Milibandwagon : Scared to Roll?

The malevolence of the Brownies deterred Miliband from running for the leadership last year - to the disappointment of the now vindicated Blairites. Miliband is, we are told reliably, preparing himself in readiness to save the party from catastrophe. Guido was told - by someone who claimed to have spoken to him directly - that he is worried that if Gordon leads the party to disaster, New Labour will be buried forever and the party will fall into the hands of the left-wing once again. Miliband realistically hopes to diminish the likely margin of defeat and put up a stronger fight against Cameron than Brown can manage.

Miliband is clearly too afraid to wield the knife himself so is having to make over-the-top pledges of loyalty while pundits, backbenchers, donors, activists and supporters grow restless. Miliband needs either a credible stalking horse to come out or for Charles Clarke to organise a round-robin letter (along the lines of the Tom Watson letter to Blair) sent to No. 10 . Jack Straw putting on the grey suit and going to see Brown looks unlikely today, maybe the offer of a deputy premiership for him will be required. Maybe Miliband, like Portillo, just doesn't have the balls...

Miliband is the New Heseltine

Last night Miliband was on Newsnight, unlike Gordon he does have the courage to face Paxo, and was arguing that "Green is the new red". All very worthy and dull eco-technocratic-tosh. More interesting were his protestations about not wanting Gordon's job. That is something that Alan Johnson emphasises as well. Clearly if you want to survive and not be mauled by the Brownies briefing behind your back, you have to say repeatedly "Gordon is the best man for the job". Despite the fact that, as Martin Bright writes in this week's New Statesman, the Labour Party is no longer in denial post the May Day Massacre.

Miliband's word formula is that he is getting on with being foreign secretary, it is becoming almost as familiar as Heseltine's old word formula: Heseltine used to say that there were "no circumstances imaginable currently in which he would..."

Last night it was nuanced very deliberately in Guido's opinion:

Paxo : How much longer can you resist these calls for you to take on the burden of leadership?

Milibland : For as long as it takes until Gordon Brown calls the next general election. Gordon was the right leader last year and he is the right leader this year, and to take us into the general election

Clearly Gordon is the captain and he can go down with the sinking ship, then it is everyone for himself...

Miliband's word formulations have to allow for the non-cerebal Brownies' psychotic tendencies. Hence he pledges completely over the top total fidelity and loyalty - with a time limit - until the day after the general election. The truth is Gordon has the job until election day because no one else now wants it. That is also why Alan Johnson doesn't want the job of spinning on broadcast media, the job Hazel Blears undertook in the past for Blair. He clearly does not want to be associated in the public eye with the Brown disaster.Guido still stands by his 2005 prophecy: Cameron will be PM and Miliband will immediately challenge for the leadership...

"Miliband Visit Relatives on Settlement" FCO Panic

Guido was listening to the news from the Middle East on Radio Galatz* (he finds it has a more balanced approach to Israel/Palestine issues than the BBC), when he heard the news that David Miliband had dinner with his relatives who live in a settlement near Jericho.

The UN declared "illegal" settlements being visited by the Foreign Secretary foreign minister? That would be a bit of a breakthrough change in British policy. The Jerusalem Post has followed-up the story.

Not true says his office - and the British Embassy in Israel is desperately trying to kill the story.

UPDATE : Miliband did give profuse thanks to the Israeli football team on his visit. "Every Englishman is a friend of Israel today, an even greater friend of Israel. We thank you very, very much. It's amazing after our partnership in science, in politics, in education -- we have a partnership now in sport and in football especially. I think it's wonderful. So I give the foreign minister the personal credit for the performance of the team yesterday". English football supporters will be even more grateful if Gordon Brown stays away from the England-Croatia game. It has not gone unnoticed that the Brown match-jinx hit Scotland as well. Every match Brown attends England loses...

*Israeli Army Radio

The Miliblogger is Back to Bore for Britain

The Miliblogger is back and this time he has a gang. Guido is pleased to say he was the first to welcome him. If you want to give him some feedback, perhaps about the EU constitutional treaty, he would love to hear from you. Tell him Guido sent you...

Miliblogger : "I'll Be Back"

Yesterday David Miliband told those who tuned into his Downing Street webchat

I am completely committed to the idea that diplomacy needs to engage the public as well as diplomatic elite and also to the notion that I need to lead that in the Foreign Office. So the blog will be back, supplemented by other tools for discussion and debate.

That will not be engaging by actually asking their opinion in a binding referendum, just blogging down to them from on high.

Ominously he tells us "please follow developments on the FCO website over the next couple of weeks." Hang on to your wallets.

Politicians Can't Hide from Guido

Dateline : Tuscany, Tuesday - via a co-conspirator.If Guido can get a shot David, so can Al Qaeda. Perhaps he thinks the feeble boyish moustache and tan disguise will fool them...

The Miliblog is Back...

And this time it is Ed. Guido understands that David wanted to continue blogging but the FCO mandarins explained that whilst it was fine to pontificate about green wonkery on his blog when he was at Defra, blogging about the negotiating strategy with the North Koreans was more problematic.

Never mind, his brother Ed is going to continue the family tradition of wasting the taxpayers money writing the blogging equivalent of drying paint. This is a screenshot of the prototype site. Stop monging on the web Miliband minor and do some work...

Wonder how many thousands this will cost the taxpayers?

Miliblogger to Persevere

Guido has received a tip-off that the Miliblog will not die, it will be re-incarnated at the FCO. What a waste of taxpayers money. Shouldn't he really be concentrating on foreign relations rather than his personal spin blog?

Shouldn't the Labour party rather than the taxpayer pay the bill?

See previous stories.

Meanwhile on Facebook...

Remember when we used to do eBay stories? That is just so 2006, now we do Facebook stories, this just popped up:

David Miliband joined the group Harriet Harman for Deputy!.

David Miliband just left the group Johnson for Deputy!.

Hat-tip : Guido ** waves back at Popbitch.**

Letter to Miliband

The names have been deleted to protect the cheeky:

Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State,
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR

16 May 2007

Dear Secretary of State,

My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to join the "not rearing pigs" business.

In your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to rear pigs on, and which is the best breed of pigs not to rear? I want to be sure I approach this endeavour in keeping with all government policies, as dictated by the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy.

I would prefer not to rear bacon pigs, but if this is not the type you want not rearing, I will just as gladly not rear porkers. Are there any advantages in not rearing rare breeds such as Saddlebacks or Gloucester Old Spots, or are there too many people already not rearing these?

As I see it, the hardest part of this programme will be keeping an accurate record of how many pigs I haven't reared. Are there any Government or Local Authority courses on this?

My friend is very satisfied with this business. He has been rearing pigs for forty years or so, and the best he ever made on them was £1,422 in 1968. That is - until this year, when he received a cheque for not rearing any.

If I get £3,000 for not rearing 50 pigs, will I get £6,000 for not rearing 100?

I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself down to about 4,000 pigs not raised, which will mean about £240,000 for the first year. As I become more expert in not rearing pigs, I plan to be more ambitious, perhaps increasing to, say, 40,000 pigs not reared in my second year, for which I should expect about £2.4 million from your department. Incidentally, I wonder if I would be eligible to receive tradable carbon credits for all these pigs not producing harmful and polluting methane gases?

Another point: These pigs that I plan not to rear will not eat 2,000 tonnes of cereals. I understand that you also pay farmers for not growing crops. Will I qualify for payments for not growing cereals to not feed the pigs I don't rear?

I am also considering the "not milking cows" business, so please send any information you have on that too. Please could you also include the current Defra advice on set aside fields? Can this be done on an e-commerce basis with virtual fields (of which I seem to have several thousand hectares)?

In view of the above you will realise that I will be totally unemployed, and will therefore qualify for unemployment benefits.

I shall of course be voting for your party at the next general election.

Yours faithfully,


XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

The News is Not News

Guido was off getting trashed so missed this "live", but Benedict Brogan* has decoded it for us all.

At lunchtime Nick Robinson told us that David Miliband was not standing for leader. Something Miliband tells us weekly. This time it was news. Benedict thinks that this time Miliband was saying - "No fucking way am I standing. End of. Drop it. Got it?"

Clear?

*Likely to soon supplant Iain Dale as the second best political blogger going - if Iain doesn't watch it.

Miliblogger Survey

From: Edemocracy@lse.ac.uk
Sent: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 2.31PM
Subject: David Miliband Blog Evaluation Survey

Hello,

As you are aware, David Miliband MP's blog is being evaluated as part of the 'Digital Dialogues' pilot (www.digitaldialogues.org.uk). The 'Digital Dialogues' evaluations are being compiled by the independent, non-partisan Hansard Society.

You are being contacted because you have visited and posted on David Miliband's blog. The purpose of this survey is to your ask your views on the Minister's blog specifically, and also to pick up on your general thoughts about the contribution of technology to British politics.

You are not obliged to participate but your input is very valuable.

Please complete the survey online at http://www.digitaldialogues.org.uk/survey.

Your time is much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Barry Griffiths

________________________________

Hansard Society

40 - 43 Chancery Lane

London WC2A 1JA

www.hansardsociety.org.uk

Promoting Democracy - Strengthening Parliament

Tories Set-Up Anti-Miliband Unit

According to the Telegraph the Tories have set up an anti-Miliband unit. Here is Guido's favourite picture of the wonk for their files...

He sets out his manifesto here, it is a post-socialist analysis, but his prescriptions (elsewhere) are scary. The authoritarian approach to enforcing a green regime puts Guido in fear. All his talk of "social contracts" just smacks of state diktat based on anti-capitalist prejudice dressed up as environmental concern. One thing for sure is that freedom of choice will not enter into his plans.

Miliband 's Pro-Labour Blogging is a Repeat OffenceMandarins Do Sock-Puppetry Too

Guido was (as normal) perusing the Farmer's Weekly Interactive when he noticed that Peter Ainsworth, Miliband's Tory shadow, has joined in the complaints about the Miliblogger making partisan pro-Labour propaganda points on a civil service run website paid for by the taxpayer despite promising he wouldn't do that when he started.

click to enlarge

The Miliblogger has now taken that Civil Service Code breaking post down. But this is not the first time he has broken the rules and his promise, he has previous. On March 9, in a post headlined "Land fit for Heroes" he claimed that "One of the great achievements of the 1945 Labour Government was the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. It was inspired... blah blah blah"

So another partisan claim, another breach of the rules, paid for by taxpayers whom he promised that "because this is a Government site I won't lapse into party ranting". Will he take this one down as well?

A co-conspirator called to draw Guido's attention to a comment by Owen Barder, formerly Blair's economic private secretary, latterly a mandarin at DFID and not a person unknown to the Miliblogger himself. He says of the Miliblog "..this is excellent value for money. People should be impressed that a Cabinet Minister is blogging at all, not whinging about the very reasonable costs." Now that is sock-puppetry of the highest order...

UPDATE : A Whitehall satsuma tells me that Owen Barder actually worked for Miliband when he ran the No. 10 policy unit.

That Taxpayer Funded Non-Political Blog Again

When the Treasury finds out it is paying for this someone is going to be in big trouble. How did this get through moderation? If you have a civil servant paid a pro-rata rate of some sixty grand to do the moderation you'd at least expect them to be attentive given the controversy.

Da Fink reckons that the Miliblogger would be liberated and change from the Steve Davis of political blogging into something more interesting if he was on a Labour party hosted, rather than a Civil Service restricted, blog. Guido is not convinced that even uninhibited free association wonk-speak would be that interesting. Ever.

Punters Reckon Straw Backs Gordon for the Vacancy

Betfair punters now reckon Jack Straw is the favourite to succeed Gordon as Chancellor when the position becomes vacant. Which has a certain logic to it, but did Gordon actually make Straw an offer he couldn't refuse? If Gordon "I don't bear grudges" Brown asks you to run his campaign, what are you going to do? Learn to swim with the fishes? Alastair Darling won't be pleased, but what can he do? Has Gordon calculated that another Scot at the Treasury will be too much?

The question is why hasn't Gordon asked Miliband to be his deputy campaign manager? Seems awfully uncharacteristically brave to leave Blair's chosen successor at a loose end...

Jack Straw is obviously going to need to top up Gordon's male dominated team with some women to give it a more inclusive feel. Why not people he has some experience with? Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP who sat on the EU convention's 13-strong presidium has experience, and Oona King has a younger funkier appeal with the bonus of ethnicity thrown in. She also charmed Gordon at the Fabian conference recently with the improbable (pre-Kylie) claim that "If you want celebrity and glitz, Gordon is not your man." No harm in boosting Gordon's campaign with some female talent...

Miliband's Blog Assistant Costs £62,400 a Year

Further to the stories about the Miliblogger's taxpayer funded blog, Tory Radio has calculated that since Miliband says

...he has an official effectively acting as his blogging assistant who does about 10 hours work a month at a cost of £300. Now if that was equated to a full time equivalent that would be say 40 hours a week at £30 an hour for 52 weeks which is a whopping £62,400 salary.

£62,400 a year is more than an MP's salary. The blog should be hosted by the Labour party and the asssistant's salary should be paid by the Labour party. Miliband should concentrate on sorting out Defra's serious problems rather than profile raising, partisan propanda blogging.

Miliblogger Sulking, De-linking

Miliband has, in an incredibly revealing fit of pique, now removed his link to this blog from his blog-roll, (he only added Guido to his blog-roll a month ago for some blogospheric street cred). This follows the New Statesman recently removing their blog link last month after Guido criticised them for not covering the Smith Institute scandal, despite them sharing an office with the Sith. Is Guido bovvered?

This proves Guido's oft made point about politicians and their alleged desire for an interactive online conversation with the public, they only want agreement and consent, not dissent. How enjoyably childish of Miliband.

Guido 2, Miliblogger 0

Miliband has just deleted the blog post (see below) where he broke the civil service rules and used his ministerial office to further party political goals. Given he gets his civil servants to deal with his blog, taxpayers were harmed in the making of this, he should refund the cost out of Labour party funds. By Guido's count this makes the score two-nil.

Miliband is the intellectual future of the Labour party and their next leader after Gordon? God help 'em...

MiliBlogger Breaks the Rules

When Miliband started his ministerial blog he got a lot of criticism that it was party politics at the taxpayers expense, he promised that "because this is a Government site I won't lapse into party ranting". It would be a breach of the Civil Service Code if he did.

So why today is he defending the Labour party against allegations of a history of animosity to the countryside and invoking Bevin in defence of his party on the taxpayer funded blog? That is a clear breach of the non-partisan rules and his own promises.