US Officials Warn Burnham Against Miliband as Chancellor
Senior officials in President Trump’s administration have privately warned that appointing Ed Miliband as chancellor would be a “mistake”, with concern centring on his opposition to new North Sea oil and gas drilling. Miliband’s allies counter that he is the only candidate radical enough to turn the economy around. The City has separately warned that leaving the appointment open risks stifling investment, and whoever takes No 11 must find at least £4.7bn in savings at the autumn Budget to fund the defence plan.
A foreign government privately briefing against a potential British chancellor is an extraordinary intervention in a domestic appointment — and it hands Burnham a dilemma with no clean exit: choosing Miliband now looks like defiance of Washington, passing him over looks like deference. The unions have already drawn their lines, with Unite warning against Miliband and Unison backing him, and one newspaper has editorialised for him. The chancellor is expected to split time between No 11 and the north of England, itself a signal about how this government intends to work. Watch for the announcement before the 20 July handover, and Washington’s reaction to it.