How David Miliband failed upwards

David Miliband is on maneuvers. Westminster’s lobby stenographers have been busy quoting “friends” on his readiness to serve in the Cabinet if offered a top job, backed up by a barrage of claims that Andy Burnham is lining him up for a return to frontline politics as foreign secretary. Reports suggest that such an appointment, bringing back a trusted political operator with contacts and experience, would free the incoming prime minister to focus on domestic issues. The drumbeat grew louder last week, with breathless reports that the veteran New Labour figure, who has spent more than a decade in the United States running a refugee charity, was preparing to “break his silence” with a landmark speech. And then — surprise, surprise — this key acolyte of Tony Blair used the Rabbi Lord Jonathan