Is David Miliband the first cabinet minister to be barred from speaking about domestic politics? Even before he delivered the John Smith Memorial Lecture on 6 July, it was being said the knives were out among his opponents inside the Labour Party.
Some were worried about a repeat of last summer’s leadership speculation, following the publication of his Guardian article in which he wrote of his “restlessness for change”. Technically, any leadership change must still be signed off by conference, so the period before then is seen as especially dangerous.
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