“Soap opera” David? We’re already there…

It was a shame that David Miliband ruled out making a return to the shadow cabinet today. In his Today Programme interview this morning (during which John Humphreys tried – and failed – to goad anti-Ed comments from him) the elder Miliband suggested that a return to the Labour front bench would inspire a “soap opera”. That’s a phrase first used by Ed Balls (writing for LabourList) during the leadership. Evidently it’s a phrase that has stuck in his mind.

Of course, David’s “soap opera” argument ignores what he surely knows to be true – the last week has been a “soap opera” of exactly the kind he says he wants to avoid. A soap opera is designed for those who only watch sporadically. I watch Eastenders about once a year and somehow manage to keep up with the plot. This Mili-brother story has been the same for almost 18 months – that makes it exceptionally easy to follow…

Back in June last year – when Ed Miliband abolished shadow cabinet elections – I said that David now had a clear opportunity to return to the shadow cabinet. What I said then is worth repeating, as it still holds true today, perhaps more so than it did then:

“A leadership including both Miliband’s would be risky, and fraught with complex personal emotions. But it’s also one that could be a game changer ahead of the national election. For either brother, that simple fact might mean that a partnership, for the good of the party, and the country, proves irresistible. If it works, the party at large will feel the same way.”

A return to the shadow cabinet to serve under his brother may be unpalatable for David, but one of the other ways he could end the “soap opera” for good – by departing front line politics – would be equally unpalatable, not just for him, but for anyone who cares about the future of the party.

The present situation seems like a holding pattern, and one that feels unsustainable in the long term. I hope that when the time eventually comes for him to jump one way or another, David Miliband makes the right choice and returns to to shadow cabinet fold. Because with both Milibands working together the chances of a Labour government in 2015 are more, not less.