There are many things to say about the story that David Miliband and Alan Milburn, the former Health Secretary, would consider teaming up to run the Labour government once Gordon Brown has been ousted.
Personally, I’m torn between believing the story of a Mil-Mil alliance; and believing it to be Brownite spin to discredit a Miliband putsch. But what I find most interesting is not the did-he-or-did-he-not part. For the venom with which the idea has been greeted is, I think, the real story and what says most about the state of the Labour party today.
Even the mere suggestion that the former Health Secretary could return to government seems to discredit Miliband’s prime ministerial bid in the eyes of many Labour MPs.
But what did Milburn do to deserve the opprobrium? Was he sacked for failing to control his department? No that was Charles Clarke, a man still respected in the Labour Party. Did he lead an unpopular war? No that was Geoff Hoon. Was he born to privilege? No. He was raised by a single mother, cut his political teeth fighting for shipbuilding and steel jobs on Tyneside and worked in a Marxist bookshop called Days of Hope.
Milburn’s horrendous crime is to be known as a Blairite. With former Cabinet colleague Stephen Byers, he could always be counted on to defend Tony Blair and was often linked with criticism of Gordon Brown. He handled Labour’s 2005 election campaign, which led to tensions with Brown. But perhaps worse for the Old Labour stalwarts, Milburn has continued to champion of “the modernising, centrist approach” that Blair personified:
Taxes should be cut, especially for the low-paid. We should sharpen the drive to get many more people off benefit and dramatically improve help for first-time buyers to get onto the housing ladder.
The astonishing fact that these ideas – and the person who champions them – are seen by some in the Labour party as undermining of David Miliband’s ambitions tells many voters that despite Brown’s words and work, the Labour party itself is making a dash away from the centre and the Blair legacy.
