Peter Hoskin

The other Miliband stakes his claim?

One of the quaintest – and most enduring – of all Westminster traditions is how ambitious politicians skirt around the question of whether they want to be party leader/PM.  They don’t say “yes” – that would be far too brash.  But they don’t say “no” either – feeling, for some reason, that that’s the one lie they can’t tell.  Instead, we get ambiguous non-denials, which almost everyone interprets as a “yes” anyway.  For the record, Ed Miliband’s the latest to issue such a non-denial, in the ‘You ask the questions’ section of today’s Independent:

Do you have any desire to be Prime Minister? WILLIAM BIRD, LIVERPOOL

[ED MILIBAND:] I’ve got enough on my plate working towards Britain meeting its climate targets, getting an international deal and ensuring secure and affordable energy for people.Read into that what you will…

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