Get a grip Gordon

Miliband warns Brown

By Ian Kirby

DAVID MILIBAND today warns Gordon Brown he must radically change tactics or lose the next general election.

The Foreign Secretary— tipped as Mr Brown's successor—tells the PM that voters think the Labour Party is failing and out of touch.

In a tough assessment of the party's opinion poll collapse, Mr Miliband is the first senior government figure to admit Labour is "the political underdog for the first time".

Mr Miliband urges Mr Brown to show the country his true qualities, revealing his "strong values and deep convictions".

Candid

Writing exclusively for the News of the World today, Mr Miliband urges the PM to "see the world through the eyes of voters" and be more open.

He warns: "People will only listen to our claims about what we have done right if we are candid about what we have not. Employment has never been higher but people are worried about housing.

"Crime is down but people think crime has gone up."

There is growing speculation a senior backbench Labour MP will challenge Mr Brown for the Labour leadership if, as expected, they suffer heavy losses in local elections on May 1. Ex-Home Secretary Charles Clarke has "taken soundings" on challenging the PM, but has yet to decide. MPs' biggest gripe is the government's apparent lack of direction and "dithering".

Mr Miliband insists: "We need instead to put up a fight." His own vision for the future sets out an agenda closer to Tony Blair's than Mr Brown's. Unlike the PM, he favours less state control. And he wants to get back to selling Britain as strong and positive.

The News of the World can reveal Mr Brown will unveil an election manifesto at the party conference in Manchester. All party members will be given a vote on policies. The move is designed to reunite the party and give the PM a clear mandate for the first time.

Miliband will support it. He warns members they will lose if "we argue among ourselves".

See world with voters' eyes

By David Miliband

THE polls make Labour the political underdog for the first time in a long time.

Now we have a choice about how to respond.

Governments which hit mid-term blues, especially after three election victories, can say to themselves: "We've had a decent innings, but all good things must come to an end."

But that is not the Labour way. We need instead to put up a fight, show our determination to change what is wrong with the country, put our case with clarity and conviction, and ensure the public realise what is at stake when it comes to elections rather than opinion polls.

We know what will ensure defeat. First, if we try to do too many things and don't do enough of them well.

Second, if we don't follow through the things we have started.

Third, if we worry too much about our opponents.

Fourth if we argue among ourselves, failing to defend each other and our leader.

Fifth, if we water down our core convictions.

Gordon Brown has strong values and convictions. The route to victory needs US to do more.

First, see the world through the eyes of voters. The best way of defending our record is by offering an honest assessment of it. People will only listen to what we have done right if we are candid about what we have not. Employment has never been higher but people are worried about housing.

Crime is down but people think it's up. Universal nursery education has been delivered but people worry about care for the elderly.

Second, we need ideology, not just pragmatism. Labour needs to stake out its ground as the party of fairness and freedom. We must promote fairness; but also give people the power to shape their own lives. So in the economy, in public services, in community life, we need to give people more power.

Third, tell a compelling national story. Britain is no longer a country in decline. We have one of the largest economies in the world. The NHS has been rescued from third world status. We won the 2012 Olympics because people respect not pity us.

We must engage with the world not retreat from it.

Finally, political institutionsbecome trapped; and we were created to challenge what exists and change it. We need to open up politics. Since 1997 New Labour has redrawn the political map.

Britain is richer and fairer. But there are new issues that challenge us to think afresh, building on our record but also learning from it. The Tories are betting the house on Labour giving up the fight. They've got another think coming.