David Miliband: Loyal Critic

David Miliband on Gordon Brown:

"I supported and voted for him. I agreed that we needed greater moral seriousness and less indifference to the excesses of a celebrity-drenched culture.

"I agreed with him when he said that we needed greater coherence as a government, particularly in relation to child poverty and equality.

"I agreed with him on the importance of party reform and a meaningful internationalism that would be part of a unified government strategy.

"I agreed that we needed a civic morality to champion civility when confronting a widespread indifference to others.

"But it didn't happen."

And:

"It was not just more of the same. Far from correcting them, failings - tactics, spin, high-handedness - intensified, and we lost many of our strengths - optimism born of clear strategy, bold plans for change and reform, a compelling articulation of aspiration and hope.

"We did not succeed in renewing ourselves in office - and the roots of that failure were deep not recent, about procedure and openness, or lack of it, as much as policy," he added.

That would be David Miliband who served as Foreign Secretary throughout the Brown years. That would be the David Miliband who refused to challenge Gordon Brown, even when it was clear that Brown was a failure. That would be the David Miliband who only now seems to be recognising what the opinion polls were saying for ages, and what the electorate told his party in May: Gordon Brown was an unpopular failure.

It would also be this David Miliband, so I guess we shouldn't be too surprised:

David Miliband, loyal supporter of Gordon Brown. David Miliband, passionate critic of Gordon Brown. David Miliband, Bananaman. David Miliband, still in his disguise as Eric Wimp.