That’s not dignity, that’s self-regard

I am not sure why David Miliband is getting such an easy ride at the moment. Perhaps this is mean-spirited and insensitive of me, although I have nothing against the chap. But it does strike me that his likely decision not to stand for the shadow cabinet and instead to “leave front line politics”, perhaps to walk into a job as boss of the IMF (how does THAT happen?) is a simple case of pique. It is not dignified, it is bitter and smacks of far too much amour de soi. The dignified thing to do would be to accept a job in the shadow cabinet and to do as he repeatedly urged us to do during the leadership election – put aside petty differences, work together for the good of the party and the good of the country, etc, etc. Was all that just cant, then? Or doesn’t it count if you are David Miliband and he merely meant that that’s what the rest of us should do? Maybe, in not having a brother, I am underestimating the devastation of what it is to lose to one.

Incidentally, I thought the substance of brother Ed’s speech was, for the most part, pretty impressive. Much less so the delivery. And he is going to have to do something about what I assume is sinus trouble. Sudafed can sometimes do the trick, although some argue that over-frequent use can dry out the bowels.