David Miliband’s logic is difficult to fault. If he stayed, he would be treated as the
torch bearer for those disgruntled Labour members who feel they were robbed. Without him, such people have no one to turn to. New Labour will now dissolve. ‘Progress’ – supposedly for the next
generation of Blairites – held their meeting in a Manchester venue named the Comedy Store and that says it all. Game over: as Neil Kinnock put it last night “I’ve got my party back”.
No matter how loyal he would be, David Miliband could not but be seen as a focal point for the (many) Labour MPs who hate all that. Sure, it is a bit odd his saying on Monday “the fightback starts here” and on Wednesday “well, good luck with it guys – I’m offski”. But it’s better than the alternative. A man who was Foreign Secretary for three years was never going to stay on as his little brother’s spokesman for digital inclusion.
And what now? There is a delicious theory going around that Cameron could make him ambassador to Washington. The job is coming up and Miliband would be brilliantly qualified for it. Sure, he’d be called a traitor – but that’s pretty easy to get used to when the butler fetches you breakfast in the second-grandest house in DC. It’s a little too good to be true, this theory, but there’s nothing for him here. Exit, Miliband – stage right. Best for him, best for his party.
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