hapless younger brother; the party leader must offer the invitation. However, after 8 months of listlessness and electoral failure, the perception of weakness may be unavoidable. From Ed’s perspective, it may just be simpler to tough it out and leave his prodigal brother to rue missed opportunities in private.