Category: news

Ex chancellor Alistair Darling will defend his deficit-cutting strategy in his final speech to the Labour Party conference as a front bencher.

Labour fought the election on a pledge to halve the deficit in four years but Ed Balls has said that was a mistake.

Mr Darling is stepping down as shadow chancellor and there is much speculation about who will get his job.

New leader Ed Miliband has said his plans were “a starting point” but he believed Labour could do “more on tax”.

After Mr Miliband pipped his brother David to the leadership on Saturday there has been much speculation he will offer him the role of shadow chancellor.

But Mr Balls, and his wife Yvette Cooper – currently the shadow work and pensions secretary – are also expected to be in the running.

Mr Balls, who also ran for the leadership and was Gordon Brown’s chief economics adviser for years, has said he thought Mr Darling’s plan could not have been delivered through spending cuts.

BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said Ed Miliband was under pressure from the trade unions and others on the left to propose much slower cuts – or none at all for two years.

Neal Lawson, of the centre left pressure group Compass, told the BBC there were real concerns about cuts leading to a “double dip” recession: “All bets are off now, we have a new leader, we have a new generation and these are now changed and very different circumstances.”

But Mr Darling told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the approach I took is a sensible one. There is no doubt we have a very high level of borrowing, we need to get it down, but we need to do it in a way that doesn’t damage the economic or social fabric of the country.”

He said he shared concerns the coalition government, which has pledged to eliminate the £155bn budget deficit in five years, was running the risk of derailing economic recovery.

But he said: “We can’t ignore the fact that borrowing went up for a reason but now I think we must begin the task of getting the borrowing down because if we don’t have a credible plan, frankly, people stop listening to you and if they stop listening to you, that’s a disaster.”

In an interview with the BBC on Sunday the new Labour leader Mr Miliband suggested he would adopt a more “cautious” approach on cutting the deficit than Mr Darling.

“Alistair Darling’s plans are a starting point in terms of the timing of the deficit reduction. I have said I think we can do some more on tax.”

Mr Darling told the BBC he had spoken to Mr Miliband and he was confidence he would stay on the centre ground of British politics.

“I’m greatly reassured that he is realistic, he’s got a lot of common sense, he is not going to do something that is irresponsible.

He said nothing had changed to persuade him that his policy was not the right approach, but added: “As events go on … of course Ed and the new shadow chancellor are entitled to look at these things.”

Nominations have opened for elections to 19 shadow cabinet posts, including shadow chancellor. MPs vote for those colleagues they want to see on the top team – but the individual briefs are handed out by the party leader.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

David Miliband is due to address the Labour Party conference later, after narrowly losing the leadership to his younger brother Ed.

Mr Miliband, long considered the favourite for the top job, will attend a question and answer session in his role as shadow foreign secretary.

He has not said whether he will accept a job in his brother’s shadow cabinet – saying on Saturday it was “Ed’s day”.

But there is speculation he may be offered the shadow chancellor’s role.

The current shadow chancellor, Alistair Darling, who is stepping down from the front bench, is due to make a speech later in which he will defend his original plans to halve the budget deficit over four years.

The new leader has described the plans as “broadly the right starting point” but said he wanted to look at how they could be improved.

Nominations have opened for the 19 shadow cabinet posts which are elected by a ballot of MPs, but David Miliband and other leadership candidates are expected to take prominent jobs.

Mr Miliband, who remains shadow foreign secretary until the elections, will speak to delegates in a question and answer session on foreign affairs at the Labour Party conference in Manchester.

On Sunday he ducked questions about his future, saying it was “not a day to take anything away from what Ed is doing”.

“This conference is not about jobs for me, this is about a new future for the Labour Party,” he said.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson says a friend of David Miliband has told him that the defeated leadership contender is contemplating not running for the shadow cabinet. But Labour colleagues insist he has yet to make up his mind.

Ed Miliband has praised his brother’s “generosity and graciousness”, adding: “I think he needs time to think about the contribution he can make – I think he can make a very big contribution to British politics.”

Although David won a higher percentage of votes from Labour MPs, MEPs and party members, Ed Miliband’s success with trade union members and affiliated societies pushed him into first place.

He defeated his brother in the e leadership race by just over 1% from his brother after second, third and fourth preference votes came into play.

Ed Balls was third, Andy Burnham fourth and Diane Abbott last in the ballot of MPs, members and trade unionists.

The party has revealed that nearly a tenth of the votes cast – more than 36,000 out of 375,000 – were spoiled.

A spokesman said many voters had failed to comply with “clear” instructions to tick a box confirming they were Labour supporters.

Ed Miliband has been portrayed as being to the left of his brother and been dubbed “Red Ed” by some newspapers. But he rejected the tag as “rubbish” in a BBC interview on Sunday and said his leadership would not see “a lurch to the left”.

Mr Miliband told a fringe meeting at the conference that people had joined the party at the rate of one a minute since he was elected.

Shadow cabinet candidates have until Wednesday to put their names into the ring, with about 50 already in the running for the 19 slots up for grabs. The other members of the shadow cabinet – party leader, deputy leader, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour and the chief whip – are voted in separately.

The vote takes place until 7 October. The 19 successful candidates will then be allocated posts in the shadow cabinet by the new party leader.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Nato-led forces say they have killed more than 30 insurgents on Pakistani soil after a rare pursuit across the border from Afghanistan.

Two Apache helicopters from the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan reportedly took part in Saturday’s operation.

It followed an attack by insurgents on an Afghan security outpost in Khost.

Isaf says no civilians were killed in the operation – but this has not been independently confirmed.