Milliband's Inconvenient Truth

The Environment secretary, and one of Gordon Brown's rising stars, David Milliband has set tongues wagging after hs recent appearance on
Question Time.

In his interview, Milliband suggested that, soon enough, people will be wishing Tony Blair had never left office:

“When I come back on this programme in six months time or a year, people will be saying ‘wouldn’t it be great to have that Blair back because we couldn’t stand that Gordon Brown’.”

He added that this would be true of whoever took over from Tony Blair - and it's not because he believes nobody can match him, simply that it is the nature of being Prime Minister.

And he has a point, it is almost inevitable that the job will end in failure. With criticism from all sides, there are always calls for a return for times gone by - it's the natural order at the top.

But, alas! Milliband's comments were spun in the media to be a crticism of Gordon Brown, turning them from a good and reasonable point to an attack on the premier-in-waiting.

And yes, you do feel for him personally but as a member of the Labour party - those who brought the phrase 'spin doctor' into the public lexicon - one can only say: 'those who live by the sword...'