Miliband should come clean about his intentions

Aug 3 2008 by Ken Oxley, Sunday Sun

IS it any wonder the public mistrusts politicians when every word they utter has to be scrutinised for hidden meaning?

Take David Miliband, the ambitious MP for South Shields, South Tyneside, who has made no secret of his desire to be Prime Minister.

Here’s what he had to say this week about Gordon Brown: “Do I think Gordon can lead us into the next election and win? Yes, I’m absolutely sure of this.”

He added that Brown was the man to take the party forward and that his leadership “is one that has shown itself to be of strong values.”

So, no ambiguity there, then . . . in fact, nothing short of an unequivocal endorsement of our current Prime Minister.

However, when Mr Miliband penned an article in the Guardian on Wednesday outlining his vision of the future under Labour, he neglected to mention Mr Brown.

An innocent oversight? Somehow I doubt it. And political commentators with far sharper minds than mine doubt it too.

They have concluded that Mr Miliband’s article — which covered issues way beyond his Foreign Office brief — was a thinly-disguised job application.

It reminded those demoralised by Labour’s current poll standing that not only is he fit to tie Brown’s laces, he could fill his shoes if the opportunity presented itself.

What’s more, the chances of that happening will have increased considerably as a result of his confident posturing.

The suggestion is that in writing the article Miliband is effectively firing the opening salvo in what is likely to be a bloody leadership battle.

He can’t be seen to be openly kicking Brown when he’s down, but that won’t change the perception among Brownites that he is nevertheless a smiling assassin waiting to pounce.

Who, then, might eventually line up against him? One possibility is Harriet Harman, who was quizzed this week about whether she was preparing a leadership bid.

Naturally, she insisted she was doing no such thing, adding: “When a woman says ‘no’, she means ‘no’.”

Once again, that sounds pretty unequivocal doesn’t it? But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if “no” becomes “maybe” before too long, closely followed by “yes”.

This is precisely why the electorate has become disillusioned with politicians . . . they say one thing and invariably do another.

Harriet Harman, of course, provided a perfect example of this trait having championed the socialist ideal of comprehensive education only to send one of her sons to a grant-maintained school and another to a selective grammar.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of having to read between the lines. I’d like some honesty, some straight-talking.

I’d like David Miliband to either swear on his adopted kids’ lives that he’s not secretly plotting against Brown or be bold enough to criticise him publicly.

He will do neither, of course. But while he keeps the nation guessing about his intentions, Brown is looking increasingly isolated.

His best option could be the Darwin approach . . . get in a canoe and start paddling.