Miliband: Don't give up on the middle class
Sunday, 22 August 2010 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
Labour must keep trying to secure the support of the middle classes if it is to return to power, David Miliband will say this week.
In a major speech just a month before the new Labour leader is selected, the shadow foreign secretary will urge against any drift to the left.
"You just can't craft an election majority out of a minority. It is dangerous to pretend we don't need the middle classes - just as it would be to suggest Labour does not need to win back the hope and trust of working-class voters," he was quoted by the Independent on Sunday as saying.
"Too many people in both groups felt they had real reasons for no longer supporting Labour, and we must address them all."
The comments will be seen as a rebuke to his brother, Ed, who is campaigning on a markedly more left-wing platform.
David Miliband, viewed as the continuity candidate who does not believe in moving substantially from the centrist political outlook which won New Labour three elections, is still considered the front runner but his brother is putting up a tough fight and most analysts consider the contest too tight to call.
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