Top Labour Adviser Says Ed Miliband Would 'Be A Disaster' As Chancellor

Energy secretary Ed Miliband “would be a disaster” as chancellor if he is appointed to the job by Andy Burnham, according to a top Labour adviser.

Lord Walker, the government’s cost of living tsar, said the business community and the money markets “would freak out” if Miliband replaced Rachel Reeves in the role.

He also said Miliband had been “too ideological” on climate change, which had made the cost of living crisis worse by putting up energy bills.

Burnham is considering making Miliband the new chancellor in one of his first acts as prime minister.

The pair are close political allies, and Miliband is already giving the incoming PM economic advice.

Other names in the frame include home secretary Shabana Mahmood and former health secretary Wes Streeting.

But asked on the BBC’s Newsnight how he thought Miliband would do as chancellor, Lord Walker said: “He’d be a disaster. I think, listen, of course, you know, I’m speaking on the hottest June on record. Climate change is real. I believe in science.

“But I think how we’re going about it is far too ideological. I think it’s putting unfair pressure on households and on bill payers in a very regressive way.

“I think if Ed were to come in, it would be balked at by the business communities, the markets would freak out.”

The peer, who is the boss of the Iceland supermarket, also accused Miliband of betraying Keir Starmer after he “brought him back from the dead”.

″[Starmer] has stuck by him with these net zero policies, despite everyone around him telling him that this is really impacting the cost of living in a very adverse way,” he said.

“And what does Ed do in terms of disrespecting? He was the first to plunge the knife in the back about a month ago and sat Keir down and told him his time was up.”

However, Miliband has been supported by former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harmas.

She told Sky News’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast said he and Yvette Cooper were the “strongest candidates” to become the new chancellor .

Harman said: “I’m caught between Ed and Yvette, but I think, marginally, Ed.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.