David Miliband: Labour under Corbyn have become “unelectable”
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David Miliband has warned that Labour has become “unelectable” under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
The former Foreign Secretary, and older brother of former Labour leader Ed, provided a withering verdict on Corbyn, who is expected to win re-election on Saturday.
Writing in New Statesman Miliband said: “The main charge against Jeremy Corbyn is not just that his strategy is undesirable because it makes the party unelectable.
“That is only half the story. The real issue is that his strategy makes the party unelectable because it is in many aspects undesirable.”
In attack which seems to suggest he views Corbyn’s ideas as simplistic, he added: “Nationalisation cannot be the answer to everything; anti-austerity speeches cannot explain everything; corporate taxation cannot pay for everything. It doesn’t add up. It wouldn’t work. People are not stupid.”
Miliband, who now runs the International Rescue Committee charity from New York, also criticises Corbyn’s stance on foreign policy, which is one of the clear dividing lines in the party.
“The half-hearted message about Europe is a betrayal of millions of working people. The equivocation on NATO in the face of Russia’s intimidation of nations in her former sphere of influence is dangerous and throws away progressive values”, he said.
Miliband voted for the Iraq invasion when he was on Labour’s frontbench as schools minister in 2003. Corbyn, and also Ed Miliband, have made much of their opposition to the conflict.
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