Sir – Your report (August 6) that David Miliband has asked Alan Milburn to be his Chancellor if and when he becomes Prime Minister will alarm the majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Apart from the obvious fact that there is no vacancy, it will reinforce the view that Mr Miliband is a political lightweight, lacking the experience to make informed and acceptable political judgments.
What will be proposed next: a third term of office for Peter Mandelson?
This letter is perplexing because I cannot work out what Kilfoyle's agenda is. He grew to loathe Blair only just slightly less than he loathes Brown, which is only slightly less than he loathes Mandelson.
Yesterday, Rosa Prince wrote a Telegraph front page lead which said unequivocally that David Miliband had offered Alan Milburn the Chancellorship, should Miliband become PM. Today, Miliband allies are accusing Brown's lackeys of planting the story to damage their man. Rosa Prince's follow up in today's Telegraph makes for interesting reading too. Miliband's people are now accusing her directly of doing Brown's dirty work for him.
Whatever the truth of Miliband's position one thing is clear. He and his people have underestimated the power of the Brown machine to crush all internal opposition and to rubbish those who dare to gainsay the Prime Minister. Miliband didn't stand against Brown last year partly because he knew he wouldn't win and partly because he calculated that Brown's people would destory him in the process.
As he suns himself on a Minorca beach, David Miliband may well be reflecting that what was true then, still holds true today. I have said all along that I did not believe Miliband's Guardian article was an overt leadership pitch. I was in a very small minority who held that view. Let's assume I am wrong. Miliband will now be fearing that things have got out of control and that he threatens to become a Heseltine-type figure who has wielded the dagger but will never inherit the crown.
If the quotes in Rosa Prince's article are genuinely from disenchanted potential supporters of Miliband, he will know he is in deep trouble. But as I said at the beginning, cornered rats are dangerous beasts. There's no telling what he might do when he returns from his holiday - or who he might bite...
