The head line made me laugh,,Miliband to take up the gauntlet!
Forgive the pun but "Gordon bennet"Another whos experience is limited to claiming his due allowances,and who has never run "a whelk stall" let alone a "cabinet"Whoever gets the job will need to get rid of the "useless" cabinet .

david, Barnsley, England

Brown inherited a rising balence surplus from the Tories, doubled the tax burden on UK citizens, squandered the money on the atrociously managed NHS and schooling systems, but can claim some successes, taxing motorists off the road, drinkers and smokers out of pubs, unrestricted immigration chaos.

John Buckley, Hounslow, England

Gordon Brown never will connect with middle England, he has taxed middle income, aspirant voters to death. James Purnell doesn't have any gravitas, and Milliband doesn't possess an 'everyman' appeal. They need a leader and Alan Johnson is probably their best choice for the moment.

Mike, Cheltenham,

Gordon is doing a good thing by letting the debt mountain crumble and the housing bubble burst. What will emerge is a stronger Britain- debt free with affordable housing and with its citizens learning to live within their means. This will bring a lot of social order.

Kara Swart, London, UK

How about his older brother, Glen, or is he still on the missing list?

David Masu, Zürich,

Miliband is part of the 'empty team' which installs no confidence.
Repeating empty words like change, new, strength, improve, lower tax, does not make a politician.
They should do 'Rotating Wheal PM' - change PM every 6 months, as reality show and voters will have say and could also bet.

Savo, London, UK

It is now "Deceased Labour" Milliband is merely an Undertaker until the formal burial.

V Cooper, Yeovil, UK

The New Labour ship has hit the Iceberg.
Who cares which captain goes down with the wreck?

Fry, Waikato, New Zealand

We are fed up with New Labour
Call a General Election and let us have a Government that will put the "Great " back into Great Britain.

Stephen Holmes, Withington, UK

Miliband is a lightweight; he stands no chance against a political bruiser like Gordon Brown. Lets face it what everyone is worried about is 2 years of Old Labour policies from Brown realizing that he will not get elected next time.

john, milton keynes,

Oh come on, it's not just Gordon Brown it's the whole labour party. How many thousands of pointless new laws have they pushed through? How much money have they squandered? Incompetence, corruption....etc etc. Sadly they are not just useless, they have actively damaged the country.

Steve, London, UK

It is interesting that some writers have said that Labour administrations have been poor with the economy. In my lifetime I have seen Labour governments pick up the pieces after the booms of MacMillan and of Heath. None of our current difficulties compare to 3 million unemployed of Thatcher

Chris Wigley, Handforth,

...Mr Miliband rallying to the defence of the Prime Minister, saying he was “elected as the right man for the job last year and he is the right man for the job this year”."

Er, elected by whom, exactly? Not elected PM by the public, and no labour leadership election either.

jr, london,

These Labour fools don't realise that it's their policies which are driving voters away in droves. 10p tax, uncontrolled immigration, tax-it-ban-it-we-know-best legislation, the dearth of common sense, etc.

Electing David Miliband is changing the captain after the Titanic has struck the iceberg.

John F, London,

David Miliband is an intelligent, articulate and confident man who will make a great Prime Minister. He should have taken over from Tony Blair. I don't understand all the negative comments about the past 11 years of Labour government. Surely people can appreciate just how good a leader TB was.

Jason, Cork,

It would be interesting to be able to compare the expenses claims of those who will compete to replace Mr Brown. Personally I would favour the most ethical candidate.

Hubbard, Bridgwater, Somerset

If Milliband has any sense he will wait until the full horror of the crunches is exposed before he becomes leader and gets the blame:
- Credit crunch,
- Housing crunch
- Fuel Crunch
And crunches we haven't yet had:
- Public sector borrowing crunch
- Unemployemnt crunch
- Crime wave crunch

Pedro, Stratford,

David Miliband as PM?

I do not think so.

Reuben Camara, Morecambe, UK

Not so much 'gauntlet' as 'poisoned chalice'. NuLabour are doomed, doomed I say.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Hoepfully the british people will realise that the 60 odd year experiement with socialism has been an abject, longwinded failure.
at least if labour are forced to go back to being loony lefties, it will allow the tories to be proper capitalists and encourage proper innovation.

will, grimsby, england

It is difficult to imagine anything more ghastly then David Miliband as PM - he is a compete Bliar clone and would lead us even more into mismanagement and political interference in everyday life. Ugh!

David Bachauer, Manchester , UK

I am 60 years old and have had the misfortune to endure various Labour administrations during that time-I hesitate to use the word "government". Every time they left office our country has been in a worse state than when they arrived. I sincerely hope we never see any of these lightweights again.

Albert Hall, Kettering,

It will take a better man than David Miliband to win the next election for the Labour Party. No matter who they put in for PM no one will believe a word he says, he will just be a puppet for the left wing die hards.

Stone, Enger, Germany

David Miliband is a light-weight and has made no impact as Foreign Secretary at all. Have to admire his audacity though to think that he has.

Stuart Murray, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The mythical working-class constituency just isn't that big. It's about the middle-classes. A pragmatic and rising middle-class constituency is calling for security. Both material and cultural security. So, fear and envy shouldn't be underestimated.

Simon G., Copenhagen , Denmark

wow, good review!

riccardo, brussels,

Milliband would be the worst possible choice for Labour. He has the gaucheness of 'The Vulcan' John Redwood (as well as certain creepiness) he would scare the voters witless.
James Purnell and Andy Burnham are the two most voter friendly and talented of of the next generation. Alan Johnson would do an excellent job in the caretaker role.

tari, London,

Interesting.
Everyone sees Miliband as this new, young shining light, but he is OLDER than Cameron, has had opportunities in top ministerial posts and made zero impression.
Meanwhile, Cameron has had few opportunities, but looks Prime Ministerial.
If Miliband is Labour's best shot, they've had it.

P Granger, Kent, UK

So Labour wants to give one of their work experience kids a go?
Oh dear. Labour faces a huge dilemma. Brown is hated in England but nobody takes the younger generation of Labour ministers seriously. The writing is on the wall for Labour. A Tory win is now inevitable no matter what Labour do.

Paul, West Midlands,

Should any one that has never held down a job in the real world outside of politics be eligible to represent the people?

Ian , Reading, UK

New Labour failed because they apparently view their mission as doctrinaire regulators and controllers of the lives of the British people...and NOT.. to IMPROVE their lives and standards of living. Their job essentially ended when they got elected. Improving Britain would be too much bother/work.

Garth Strong, San Francisco, USA

Milliband will make no difference...i will never vote Labour again,Blairs invasion of Iraq ,mass immigration and the 10 p tax debacle are the end of the road for Labour ,new or otherwise!

Jean, London, England

Replace Gordon Brown at this crucial time of economic downturn? read or view BBC interview of Prescot and Johnson. Thankfully not everybody reads articles by the rightwing press or anti-Gordon Brown media such as Times. These are serious times and we need serious leaders not overgrown school boys.

Tonye, O, Dalgety Bay, Fife, United Kingdom

David Miliband appears to be a diluted form of Barack Obama. With two very big differences.

1. He doesn't have his sex appeal.
2. He's diluted his brand by cosying up to Blair and Brown for years.

Well, that's the UK system for you - he can't become Prime Minister working outside Westminster.

Rhys Jaggar, Leeds, UK

Tony Blair was endorsed by the electorate three times. He was eased out by his own party. Brown has no qualifications for the top job other than a misbegotten idea that it should have been his in the first place. Voters have shown their disapproval. Cherie had it sussed.

Ron Bentham, Nantwich, UK

Wealth Creation totally sums up New Labour and its architects the Blairs , now seen to be gluttonously greedy for money so much worse than any of the old Tories who at least worked for it by founding industrial empires. And , of course whast made Britain Great.

William Watkin, Andover, UK

Are Labour aiming to get the record of the most number of un-elected prime ministers in one election period?

Arthur, Newcastle,

Mr Milliband has no track record of success. He has skipped through a couple of ministries where he never stayed long enough to do anything and therefore never made a mistake.
However his insistence as foreign minister not to meet the Saudi King in London was not good.

John, woodbridge,

A few months ago Labour believed GB was the best thing since sliced bread. Blair has to go, they chanted. Anybody who cared to look at the situation objectively knew that GB was a disciple of John Smith - a left-of-left socialist. Of course GB should go. But Miliband? No - all talk/no substance

Steve Johnson, Crowborough, East Sussex

I'd personally recommend Robert Mugabe to replace Brown. He's got more of a sense of humour, he seems a bit more trustworthy and he's not Scottish.

Dabe, Notts, UK

David miliband could'nt untie his shoestring, without help from
other people, how he the Miliband can help any one?

Cllr Ken Tiwari (Independent), Oxford , United Kingdom

Working the changes- Miliband to Milibrand to Milibland to Minibland to Miniblair. So much for Gordon Brown's all change speech. I can't imagine either Labour Party members or supporters wanting a rerun .

Chris Gillibrand, Brussels , Belgium

It doesn't matter who leads Socialism into obscurity, much like it's sickly cousin Communism we don't need a bloated, ineffiicient state machine micro managing our lives in the 21st Century.

Eddie, Harrogate, Yorkshire

If Milliband hasany common sense then he;ll realise that the people are tired of this government regardless of who leads it.

He should wait until the inevitable election defeat then make his bid for leadership. He could become prime minister after 1or 2 terms of Conservative government.

Luke, London, UK

We need a general election not another leadership contest within a discredited, incompetent and morally bankrupt government. Anything less would be an insult to the electorate and a spit in the face for democracy. Are you listening NuLabour?

Oxford Don, Oxford, UK

Labour still don;t get it . There are still 1 million low paid workers who have not been compensated for the dreadful decision to remove the 10 pence tax band, they still mouth off that they listened and have fixed it, yet more lies from this rotten corrupt incompetent Labour party.

Russell, Aberdeen, Scotland

We need to get away from these professional politicians who have never lived in the real world and encourage people with real-life experience to enter politics. The same goes for their advisors (unless being head of a PR firm counts as a "real job" these days).

Chris K, Cheltenham, UK

Don't they realise that "New Labour" is now a discredited term with wholly negative connotations. After 11 years of government by double-glazing salesmen the failure is manifest and thankfully the end is now in sight.

Kevin, Leeds,

Look to Italy if you think PR would help!

paul mitchell, Wolverhampton, England

Absolutlely right, the true inflation figure (not government's preferred figure), mass immigration, the inevitable house price crash and the inability to drive your car a few miles will: kill Brown, New Labour, The Union...and any belief that the previous project was anything but a child's crusade.

joe, Berwickshire, Scotland

A professional politician. Never had a real job. How can he represent the poor when he has never had his hands dirty?

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

If Labour ditch Gordon & impose another unelected PM they will be hammered at the next election. If they keep Gordon they will still be hammered. Who will stand up and take the hit - Miliband, Balls? Nah.

We've had enough of their lies, deception, control-freakery, tax/spend, greed & incompetence

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

To Harlan Leyside Basildon; regards the "force" of Unions! Lets look at (?)political levies "extracted "off Union members that allegedly help fund The Labour Party! Is it clean?? Or is such funding "expenses" now "laundered" to make them appear clean?? Why no investigation into such (?) levies??

Stan The Man, Scunthorpe, England...UK

Ideally, the unions would force Labour to become labour again, the LibDems would fill the centre left/right area, while the toffs, capitalists, etc. would rally round the Tories. A hung Parliament would follow, LibDems would demand PR, every vote would then count and democracy would be restored.

Harlan Leyside, Basildon, England

New Labour in its death throws. Even more entertaining than watching the Champions League. Wonderful.

Brett, Manchester, UK

Why is it an extremely dangerous development for people to be turning to the British National Party? The only people who need to be afraid of the BNP are those who steal from the public purse or commit acts of treason. Yep be afraid Labour be very afraid.

Cromwell, Leeds, England

Miliband has'nt got the nappy rash off his bottom.
If Brown goes, only a General Election will placate the people of this country.
No more rule by party diktat thank you.

Michael Rigby, blackburn,

I Dont think it makes a blind bit of a difference who leads labour to the next election. Why ! everyone seems to be going on about the 10p tax rate being abolished and this damaging labour, but the real damage is the true inflation figures(not the ones they tell us about) you know the real one.

Martin Thompson, Worksop, UK

"show voters that the Government was on their side". Well, there are STILL 1.1M reasons why the opposite is true..

It needs a u- turn. Brown has shown he has no poltical judgment by ignoring warnings over the 10p rate and is hardly best placed to correct matters. Stubborn AND stupid = dangerous.

Ted, Cheshire,