‘Every day, in every way, it’s getting worse for Ed Miliband.’ That’s what I said last Thursday, and it has been more or less borne out since then. Friday, of course, brought that Twitter embarrassment. Saturday, the subsequent headlines, as well as Miliband’s unconvincing attempt to push back against them. Sunday featured some of the most vicious attacks on his leadership by Labour MPs so far. And even today we’ve got the sort of ‘helpful’ advice from a senior Labour figure — in this case, Alan Johnson, suggesting that ‘too often we sound like a debating society rather than a political party’ — that comes across as frustrated criticism. Forget the spending cuts, Miliband should probably be more concerned about dying from a thousand cuts.
On top of all that, David Miliband has — as Guido notes — made an appearance in the pages of the Indian newspaper The Hindu. In truth, I don’t see anything particularly fratricidal about what MiliD says in this interview — his claim, for instance, that ‘for everyone in the Labour Party, it feels very frustrating at the moment’ is clearly within the context of being in Opposition. But there is still something telling about what he doesn’t say. Nowhere (at least in the text that has been released) does he go out of the way to support his brother’s leadership. There are numerous harsh words for David Cameron and the Tories, but not one kind word about the current direction of the Labour party.
It may just be one interview (and MiliD has been kinder in the recent past), but Ed Miliband should certainly ponder his brother’s ambiguity as he prepares his own speech for tomorrow. It’s not just that it prolongs the ‘are they, aren’t they?’ speculation about the brothers’ friendship, but, as I’ve written before, MiliE could benefit greatly from the active support of David Miliband, both in terms of his internal party standing and his policy offering. The longer that support is withheld, the less likely it is that the younger brother will prevail through his current difficulties.
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