Ed Miliband dealt huge blow as Labour donor torpedoes chancellor bid
Ed Miliband was dealt a fresh blow after a Labour donor insisted the Energy Secretary should not be Andy Burnham's chancellor. Green entrepreneur Dale Vince said Mr Miliband has made "spending decisions that show him to be out of touch with economic reality" in his current Cabinet role.
Mr Vince suggested that former health secretary Wes Streeting would be a better choice. It comes amid ongoing speculation over who Mr Burnham will pick as Rachel Reeves's successor.
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Ed Miliband "is not the right choice" for chancellor says @DaleVince
The founder of Ecotricity and Labour donor tells Mornings this is because of his time in the Department for Energy Security, where he "didn’t make business-like decisions" pic.twitter.com/zqAWIPaHHd
He said: “I don’t think Ed should be chancellor. His time at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is a mixed bag – some good moves for sure, but these are overwhelmed by spending decisions that show him to be out of touch with economic reality, pledging vast sums of taxpayer money to schemes with little or no hope of success or of giving anything back to the country.
"If you look at the cost of the jobs DESNZ boasts will be created in carbon capture, for example, it’s several million pounds per job (or a lifetime of pay). That makes no business sense and no climate sense.
"Meanwhile, he’s been unwilling to do the really important things, like energy market reform, to bring down the cost of energy bills and of living, such as breaking the link, which he refused to do for years, then pretended to do just weeks ago, then this week blamed the link for high energy bills.
"It’s hard to understand this, but easy to conclude we need better than that from a chancellor.
"Judging by his record as health secretary, Wes Streeting is a far better choice.”
Mr Vince's comments come after Iceland boss Lord Walker, who is the Government's cost-of-living tsar, warned Mr Miliband would be a "disaster" as chancellor.
Mr Burnham, who is set to enter 10 Downing Street within weeks, has said he will not reveal his Cabinet choices until the end of the Labour leadership contest.