David Miliband: Labour Must Win Economic Trust

David Miliband has broken his silence to warn Labour needs "restless rethinking" if the party is to win the next election.

The former Foreign Secretary says Labour has "a lot to be concerned about" after being portrayed by the Conservatives as economically "incontinent".

The article is David Miliband's first major contribution since he was beaten to the Labour leadership and - aware that many will be reading between the lines - he is careful to praise Ed Miliband.

But in what some are viewing as a veiled attack on his brother's leadership, he warns against returning to what he calls the "Reassurance Labour" of the left.

Writing in the left-leaning New Statesman, he warns the party "cannot afford" to lose the support of the business community.

David Miliband writes: "It was a tough job to win back economic trust after 1992. The bequest from 2010 is even tougher.

"At the last election, not a single major business endorsed Labour and we cannot afford that again."

The timing of the piece is particularly difficult because it comes in a week when Ed Miliband has taken a tough line on business and financial services.

He has led calls for RBS chief executive Stephen Hester to give up his £1m bonus and for his predecessor Fred Goodwin to be stripped of his knighthood.

In the same magazine, former Chancellor Alistair Darling calls for David Miliband to be given a front-bench position.

Labour has dismissed claims the piece could be interpreted as a veiled attack on Ed Miliband.

Instead, those close to the Labour leader say David Miliband's real target is an article by the former deputy leader of the party, Roy Hattersley, in the obscure Political Quarterly.

A source said: "This is an article written in reply to another article by Roy Hattersley. It praises Ed Miliband four times.

"To see it as any form of attack is just juvenile journalism."