Already a subscriber? Log in
Amid all this, there’s a sense that Mandelson and David Miliband have coordinated their efforts to trash Brown and, by extension, his “advisers”. At the very least, it’s a grim and convenient coincidence that Miliband should make that Keir Hardie lecture on the same day that the promotional drive for the Dark Lord’s book kicks off in earnest. Two mutually-supportive messages, each raising questions about the previous regime? It looks awfully like a pincer movement.
Labour should be grateful, and a touch fearful, about this state of affairs. As David noted yesterday, Miliband is doing something which is necessary for a deposed party: facing up to the failures of the past. And that should help enliven a leadership contest which, until now, had failed to move on from the ideas and ideology of the Brown era. But the MiliMandy combination threatens to push proceedings into civil war – and, lest if need saying, the ol’ ferrets-in-a-sack routine is never particularly edifying.
In the end, I suspect the biggest beneficiaries of this will be the coalition government. Just when they were starting to look a little rocky on their feet – with difficult stories about schools and the OBR – Labour are giving a demonstration of what the alternative looks like. And it’s certainly not pretty.
Because you read about charlie whelan
Also by Peter Hoskin
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in