Labour leader candidate David launches the garden party (From Echo)

Labour leader candidate David launches the garden party

WHETHER or not David Miliband will be the next Labour party leader, he has certainly won a few more fans in Colchester.

David Miliband

Mr Miliband, the bookies’ favourite to head the opposition in the House of Commons, met members of the Colchester Labour Party.

The informal event was held in the back garden of a member’s house at Woodlands, Colchester.

Finishing off his East of England tour in Colchester, the shadow foreign secretary greeted party members and supporters before being introduced by local party chairman Jordan Newell as “our next Prime Minister”.

During his speech, Mr Miliband touched on the importance of giving more power to local government.

He also talked about his fears for the future of the economy and health service, and his feeling the Lib Dems had “sold out” by forming a coalition with the Tories after May’s general election.

He said: “It falls to us to represent the centre left. We must be the alternative party for the benefit of all the pensioners who are worried about fuel bills and crime in their communities and for students who haven’t got a place at university.

“We must be more than the opposition party – we must be the fighting opposition. Not just oppose them, but defeat them.”

Mr Miliband has had a privileged, if unconventional, upbringing and is the son of the late Marxist theorist, Ralph Miliband.

During his speech he touched upon his childhood and how his upbringing influenced him in political life today.

He said: “When I was eight years old a young man arrived from Chile. He was a student campaigner who was fleeing from Augusto Pinochet’s military coup.

“That taught me about human rights and the struggle for justice.

“In the Eighties I met leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and that was a real lesson in the importance of social justice and what it means to really struggle.

“I want to be the Labour leader to put these values into practice.”

Mr Miliband, who is competing with four other candidates for leadership of the party, including brother Ed, admitted there was “a mountain to climb”.

Speaking to the Gazette during the event, Mr Miliband praised Colchester MP Bob Russell for his independent spirit.

Mr Russell has been one of the more vocal Lib Dem backbenchers in speaking out about his concerns regarding the coalition. However, Mr Miliband said he thought, after 13 years as Colchester MP and an uneasy alliance with the Conservative Party, Mr Russell’s days as Colchester’s Westminster representative were numbered.

He added: “Bob has run for a long time in Colchester, but although he was always against the Tory Party, he has now joined a Tory government.

“He does have an independent streak and you have to respect that about him. I would certainly encourage him in his rebellion and I hope he is able to maintain his independent spirit.”

When asked what should be done about the war in Afghanistan, Mr Miliband said there were no short-term fixes.

He added: “I have visited Afghanistan six times in the past six years and we need a political solution – the situation will not be resolved by military conquest.

“We need to bring our troops home as soon as possible.”