Welcome news. Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner is backing David Miliband’s bid for the Labour leadership. Why he is doing so is simple: he says Miliband, as others have too, is the one candidate in the race who has the best chance of beating David Cameron in an election. He is also the public’s choice.
“For many Labour people this hasn’t been an easy election to call. All of the candidates are of the centre left, they are all Labour. That isn’t the issue here.
“The big question is who are the Tories afraid of? Who is the best candidate to stand up against Cameron at the dispatch box? Who has the best chance to beat Cameron in an election?
“For me the best choice is David Miliband and that is why I will be supporting him as next Labour leader,” Skinner wrote.
Skinner declared for Miliband on the day he launched a “manifesto to ‘take out’ the Tory Lib Dem coalition”.
The mini-manifesto sets out a ten-point plan for change:
1. Reduce the jobs deficit as well as the budget deficit
2. Build a new economy that works for working people
3. Make world class education for all a top Labour priority
4. Give towns and cities the power to shape their future
5. Meet the demand for decent, affordable housing
6. Reform the welfare state so it protects better and demands more in return
7. Break the cycle of criminality that spreads fear and insecurity
8. Go for green growth and meet the challenge of climate change
9. Defend the NHS and support children and families
10. Reform our democracy to restore trust in the political system
