Miliband ‘must still prove himself’

Former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith – a close ally of Mr Blair during his time in power – accused Mr Miliband of damaging Labour’s prospects by excluding major talents from the Blairite wing of the party from his Shadow Cabinet.

He named former Cabinet Minister James Purnell, who stood down as an MP at the 2010 election, as “potentially a very important figure in the Labour Party” who was not being allowed to contribute.

Lord Goldsmith suggested that Blairites were “standing back” to give Mr Miliband a chance to prove himself, rather than actively supporting his leadership.

Mr Miliband was a member of Gordon Brown’s inner circle in the Labour governments, and his victory over brother David in last year’s leadership contest was seen by many as a triumph for the Brownites over the Blairites.

Asked on Sky News’s Murnaghan programme whether rifts between Labour’s warring factions had been overcome, Lord Goldsmith said: “I don’t think they have been healed.

“I think people are still standing back, letting Ed Miliband have an opportunity to prove that he can do it, and that at the end of the day is what matters.”

When asked whether, after nine months as leader, Mr Miliband still needed to prove himself, Lord Goldsmith said: “Yes, he does. He plainly does.”

On the issue of whether the Labour leader was connecting with the public, the former Attorney General said: “He doesn’t at the moment. It is not clear what he stands for.

“He has got time. The elections are a long way away.”

Lord Goldsmith said that the serious question for Labour was “whether Ed Miliband has actually managed to heal the rift between the two sides of the party – the Brown/Blair or whatever it is called today – whether there are enough of the Blair heavy hitters in his Shadow Cabinet”.

He added: “I think many of us would like to see more of them back.

“I think the issue is, if you have got talent within your party, you shouldn’t be pushing it to one side because you are worried that there is a label attached to that particular talent which suggests you are in one side or the other

“There are very powerful intellects, very powerful figures still able to help Ed Miliband and they are being excluded and that is a problem.”

Lord Goldsmith suggested that Blairite former Ministers like Lord (John) Hutton had agreed to work for the coalition Government on reports and commissions because “they have got a lot to give and they want to give it to somebody”.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended Mr Miliband saying: “The work Ed’s doing is making a difference.

“We are seeing it build, we are seeing results in the way in which the Government is changing policy as a result.”

Ms Cooper, married to former leadership candidate Ed Balls and herself tipped as a possible successor to Mr Miliband, added: “Ed’s doing a good job.

“It does of course take time – we are only a year after what was a bad election defeat for us.

“It takes time to have conversations with voters across the country who didn’t agree with us last year and who we want to persuade, we want to listen and want to talk to.

“He is drawing on all kinds of talent, whether that’s from previous Labour Governments, whether that’s from people who are newly-elected into parliament, but also people who are not traditional Labour supporters.”