Ferchi

David Miliband had his chance, and it passed. Painful though it may be, he now needs to sit back and see if his younger brother will seize or squander his own opportunity to shape history.With the Labour leadership election entering its final furlong, the faint outlines of a genuine debate are beginning to emerge. In his speech on Wednesday, David Miliband put between him and the other candidates, tacitly admitting that the state grew too large under his New Labour predecessors and acknowledging the need to cut the deficit. He invoked the spirit of Rab Butler, the Conservative politician who was instrumental in persuading his party to embrace the reforms of the Attlee government, suggesting that Labour should not oppose the Coalition's radical overhaul of public services. He even hinted that he wouldn't try and reverse Michael Gove's education reforms, saying he was in favour of "a diversity of schools that drives innovation and improvements".